How effective is forum commenting?

Does forum commenting really help PR?

[jmeager]

I have been building links through forum commenting on niche sites that fit our profile very well. The domains have PR of between 5 and 6. However, the actual forums / posts I comment on do not have any PR value. They are DoFollow links.

Does this mean that they will not contribute to my PR on the next update, or will Google still take note that these are links from forums that host very relevant content?

[gldean]

Do you have a sig with your site or your site in the comments?

GD

[piatkow]

Forum links don't do much for the PR of my blog but they bring in a steady stream of genuine, interested, visitors in their own right.

[jmeager]

Yes, I've been using signatures, and, as it is directed traffic specifc to our interests, I have bene able to offer 'recommendations' based on our sites products.

However, my current goal is to raise PR, so I'm not sure how effective a strategy it is.

[canadiantrip]

It can bring traffic, sure.

But increasing a PR? I don't think so.

Bots know that anyone can drop links in a forum and it doesn't mean that the owner of the forum promotes the site link to it.

[martinibuster]

Increasing PR should never be a goal. Your strategy will probably be enhanced if it focused on increasing goodwill and awareness, something forums can excel at. Links can grow independent of your efforts afterward. Take a read through this thread about link building via forums [webmasterworld.com].

[jdancing]

Sure forum links can be a piece of your link building strategy. Posting in forums related to your site and providing a signature will bring you a bit of traffic and won't hurt anything.

Just don't make it your main link building strategy and spam 1,000s of forums just for those sig links. Keep it natural.

[jmeager]

Thanks, that's the best piece of advice thus far :)

I have been making sure the sites are super relevant to us.

Looking at some of our competitors backlinks in Google, I noticed a lot of the ones displayign are from forums. I've commented on a few (I've been very strict not to be spammy) but they just don't seem to be indexing....any ideas?

What do you think are the key link building strategies?

[jdancing]

Use a wide range of strategies:

Build a widget/plugin for something and give it away.
Create a one of a kind great article that people write posts about.
Ask a few friends with sites to link to you.
Post in forums.
Get social bookmarks
Add site to a few good directories
Comment in dofollow blogs.
Write and article a week and submit it to the top 3 article sites.
Buy some relevant links
etc...

The list goes on.

[jmeager]

Great, thankyou for your help.

I've been slowing doing all of the above, it's just good to know I'm on the right track!