Nofollow sig links

[Darren Falkingham]

If I said that a link in a sig is just one of many benefits of fully paid membership, and that adding a link to a sig requires no time or resource on our part - and therefore we shouldn't attribute any revenue or cost with it - then it's not a paid for link, no?

After all, you can be a fully paid member and have no link at all, as the OP pointed out.

 

[Gillie]

Thanks Earl, therefore this whole thread is about someone wishing me to bow down to their wishes as they feel its immoral!!

And who said democracy was dead??

RedEvo me dear, this thread reads as if you wish to foist your wishes on all of us because you are not comfy with something, however, I don't like pork eaters .... but will cook it for them!

 

[pws1970]

Gill as an astute business woman I can assure you there is no detrimental aside from having a clean link in your sig from this forum.

Quite the opposite in my findings.

I earlier stated that the sig was on position #37 and have just retested the links seedings to now find it covets the #29 position. In just 2 days as well. I will wait for the true evaluation of-course.

As we all know that there are 2 stages to link procurement - its initial fresh state and its true value after it has been assessed. Commonly known as temporal and long term link values.

 

[ken_uk]

Are you talking about the personal injury link in your sig?

How are you testing, as serps move around a lot naturally, even without any seo sometimes, plus that link has loads of links to it, all of which will have links to them added or removed, as well as many other factors that can affect your position in the serps surely?

Or are you talking about another one? I only looked at that one, half asleep at the moment.

How do you know that the whatever results you are measuring are purely the result of a sig link?

 

[Biznaij]

You know, its an interesting discussion you are having here.

When I join a forum, any forum, I do put my website url in my signature. There is a simple reason for this, it helps people to gain some insight into what you do other than contribute to the forum, for businesses like mine that promote ethnocultural products free it brings more traffic to the site and gets word out and yes maybe it may generate a sale although that is at the lower end of the reasons list. Generally speaking, a majority of paying customers are from direct advertising, online advertising, through using well optimised and organised website content and so on.

I was a bit bewildered when my url kept getting editted out of my signature when I joined the forum and then when I mentioned it in a posting, I was even more amazed when my post became the focal point of the thread and I started getting responses suggesting that some ill might befall me if I put it back in. Considering this information was unclickable i.e not a full url just a web address without the http or www, it was just odd to me.

Apparently, paying for membership entitles one to all these privileges, but if you are like me someone who joins many forums, some for social activity, some personal activity, some for business networking and so on, depending on how busy you are and what takes your fancy the frequency of visits may not be as continuous or regular all the time, so to me why pay to post on the site.

In addition, I judged from the peripherals the content of the private post areas and thought okay, I am just a small business, I don't want to buy a business or get insider info about a tender or encourage exclusion so I chose the neutral option, not to pay for membership.

Perhaps there are benefits other than a signature, what would be good is to have that information provided clearly at signup through email or something.

In essence what I am trying to say is that when I joined this forum, I thought it would be to join in and network with others about meaningful issues and so on.

What I find is that it really is more of a social site with many non business members and so on and I find that there are a lot of threads which begin with important or sensible queries that we all, myself included run aground by childish behaviour, aimless talk and so on.

I hope that anyone reading this thread will try during their next post to pass on something useful, sensible and helpful to others who use this as a support crutch in a polite, astute and civilised fashion.

There are a lot of good things about this site, let us highlight those so that anyone who does not have a business, own a business, run a business or know anything about business can hop on here and go away motivated to take a stab at going into business with some good advise and knowledge.

Most of all, let us try to be respectful of one another, we don't know much about one another and so we should be careful how we communicate. In my world there is only one God and no man can be God over another.

So....enough of my talk.....I suppose what I meant to say is it really does not matter if the administrator/s want to put a price tag on signature content.

What does matter is that we all sound sensible after all, if someone read a post and it was full of trully poor content and then clicked on your link to your site; what do you think would be on their mind as they did so, nice or nasty, wanting to spend or wanting to find your feedback box so they can give you a thrashing???

Have a nice day!!!

 

[pws1970]

How do you know that the whatever results you are measuring are purely the result of a sig link?

Its not a true test, far from it Ken, I admit that.

It possibly does, however, give me an idea to create a clean environment to test.

 

[ServWise]

I wanted to add my comments to this thread (All 10 pages of it) but this may have been said already but I just cant be arsed to read all 10 pages of posts.

Anyway my stance on this is that I understand the reasons for adding the nofollow to links here but also feel it isn't really necessary.

1. The advantage of link juice in a forum with so many links is more or less non-existent.
2. Google is going after highly ranked pages on highly ranked sites that sell their highly ranked space for linking purely to pass on rank without any relevancy or any content associated with the links as these links DO skew the search results and give us all worse results than we could have.
3. They are not after a forum where the individual pages have little or no rank to pass on anyway and generally the links are semi-relevant to the content and where links are not the only reason for payment.
4. I didn't sign up here for link juice, however one of the reasons I paid to be here is for the links (as well as to enjoy the forum, and to hopefully publicise my business) however a little bit if relevant link juice is okay by me and I see no need to remove it.
5. Google is not dictating who you can advertise with it is just dictating how valuable those direct links are to a businesses GOOGLE ranking. Organic search results should be just that, organic i.e not fed on man made chemical fertiliser. If Google was to do anything with this forum all it would mean is that people wouldn't get the extra link juice that they got before and if Link Juice is why you are here then maybe you should think again.

 

[RedEvo]

I didn't say that

Now, that PR7 of yours, some 12,000 links, all given editorially on merit, no sitewide footer links on customer sites...

And moaning about lack of nofollow here.... :|

Do behave............

Actually 61,694 according to Google and 133,000 according to Yahoo. All can be no followed or simply removed by the site owners

d

 

[RedEvo]

If I said that a link in a sig is just one of many benefits of fully paid membership, and that adding a link to a sig requires no time or resource on our part - and therefore we shouldn't attribute any revenue or cost with it - then it's not a paid for link, no?

After all, you can be a fully paid member and have no link at all, as the OP pointed out.

Simple solution. Allow all members paid or otherwise to have a sig link - perhaps after 100 posts. After all, there are some great contributors who are not paid up members - for whatever reason.

That would clear it up once and for all

If the answer's no then the sig link is a paid link, pure and simple, although you can continue to call it a benefit of paid membership if you like

IMHO

d

 

[Optegris]

Personally I would call it a paid benefit...

 

[RedEvo]

Thanks Earl, therefore this whole thread is about someone wishing me to bow down to their wishes as they feel its immoral!!

And who said democracy was dead??

RedEvo me dear, this thread reads as if you wish to foist your wishes on all of us because you are not comfy with something, however, I don't like pork eaters .... but will cook it for them!

That would be all well and good if it was me that was suggesting paid links are wrong. Actually 'me dear' it's Google But hey, let's not let the facts get in the way

d

 

In essence what I am trying to say is that when I joined this forum, I thought it would be to join in and network with others about meaningful issues and so on.

What I find is that it really is more of a social site with many non business members and so on and I find that there are a lot of threads which begin with important or sensible queries that we all, myself included run aground by childish behaviour, aimless talk and so on.

I hope that anyone reading this thread will try during their next post to pass on something useful, sensible and helpful to others who use this as a support crutch in a polite, astute and civilised fashion.

There are a lot of good things about this site, let us highlight those so that anyone who does not have a business, own a business, run a business or know anything about business can hop on here and go away motivated to take a stab at going into business with some good advise and knowledge.

Most of all, let us try to be respectful of one another, we don't know much about one another and so we should be careful how we communicate. In my world there is only one God and no man can be God over another.


Have a nice day!!!

It would be nice if members respected that the world is full of different cultures and religions.

Also that there are some extremely astute ,knowledgable and successfull people on here who it would seem are not adverse to a touch of friviolity.

I.E "Bussiness and pleasure can mix".

Earl

 

That would be all well and good if it was me that was suggesting paid links are wrong. Actually 'me dear' it's Google But hey, let's not let the facts get in the way

d

oh your a stuborn bugger .we don't get paid links .Even the management have stated we get free links.

Earl

 

[RedEvo]

oh your a stuborn bugger .we don't get paid links .Even the management have stated we get free links.

Earl

OK. We get free links but we have to pay to get them........

I'm confused

d

 

OK. We get free links but we have to pay to get them........

I'm confused

d

No your not your Stubborn.

Earl

 

[Optegris]

Blimey talk about mountains and molehills

 

[RedEvo]

Blimey talk about mountains and molehills

Yeah I was thinking that. I can't understand why they don't just make the links no follow

d

 

[Optegris]

I can't understand how somethin so trivial has expanded to 10 pages

 

Yeah I was thinking that. I can't understand why they don't just make the links no follow

d

Because I know for a fact the links do pass on juice.

now eat your haggis.

Earl

 

[RedEvo]

Because I know for a fact the links do pass on juice.

now eat your haggis.

Earl

Thanks. The case for the prosecution closes.

d

 

[RayB]

Thanks. The case for the prosecution closes.

d

Not really, the majority of us don't think they are paid links....

 

[RedEvo]

Not really, the majority of us don't think they are paid links....

I'm afraid where public opinion is concerned I'm firmly with the misanthropes. Whatever people *think* you have to pay to have the link.

This thread has shown that people clearly have a strong feeling about this because they value their follow links from UKBF. I have no problem with sig links, I have an issue with the fact you have to buy them.

Although at one point you nearly swayed me, my position is now firmly of the opinion that in their current guise sig links are paid links.

But hey, it's just my take and I can stay sig less without harming anyone else

For me it was an enlightening debate.

d

 

[Darren Falkingham]

Yeah I was thinking that. I can't understand why they don't just make the links no follow

d

As far as I can see there's nothing we can do to make them nofollow - if any vBulletin afficionados out there know if you can use nofollow in BBcode, please do let me know.

I still maintain, though, that when you become a paid member, it's entirely your choice as to what link you have - you put the code into your sig. You can have no link if you choose, and therefore it isn't a paid link - we're not selling links, we're selling access to a more focused forum experience.

 

I'm afraid where public opinion is concerned I'm firmly with the misanthropes. Whatever people *think* you have to pay to have the link.

This thread has shown that people clearly have a strong feeling about this because they value their follow links from UKBF. I have no problem with sig links, I have an issue with the fact you have to buy them.

Although at one point you nearly swayed me, my position is now firmly of the opinion that in their current guise sig links are paid links.

But hey, it's just my take and I can stay sig less without harming anyone else

For me it was an enlightening debate.

d

Why don't you phone Sift and ask if you can buy a link.?

I'm gone outa here resign give in where's the rope,lost the will to live.

must be the Scotish Air being so thin.

Earl

 

[RedEvo]

As far as I can see there's nothing we can do to make them nofollow - if any vBulletin afficionados out there know if you can use nofollow in BBcode, please do let me know.

I still maintain, though, that when you become a paid member, it's entirely your choice as to what link you have - you put the code into your sig. You can have no link if you choose, and therefore it isn't a paid link - we're not selling links, we're selling access to a more focused forum experience.

Simply make the sig links available to all contributing members, then they are 100% no question marks non paid links

d

 

[RedEvo]

must be the Scotish Air being so thin.

Earl

Come on Earl, it's just a mass debate. Chill out.

d

 

[RayB]

Simply make the sig links available to all contributing members, then they are 100% no question marks non paid links

d

Can't you add "rel=nofollow" manually in the html view???


Edit: I tried that and no

 

[Optegris]

Simply make the sig links available to all contributing members, then they are 100% no question marks non paid links

d

Why? I've paid (read given) for a membership which I shall renew. Part of that payment has gone towards having a link in my sig which I think is fair.

If you don't agree with it, just continue as you are and don't have a sig.

 

[Spiderden]

Can't you add "rel=nofollow" manually in the html view???

Only if a custom BB code is set up in admin.

 

As far as I can see there's nothing we can do to make them nofollow - if any vBulletin afficionados out there know if you can use nofollow in BBcode, please do let me know.

.

Don't even go there or you lose my 36 squids and I would think quite a few others.

Earl

 

[Fill-Your-World]

I don't see them as paid links at all

I paid my £36, despite not even having a site to link to yet. I didn't pay for a link, I paid for access to the private section of the forum. However, when my site is launched, of course I will have a signature link, this will be an added bonus, and there is no reason why I wouldn't make the most of that.

 

[Spiderden]

As far as I can see there's nothing we can do to make them nofollow - if any vBulletin afficionados out there know if you can use nofollow in BBcode, please do let me know.

If you view the help file for Custom BB codes in VBulletin's admin, it should be self explanatory how to add an additional BB code to allow members to use nofollow in their links.

 

[RayB]

If you view the help file for Custom BB codes in VBulletin's admin, it should be self explanatory how to add an additional BB code to allow members to use nofollow in their links.

That would be good - as it gives the individual member a choice. And would satisfy the 0.25% of paid members who want nofollow

Would also be good when you want to link out to something in a post, but don't want any benefit passed

 

[RedEvo]

I don't see them as paid links at all

You have to pay to have them, what's hard to understand?

d

 

[Spiderden]

That would be good - as it gives the individual member a choice. And would satisfy the 0.25% of paid members who want nofollow

Would also be good when you want to link out to something in a post, but don't want any benefit passed

Can be done in 5 mins. Could do something like this.

[url=http://www.mysite.com]I have not paid for this link[/url]]

 

[RedEvo]

That would be good - as it gives the individual member a choice. And would satisfy the 0.25% of paid members who want nofollow

Would also be good when you want to link out to something in a post, but don't want any benefit passed

Suits me down to the ground. It's all I wanted, a sig link that isn't a paid source of link juice. This has all become very revealing. it's gone from 'they don't pass link jiuce anyway' to 'if you make them nofollow I'm off'. Hilarious.

I have no problem with links in items being follow, they are free to all users, you don't have to BUY THEM.



d

 

[RayB]

This has all become very revealing. it's gone from 'they don't pass link jiuce anyway' to 'if you make them nofollow I'm off'. Hilarious.

It's an SEO topic; bound to be full of smoke and mirrors.

 

[Optegris]

No to mention cloaks and daggers...

 

[ken_uk]

Yup, great thread this

On the one hand they are free, not worth anything, but on the other hand, you have to pay to get them free? If they are not worth anything, and free, why does everyone not get one? Why do you have to pay for something that is regarded as worthless? Except its not regarded as worthless as many in this thread have clearly proved.

They have no value at all, and are just part of the benefit of signing up, yet people are willing to leave if they are nofollowed?

I don't see them as paid links at all

I paid my £36, despite not even having a site to link to yet. I didn't pay for a link, I paid for access to the private section of the forum. However, when my site is launched, of course I will have a signature link, this will be an added bonus, and there is no reason why I wouldn't make the most of that.

Ok, look at it this way...

Why will you have the link in place when your site is completed?

To advertise your site - naturally.

If you withdrew your paid membership and asked for a refund, you would not be able to have the link, likewise when your membership runs out, you will lose the link unless you pay.

So to have the ability to put the link in, and keep it, you must pay - ergo it is a paid link.

Also, as the link is to advertise, and its not set up to block the passing of any possible page rank then it is clearly in contravention of the google webmaster rule

Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

• Adding a rel="nofollow" attribute to the <a> tag
• Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file

at http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66736

As to other comments earlier about the value of any page rank passed being almost or non existent, thats irrelevant, as google does not state anywhere that there is a minimum value for passed page rank that makes things ok, they are clear on that at least.

Plus some threads have reasonable page rank, and no one knows how much page rank is being passed, as we can only base findings on innacurate toolbar rank values.

Add to this the fact that the forum in no way vets the sig links, and they can be as irrelavent as you want (and often are, as the links in many threads bear no relavence to the thread topic whatsoever) then that is in breach also of

However, some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links that pass PageRank, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites

As anyone can pay the money, and put in whatever links they fancy.

 

[RedEvo]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Wonderful

d