SEO Wordsmith

Question: Is it useful to set up a thousand different social networking profiles that you never touch, just because each allows you to make a profile page that creates a backlink to your site?

Answer: There are many answers to this question.  The short answer is yes because any link that is dofollow is useful for page ranking and indexing.  However, it also depends on how much time you have on your hands.  Every time you sign up for a social networking site or forum, it takes a fair amount of time.  You’ve got to plug in your information, confirm your registration through an email, and then configure your page with some unique information and an outbound link.  Takes a while – especially if you’re doing this 100 times over (which is possible, there’s an absurd number of social networking sites).

An argument could be made that your time could be better spent just going to a blog with a high page rank, laying down a relevant comment, and getting out of there.  No registration, no confirmation, just comment and go.

You have to keep in mind that just because you have a profile on a high PR social networking site, this doesn’t mean that your social networking profile is going to have the same page rank, or even a fraction of it.  More than likely your profile page is going to have a page rank of zero, which makes the commenting strategy make a lot more sense.

Unless: you’re actually active on the social networking sites or forums where you’re a member.  If you, for example, make a lot of comments on a particular forum post that has a better page rank than others, then the page rank of that forum post will pass to your profile, as it is linked in every post you make.

Internal Page Ranks

Yes, you don’t only have to gauge the PR of the forum’s homepage, but individual forum posts as well, as these can pass better rank to your profile and via your signature link.  The moral of this issue may be that your profile links are only as good as your amount of participation.  Linking and leaving isn’t the greatest strategy.  If, for some reason, you have the time every day to comment on 100 dofollow blogs, add friends and participate on 100 different social networks, and comment on another 100 forums, then by all means, go for it.  But most marketers don’t have unlimited time.

Your best bet is probably to focus your attention on a few of the best-ranked forums and networks and become an active user.  Having a stray profile link on a social networking site can’t hurt – a link is a link - but it’s not really going to do instant wonders for your page rank.