Before adding the Akismet spam filter to my blog, which is lovely, I was receiving tons of spammy comments with random links in them. Since the comments contained little relevant text, it appears they left the link solely for SEO value. A tactic which, of course, has little value. I stress the value of personally contacting site owners for link building and giving them a reason to add your link, rather than trying to “game” search engines in this way. Plus, you’re basically wasting your time and your money – links in blog and forum comments aren’t going to boost your rankings.

Thoughtful blog and forum comments can boost your industry cred, though. Take for example the recent post of mine, “I Think I Can, I Think I Can: SEO, The Little Engine That Could”, where I highlighted a person who commented on one of my prior posts and his insightful comments. Spend five minutes giving your opinion on a blog post in your area of expertise, and those thoughtful comments could be worth much more in the long run. You’ll be able to make contacts in your industry and network, show you know what you’re talking about, and perhaps even get the word out about your own website and encourage other blogs/sites to link to you, all without engaging in obtrusive comment spam!

Remember: Keep SEO pure. Show the value of your knowledge and your website, and real people and search engines will notice in time.