Something interesting has happened in the past couple years.
The use of rel=”nofollow” within comment links has become very popular throughout websites.
The nofollow tag is telling search engines that the link should not be passing SEO juice through to the URL being linked.
So how does that help link building?
Well, that’s a very good question. Search engines still look at the inbound link so it does still help your link building efforts. However, it’s not going to play as big of a role as a comment that allows following.
So that is where link building changes into comment marketing.
A few weeks ago we wrote about increasing comment engagement on your own website. However, it is also important to be engaging on other websites. For instance, Pinterest marketing for photographers. Pinterest is a great place to interact with your potential customers. Many photographers avoid Pinterest because of copyright issues. But if your customers are there, you should be too. Using Pinterest for marketing is not just about posting your photographs and articles. It’s about commenting, pinning, liking and sharing with your customers.
What is comment marketing?
Comment marketing is when you are interacting in the comment section of other blogs. By doing this you’re accomplishing a couple things:
- Including your persona or brand
- Including a profile image (likely using Gravatar)
- Including a profile link back to your website or article
- Being engaging to attract customers
- Increasing inbound traffic because of engagement
To explain further, I thought I’d share a recent video from Rand at SEOMoz. Every Friday, SEOMoz publishes a Whiteboard video. They’re incredible – and this one was perfect timing because I was actually in the process of writing this article when I got the email about the new post.
So here goes…
Have questions about comment marketing? Well – comment below (ironic isn’t it)
Thanks for reading,
Scott
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Great point Scott! Comment marketing is especially important after the most recent Penguin updates and building up link diversity.
Some great comments there. Whether or not search engines follow the links through, I know real people do! I’ve gained a few followers simply from the comments I have left on some photography blogs. It’s an easy way to meet like minded photographers!
I’ve been hesitant about pinterest for a while now. Looks like it’s gained enough traction that I will need to embrace it instead of fighting it. Thanks for the write up!