Are blog comment backlinks still worth it? Not for rankings. Most blogs mark comment links with nofollow or ugc, which tells Google these are not editorial votes, and Google's spam policies list comments stuffed with optimized links as link spam. A useful comment can still bring readers, but not ranking power.
This is a retired cheat. It shows what people did and why it stopped paying off, so you can skip the hours it used to eat and spend them on links that still count.
What the cheat was
You searched for blogs that approved every comment automatically, then left a short comment like "Great post, thanks for sharing!" with your keyword as the name and your site as the link. Lists of "auto-approve blogs" were passed around forums so people could drop hundreds of these.
I did this on auto-approve blogs for my own sites, with generic comments just for the backlink. Many of my comments were never approved at all, so even back then the return was poor. The blogs that did approve everything were usually full of other people's spam, which is not a neighborhood any site wants to be linked from.
Why it stopped working
Blog platforms began adding nofollow to comment links, and today Google recommends the ugc value for user-generated content such as comments and forum posts. On top of that, Google's crackdown on link spam, known as the Penguin update, targeted links placed only to push rankings. Its spam policies give forum and comment links with optimized anchor text as an example of link spam.
Are blog comment backlinks still worth it for anything?
For SEO, no. For people, sometimes. A real comment that adds a tip or a correction on a blog in your niche can earn a reply, a visit or a contact who later links to you on their own. The link in the comment is not the point; the relationship is. For a list of blogs worth joining as a reader, see the blog commenting sites guide.
Do this instead
Spend the same time on links that count. The Unlinked Mention Cheat turns existing mentions into real links, and the Old Post Refresh Cheat makes the pages you already have stronger.
So, are blog comment backlinks still worth it? Leave comments to talk with people, not to build links. If you have a pile of old comment links, you can usually leave them alone; Google mostly ignores them.
Frequently asked questions
Do nofollow comment links help SEO at all?
Google treats nofollow and ugc as hints and may not count these links for ranking. They can still send a few visitors if the comment is useful.
Can blog comments hurt my site?
Large numbers of spammy comment links with keyword anchors can look like link spam. A few normal comments with your name will not hurt.
What is the difference between nofollow and ugc?
Both tell Google not to treat a link as an endorsement. ugc says the link comes from user content like comments; nofollow is the general option.