When to create a fake backlink and when to use brand?

[Michael]

For these link types, in the eyes of Google, are they OK to create AS the owner of the site / brand?

- Blog Comments
You can comment on a blog as a representative from xyx.com giving your opinion.
This is OK as long as its a branded / raw anchor?

- Forum Profiles
I can sign up to any forum in my niche using my brand as the username, and having a link to my homepage from my bio / signature.
This is fine because I an engaging in the community I belong in, like blog comments, as a representative of xyx.com?

- Infographics
I create the infographic and upload to my own site first. Once it is indexed, I can then go and share that infographic around to IG sites, and of course link back to my site because my site created it.
And I can use a brand profile for this, because here at xyz.com we are just sharing around our infographics around on infographic sites?

- CSS Galleries
Same as infographics, the site design is mine, so I am okay to sign up on these sites as my own brand and share my elite designs.

- The rest (social bookmarking, wiki, directory etc)
Now the rest would make sense to create links on from a normal user perspective, which will mean disguising myself as a normal internet user.
These sites rely on other users to share useful links, not for my brand to drop where they please. So I should be 007-ing these types of links right (looking like a normal internet user)?

 

[Joozed]

Sites like brandyourself.com, about.me and branded.me allow you to create mini sites about your company/site. They are like virtual business cards. Think that's a natural way to build links as the owner of a brand too.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I would choose based on the intelligence I gathered as I looked at other successful link drops. Each webmaster will have a preference. Some will delete branded stuff because they don't want to help promote anyone, but will keep a seemingly normal person's recommendation. Or in the case of a profile, if it's a real name, they won't even look at the profile. Or you wait a week and go back and drop the link after they've checked and saw it had no link.

 

[Michael]

I guess what I was trying to say, in the eyes of google, as a webmaster myself, is it okay to built the links I listed (the 4) as literally someone from the brand company?

Like Google understand this and wont penalize right? It's just sheer promotion for your company, adding valuable comments & not spamming too.

But when we talk about other link types like social bookmarking or wiki, my guts telling me I should look like a normal, non-affiliated user of xyx.com

 

[esca1]

I think you're answering your questions yourself, because you have the right way of thinking in my opinion. It's about moderation and what is "natural" in the eyes of Google.

All of the 4 link types you've mentioned can be used and are (to some extent) natural. My personal approach is to go easy on the link types that have been (and are being) used primarily by SEOs to manipulate their rankings, but I'm not avoiding them. I am avoiding some of them (wiki links, free directories, social bookmarks), just because they're not worth the time/effort/money in my opinion. They're almost worthless and can harm your site if you overdo it.

So short answer: yes, you can use all of those links and build them as the owner of the website, but moderation is key. If you build lots of them in a short amount of time though, you'll probably get hit.