Profile linking provides backlinks. Period. They are not that relevant and they don’t usually get to target any keywords. However, if webmasters are trying to get an increase on the number of their backlinks into their profiles, then this should work. But note, keyword targeting and increasing the ranking in search engine results pages or SERPs, will not get done through this method. Or so they say.
Some are hyper-critical of profile links, saying it is a useless thing to rely on and would not do much for the site. Others are not as critical as their profile links have successfully increased their ranking in the SERPs.
To make short work of the argument, yes, most sites that have profile links allow anchor tests, not just the URLs. Second, numerous sites which rank in the first page of the SERPs of Google have a lot of profile links in them. Third and last, they make short work for management and efficiency in getting the website into the SERPs.
Some would argue about the relevancy of the profile links. In fact, this is not really an issue here. Relevant or not, webmasters who bookmark for faster indexing and maybe RSS feeing, the setting up of the profile links is usually the first thing that they do, and it gets their websites visible.
And that is really the point. Arguments against profile links and relevance do not really do anything much to the fact that those who do provide profile links gets the results that they want: getting their websites more visible on the internet and getting the traffic. This, of course, would get them the customers that they need to get the profits they want.
Opinions may vary on profile links and this really just depends on the webmaster. But the fact is it really does work, no matter the negative press about it. Look at the bottom line if it gets the website out there, shouldn’t it be used?