In combination with a well written post that includes the right keywords and also placed on Google+ I see it happening.

I have not noticed much change. Years ago it seemed to be more powerful.

The backlinks from AR and outside blogs have given my site's authority score a boost.  I see some traffic hitting my site with AR as a referal source, but I couldn't tell you if it was a member here or the public.

Engage Debbie Gartner in all things internet and she will give you a mind/earfull !

I was very successful before I left AR in 2013. I am now back building the same thing this time around but better.

I think AR is most effective when used as a part of a bigger SEO strategy... combined with other sites.  AR alone, probably not so much.   That said, a good archive of quality content is going to get it's fair share of attention. That's one of the reasons I love the reblog feature here.  

Steve Snyder AR did help some with SEO on my personal website.

Steve, The effectiveness varies by topic.  Go after the big keywords (e.g. homes for sale in Cincinnati) and we're not going to beat the megasites.  However, long tail blogging can be very effective.  We use AR in a twofold fashion, to drive traffic to our Wordpress site and to also gain eyes for news type events (e.g. new construction final phase just opened in xxxxxx community).  Those type posts work.  The more specific and the closer we get to showing homes for sale, the better it works.

Hard to beat the big national companies. But hyperlocal and longtail keywords will get you on the top of the heap.

I do not know.

It is not what it used to be however it is definitely still there. Many of my AR posts are ranking higher than my website. 

Long tailed keywords is a niche market. 

There is a lot about Organic SEO.....

Easier to get Adwords to one's site.

We used to. Now we're getting bigger boosts from Google+ than from Active Rain.

Yes.  It's definitely a possibility.

Nope, I've not seen much - I do get a trickle of traffic once in awhile  - I get seo boosts from other things

Google+ is the place to go but don't share it....write the original there....

We have not experienced any postive SEO effect, but that is most likely because we do not live here. We like to get out and work with people.

Help what? It has to do more with you & your writing then G picking it up & sending it all over the planet. You have to hone your skills which AR can teach you with AR university. If you are looking for instant #1 results, you're going to be disappointed as there could be much competition.

Bill Spears gives a great answer.

AR is a tool not a magic bullet.

I would not know how to check.

I don't track that - but I do track calls from the public - one of which led to a listing last month.

The SEO quality has changed over time due to numerous factors.

Depending on the topic, most localism posts make it to the first page of Google or bing.

Steve Snyder - I have seen few of my posts making it to page#1 on Google in just few minutes...

Steve,

There was a time when I would write a post on AR, and it would appear 3 hours later on Google...there was a time when we were ranked 1, 2, or 3 on Google...then the algorithms changed and Google's model was paying for placement, and then Active Rain changed hands, changed its URL by adding Trulia to the name...the ranking tanked, and then bought again!  What I can tell you is that we do get 2-4 visits to our site generated by Active Rain...

Luckily our posts get pickedup via syndication and we reach over a million readers, but  I have no idea if they read it or not.  A

lots of people here have. i have also. but the interweb is like a spider web...not just one web catches the meal...its a combo of many webs..carefully woven with hard work by the spider... nothing worth having comes easy unless your Lebron James