Link farming might sound like a fast way to SEO success, but it’s a threatening practice. Link farms are groups of websites created to link back to one another without offering value. They are used to manipulate search engines and can’t increase site authority. If high-quality backlinks can enhance site visibility, link farms and their low-quality backlinks do the exact opposite. Of course, Google disapproves of link farming and sometimes penalizes sites involved in such practices. Consequently, websites included in link farms may experience a significant drop in search engine rankings, making it harder for them to appear in search results.
Many SEO specialists initially chose this practice, as it seems a fast way to build a backlink profile. But it looks easy and effective only at first glance. Learning about link farming, detecting it, and avoiding it is a necessary practice for every SEO expert.
So, let’s delve into link farming in SEO, learn how to detect them, and take a look at some examples!
What is a Link Farm?
So, we already know that link farming is a practice that manipulates search engine rankings. But how does it actually work? Link farming can be described as creating a network of websites that link to each other. This technique is a cornerstone of black hat SEO, where interconnected sites attempt to boost their visibility on search engines like Google artificially. However, these sites often ignore the quality of the content and focus only on the number of links. This leads to providing little or no value at all. Google constantly searches for these types of farms and penalizes them.
History of Link Farming
Link farms originated in 1999 as a way to manipulate Inktomi’s search engine. Back then, Inktomi ranked sites based on link popularity. This made it easy to manipulate, as pages with few links were often excluded from its primary index. At the time, Yahoo!, the most popular search engine, used Inktomi’s results to support its directory search, which made link farming even more common.
When Google introduced its PageRank algorithm focused on link quality, link farms changed their tactics. However, many people tried to manipulate the system by hiding links or not following the rules. Surely, these made search engines step in. They created tools to detect and block link farms, even removing entire websites from search results. Today, link farming is outdated and risky, making honest and high-quality SEO strategies the better choice.
How to Detect a Link Farm?
To protect your SEO efforts, it’s important to spot the signs of link farms:
- Too Many Outbound Links
Link farms typically show a massive number of outbound links. If a site has an unusually high number of links leading to unrelated and irrelevant sites, it’s likely participating in link farming. You can use tools like Ahrefs to inspect a site’s link profile and check if it’s filled with excessive links to other domains.
- Low-Quality Content
The low quality can be another identifier for a link farm. These sites often choose quantity over quality.
Link farms, in general, have poor or irrelevant content. This can be understood by repetitive or keyword-stuffed articles that offer no value. In contrast, quality content involves deep research, while link farms typically create low-quality pieces.
- Spammy Domain Names
Link farms can be detected even with domain names. In general, websites linked to link farms have keyword-staffed domain names. These names are also created for search engine manipulation and signals about low credibility.
4. Anonymous or Generic Authors
High-quality websites have their own writers and contributors. They don’t have to use anonymous positions, like “guest writer” or “contributor.” When you encounter something like this on a website, it helps build your trust in the site: