First of all, link farming is against the principles of link building. Now you may ask that Google identifies the authority of a website by looking at its backlink profile, then why does the search algorithm doesn’t support it?

Well, the scenario changed when the algorithm understood the importance of quality over quantity.

And if you are reading about link farming for the first time, let me tell you that link farming has been widely used to manipulate search engine algorithms and to improve website rankings, but search engines have since become much smarter and can now easily detect such practices. 

Further, you will learn what link farming is, the impact of link farming in SEO, why you should opt-out, how to spot link farms, examples, and counter strategies. Let’s get going.

What is Link Farming?

Consider a farm solely created to boost the number of links, it is referred to as link farming. In other words, instead of focusing on adding value, it explicitly creates a backlink profile of irrelevant and low-value sites for your domain.

If you are a website owner or a marketer, beware of service providers offering quick hacks for better search engine rankings, a stellar backlink profile, and more. 

They could be involved in link farming and such websites generally lack relevance or relationship to one another.

Moreover, link farming can lead to severe penalties, including getting banned from search engine results. However, we must know why the search algorithm doesn’t support this strategy. 

Let’s explore the reasons.

Reasons for Going Against Link Farming

1. There’s a Lack of Trust in Link Quality

Search engines, such as Google, place a lot of importance on the quality of backlinks when determining a website’s search engine ranking. 

In link farming, the link quality is unreliable because the links are not created based on relevance, authority, or other legitimate criteria.

Search engines do not trust the quality of farmed links. They can harm a website’s search engine ranking instead of improving it.

On the other side, High quality backlinks are contextually fed in. So, it is essential to focus on creating relevant, and authoritative backlinks through organic link building techniques rather than resorting to link farming.

2. No Long-Term Benefits of Paid Links

Acquiring links by paying money to another website is called paid links.

There are no long-term benefits of paid links if done leveraging link farming. And that’s because it is against Google’s guidelines and other search engines follow the rule.

While buying links can potentially improve a website’s search engine ranking in the short term, search engines can easily detect irrelevant paid links and penalize websites that use them.

3. High Possibility of Getting a Penalty by the Search Engine Algorithm

Search engines like Google constantly update their algorithms to identify and penalize websites that use black hat SEO practices. 

And as mentioned above, link farm violates search engine guidelines and manipulates search engine rankings. Especially, Google’s Penguin algorithm can detect link farming practices and identify patterns of suspicious links.

Once detected, Google can impose severe penalties, including removing a website from its search results or significantly lowering its search engine ranking.

So, there’s always the risk of penalties if you engage in link farming. Such links lack quality and they do not contribute to your organic growth and credibility in the long run.

How to Identify a Link Farm?

1. Using PageRank Could Indicate a Website’s Real Value

PageRank–an algorithm that uses quality backlinks from other websites as a benchmark or “vote” to determine a webpage’s score. It assigns a score between 0 and 10 to each page that it crawls. Based on this figure, you can assess the significance of the website. 

In other words, a webpage’s PageRank score increases with the quantity and quality of “votes,” aka backlinks. Newly established websites naturally have a rank of 0.

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So, I recommend staying away from websites that have been online for a while but have a 0 ranking. Use this PageRank analyzer offered by Small SEO Tools to look up a website’s PageRank before collaborating.

2. Observe Random Domain Names

Link farms are also known for their use of weird domain names.

I wonder about your take on this, but a domain like ‘https://123musiq.ws/’ doesn’t seem like a business name.  And yes, neither you nor I should take a link from a website like that.

One might assert that it is a site owner’s decision to select a suitable name. Totally agreed.

However, they must perform better if they’re serious about providing a mention. An unprofessional name can be ignored against good performance.

Moreover, fluff information is another aspect you must consider. However, the aforementioned characteristics should make it simpler for you to assess websites immediately. If a website has such features, review them and try to avoid them. 

Examples of Random Domain Names:

• https://123musiq.ws/
• https://atozmp3.ws/
• https://hd-ukpost.com/
• https://cinejoia.tv/

3. Beware of a Deceiving Domain Rating(DR) Metric

This aspect covers a close analysis of the alignment between the quality & DR of the website. We can identify whether their DR score is genuine or unnaturally inflated. It will help indicate the presence of link farming. How? 

Let’s take an example of ‘Is It Vivid’:

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An agency had pitched me to place a link here and tried to oversell. According to them, it was a ‘good link’ because the website’s DR score is 72.

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However, we can see that this site doesn’t have real organic traffic for years. And even without taking into account the plainly forced website design, it is obvious that something is wrong just by looking at the data.

4. A Website with Multiple Posting Categories

Link farms generally have numerous posting categories so that they can build links for clients in all niches. So, a website with multiple posting categories can be tagged as one using link farms or at least flagged for analysis. 

For example, the creation of numerous websites or web pages with various categories, such as “sports,” “news,” “finance,” and “entertainment,” all connecting to a single target website, is an example of a link farm in action. 

Check ‘Wheon’ with posting categories (Gaming, Business, Finance & Health) depicted below:

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5. The BASICS: Poor Quality Content

One can determine whether a website is engaged in a link farm strategy by looking at the content placed on it.

​​The purpose of guest posts on link farms is to conceal links, not to provide a good user experience. Because of this, the posts are typically written as cheaply as possible by the people who place them, resulting in generic, low-quality content.

6. Ambiguity in the “About” & “Author” Sections

Analyzing the “About” and “Author” parts of the websites is one of the ways to spot link farming spam. The links in these sections are probably a component of a link farm if the information inside is ambiguous, confusing, or inconsistent.

Because link farms concentrate on generating links rather than offering consumers helpful insight, they frequently produce websites with irrelevant information.

For a better understanding, let’s consider a link farm example below:

Image 1:

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Image 2:

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7. Analyze the Number of Linked Websites

Analyzing the number of websites linking to a specific website is another method for spotting link farms. You may find that the amount of links generated is unusually huge and the DR also seems to deceive.

Therefore, checking the number of linked websites can help make a decision on whether to collaborate or not.

8. Multiple Times Keyword Rich Anchor Text Repetition

Link farming can be detected by analyzing the anchor text of links pointing to a website. If the same keyword-rich anchor text is used repeatedly, it may indicate link farming. 

Link Farming Examples To Learn From

The quick results on link farming in SEO could be deceiving and may lure you to try it out. However, look at the examples below, you will not give it the benefit of doubt.

1. Let’s observe Wheon:

Image 1:
In the image below, we can see:

• It has multiple posting categories
• Huge amount of backlinks
• Unexplainable DR value

Image 2:

In the image below, we can see:

• Look at the irrelevant keywords bringing maximum traffic

2. Mippin

In the image below, we can see:

• The DR value and organic traffic don’t align
• A significant amount of backlinks and a sudden drop of 600+ links

3. NewsWebZone

In this link farming example, check out the image below. We can see:

• There is a sudden and huge drop in domain ranking(DR)

So, these are the fundamental examples to help identify and flag websites for consideration.

5 Counter Strategies to Avoid Falling into Link Farming Trap

1. Link Building Outreach Should Be Within Your Niche

To drive the search algorithm your way, you may begin by outreaching sites within your niche or industry. Like for me, it is SEO-related domains. It can prove to be a highly effective strategy to increase your website’s visibility and drive a more tailored audience. 

One way to identify these sites is by using SERPs and online tools like AHREFs and SEMRush with filter of high domain authority.

Moreover, to expand your reach, you can offer guest posting or collaboration with potential sites within your niche. This helps to attract new followers and gain access to their audience. 

It’s vital to have a clear proposal and value proposition, as competition can be high in many niches. Simply reach out to the site owners with your proposal.

2. Choose Outbound Links Wisely

To avoid link farming and penalties from search engines, choose outbound links carefully. Too many low-quality outbound links on your website can make it appear untrustworthy. 

Instead, only link to high-quality, relevant websites that complement your services or products instead compete with you. Consider reputation, authority, relevance, and content value when selecting outbound links. 

3. Identify the Difference Between Directories and Link Farms

Directories and link farms may appear similar, but they’re different. Directories are well-curated and useful to information seekers. 

Link farms, on the other hand, offer no useful service to their visitors and are random. Directories are beneficial to your SERP rankings and SEO efforts. 

Choose relevant, high-quality directories for your industry or niche carefully.

4. Create High-Quality Content

The search algorithms are programmed to crawl and find the most helpful resource using numerous on-page and off-page signals.

Where trying and implementing all the strategies could be a pain, I recommend no-compromise with content quality. Quality content ranks and is organically chosen to be linked by whoever finds your content value-adding.

Always focus on quality and then scale.

5. Build Organic Links and Keep Away From Buying Links

Although requesting or trading links with reputable peers in your niche is fine, nothing beats wholly organic backlinks. To get them, focus on crafting informative, valuable content that engages your web visitors. 

Cover various topics related to your niche in different forms of media. Offer unique perspectives on your audience’s questions. Create exciting, engaging content that inspires people to share and link to it. 

Building a catalog of backlinks takes time, but this approach provides the best, long-lasting results.

Wrap Up

So, link farming is a black hat SEO practice that can harm your website’s reputation and SEO efforts.

Instead, it is crucial to focus on ethical and high-quality link-building techniques for sustainable growth. 

Organic link building through genuine relationships and quality content is much more valuable than paid links in link farming. While link farming may offer short-term benefits, it can result in severe penalties and harm a website’s credibility. 

Creating a robust and credible backlink profile through organic link building is essential to improve search engine rankings and drive traffic to your website.

Happy link-building!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Google’s stand on link farming?

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Well, link schemes, (Alternatively referred to as “link spam”) whether inbound or outbound, if found manipulative and can result in penalties from Google. Manual actions may be imposed on websites that violate Google’s search quality guidelines, which can lead to a significant decrease in organic traffic.

One more link farming example is Ginger Software. Its organic traffic dropped 94% after receiving a manual action report. The company had to remove all unnatural and harmful backlinks to regain 82% of its pre-penalty traffic. It is clear that link farming can have severe consequences, and Google’s stance is straightforward. 

To avoid penalties, it’s essential to focus on building high-quality, relevant links through ethical means.

Is a link farm a PBN?

A Private Blog Network (PBN) differs from a link farm, although it may include one. PBNs consist of multiple sites used to enhance the authority of other sites the owner owns. 

It wouldn’t make sense for PBN owners to sell backlinks through the network, as this would attract Google’s attention. 

However, PBN operators may use some sites as link farms to generate extra revenue if the search engine has already identified the PBN and the sites aren’t contributing positively to the network’s ranking.

How to check if your link building service provider is leveraging link farming?

Review your website’s backlink profile using a backlink analysis tool. Look for patterns of low-quality or irrelevant websites linking to your site that they helped you build.

Visit the websites that are linking to your site and assess their quality. If they appear to be link farms or directories with no relevant content, it could be a sign that your link building service provider is using link farming.

Another way is to monitor changes in traffic and search engine rankings. Keep an eye on any significant changes in traffic or rankings that could result from black hat SEO practices.

The best is to ask your provider about their methods.

Overall, the best way to avoid link farming is to choose a reputable link building service provider that creates high-quality, relevant backlinks ethically.