Link Farms - Why are they not a good idea?

[lpstong]

I am just curious why they are not a good idea to help build up inbound/outbound links.

I have used linkmarket(.)net before. They were good to a point. But I found it annoying after awhile. I found quite often, atleast 70% of the time that forum owners that wanted an exchange had sites unrelated to my site. I eventually discontinued the service. I used the free version of it and not did not pay the $25 fee for it.

So I know why one thing a link farm is not a good idea and that is the request from others that have sites unrelated to yours.

Has anyone else tried link farms? If you have which ones. I know their are several. Tell us what you think of them and why.

[AjiNIMC]

Links are like votes, anything that can be forged is not accepted. Our society has a perception that whoever goes to a brothel is of loss chracter. So better not take a risk with our exisiting society and Google if you need Search bread everyday.

[Scott]

Stop! Step away from the edge of the pits of SEOell! :timeout:

Generally, I would never suggest even trying these, they usually result in complete blocks from google, which isn't something you really want.

Directories are places I would suggest submitting to, places with high PR that link to your site (not http://www.theirsite.com/index.php?link=randomnumber) (http://www.theirsit.com/index.php?link=randomnumber%29). Ideally, the one which bests suits this is dmoz...but we'll save that for another thread. :armed:

[AjiNIMC]

DMOZ is gone but I prefer Hedir. There can't be a better directory that Hedir.com , they do such a good review and thats openly.

Read why I like hedir over DMOZ at http://www.idealwebtools.com/blog/web2-bookmarkingtool/ . Also do not think of PR, it is just a mere representation, doesnt help in ranking at all :). Sometimes have a talk with Matt cutts, he is the right person to explain these things.

AjiNIMC

[Willdex]

Would it be safe to say that instead of having a single page of links, it's better to have the spread throughout the forum, including the signatures?

[Webmaster7]

Some linkfarms were busted and some sites using them are getting the boot from Google. It's a no-no strategy.

[sabian1982]

Link farms = a sure fire way of getting your site banned from Google (and other top SEs), although so saying Google and other search engines understand that fact that you have no control over incoming links - therefore if you are found to be linking to a link farm then that will result in your site potentially getting banned.

[Origin]

What are link farms then?

[sabian1982]

Sites literally full of links - where the line between link farm and directory is... who knows...

[Scott]

What are link farms then?
On the World Wide Web, a link farm is any group of web pages that all hyperlink to every other page in the group. Although some link farms can be created by hand, most are created through automated programs and services. A link farm is a form of spamming the index of a search engine. Other link exchange systems are designed to allow individual websites to selectively exchange links with other relevant websites and are not considered a form of spamdexing.I think that sums it up pretty nicely :)

[Origin]

o_O So how would google differentiate?

[Scott]

Exactly how, we don't really know, but it would probably follow the links and find itself coming back to the first page again and again.

[Origin]

All my pages link to my homepage though!

[Scott]

That shouldn't be a problem. Are you having a problem with google not getting to your pages?