What is a link farm?

A link farm is a web page where hundreds of links to various websites are listed. This same web page is being used by the same people who have their own links on the page. Thus, each one of these webmasters makes use the same web page to make it look like they are linked to all many sites. Thus, a website who does not receive a lot of visits may appear like it's a popular website but in truth, it's just using a common page that are also being used by everyone on that page.

Farm links are often detected by search engines. For instance, a search engine can scan whether a website is linking to genuine sites. If the links on a webpage lead to different kinds of website, a search engine will consider this as a link farm. Generally, search engines may penalize a website that uses farm linking tactics by lowering its search rank, or removing the site from the search engine's list.

Some people may join a farm link, unaware that farm links can do more damage than good to their search ranking. When search engines detect that their site is linked to these farms, their search engine rank can drop and they can even get banned from the search engine. Hence, if you want to use exchange linking to boost your search engine ranking, see to it that the sites that have a link to your website are relevant to the content or the theme of your website.

More Anti-Link Farm Tips

Check a website's content before adding its link to your site. If you're sure that you want to exchange links with that particular website, send e-mail to the webmaster and notify him about your proposition. If your website has equally good content, the webmaster will likely agree to exchange links with you.

Sending e-mails to different webmasters can take a bit of your time. However, you can be assured that the websites you're linking with are genuine and outstanding. More importantly, search engines will recognize that the links you've established are valid resources and these will get you on top of the search ranks.

Do not just focus on linking. Do not forget about creating great content for your site. Great content never fails to attract search engines. People who visit your site would most likely volunteer to place your link on their own sites if you give them quality resources.

Do not underestimate the power of recommendation. Lastly, aside from exchanging links, you still have other options to boost your web traffic. Get involved with other online marketing tactics and you'll surely get on the top ranks of search engines.