link farms

question on link farms

[wreck3d]

It's my knowledge that google penalizes (or don't count as much) linkfarms towards PR. I'm kinda confused about this. Is this only because of the massive amounts of outgoing links it has that it won't be able to collect a good PR? Or does google brand a site a link farm after a cetain amount of links and all subsequent links are penalized? I ask because I have found a "directory" for my market and it's got a PR5 which could easily be another good link towards my backlinks. Should I submit my site? Or just don't bother?

-tom

[fathom]

If the primary purpose of a site is to trade "links" regardless of topic or theme, (e.g. - its theme is "links") then this is a link farm and it is best to stay clear. PageRank (gaining) should never be a consideration.

The outgoing link from these sites matters not (in most cases), your link to them is what will get you in trouble.

[homegirl]

The other thing I would add to Fathom's very worthwhile comments is:
What do they want in return for the link to your site?

If it's truly a link farm, you're not going to receive much traffic at all (and close to zero targeted traffic). Don't lose sight of your true objective (which I'm assuming is not simply visibility, whether on Google or elsewhere on the Net, but qualified traffic resulting in sales or some such).

You're better off finding sites that are a good match for your market and requesting links. Or providing content (on your site) that these other sites would want to link to (offering something of value to their market).

If they're a link farm and request a reciprocal link, you'd be worse off to provide one. If they're not a link farm and are charging you for the link (but are a poor quality site), you'll have to calculate whether it's worth it.

The best long-term gauge of whether it's the right match for you- is: is the site a good partner or match for your public? Does it offer quality content? And NOT simply its pagerank.

[jackofalltrades]

Hi all

I thought id run by a scenario ive encountered recently.

A company contacted me through my regional directory site, asking me to exchange links with their client.

I believe the company charges for this service to their clients (they run around finding links for them).

They contacted me previously and I OK'd it because I had a relevant section for that particullar client (and my site may have been of interest to their clients users).

However in this case, their client is a SEO company (why they arent doing their own marketing i dont know - probably run by the same team!) who have a www.keyword1-keyword2-keyword3-keyword4.com name (yes, 4 KWs!).

I have a webmaster resources section on my site (not a very good one though - havent put much work into it! :)), so I could link to them and keep it "on theme".

But their link section is one long list of sites that this recip link company have found (not categorised, not themed, not even in alphabetical order), so Im concerned what affect (if any) that would have on my site.

I considered asking them to deep link to my webmaster resource section (the SEO company is US and my directory is regional UK) as the rest of my directory is irrelvant both to the users of their site and to their theme.

Reading what i have just wrote i think i have convinced myself not to agree to the link exchange!

Any comments?

JOAT

[homegirl]

Only that I think you're doing the right thing. You're not adding to the amount of crappy, content-free pages on the web that simply consist of unorganized links. It doesn't appear to be a very even trade for your site. And it appears as if this SEO company is already making some fairly unintelligent choices for an SEO company.

[jackofalltrades]

Thanks Homegirl.

I emailed earlier on and explained why I wasnt up for the link exchange, but said if they had any clients with related sites, then to contact me.

I can see why the link building company would request a link on my directory site, but to offer an exchange on an unrelated site seems a bit odd! :)

JOAT