Link Farming

[blackrino]

Are link farms still bad? I still am not sure about this question. I know that some people still do link farms. If they are bad, wouldn't a directory be considered a link farm? For instance I can get my site on a .EDU, but it will just be a list of links. Is that bad?

[toddmumford]

I believe there is a significant difference between a link farm and a directory. And although there are likely going to be differences in how everyone views the two, the basic differences to me are:

Link Farms:

-No editorial discretion in who is linked to
-No editorial discretion in how one is linked to
-Often generally require a return link or triangular link
-Free for all approach to posting a link
-Often no real review process in terms of quality
-Do not have clearly defined guidelines for the process
-Allow you to link in any way you want (link anchor)
-Do not have content and promotional guidelines for content
-Created specifically to manipulate SERPs via surgical text link manipulation

Quality Directories (I believe there are about 15 total of these on the Internet myself)

-Editorial discretion in who is linked to
-Editorial discretion in how one is linked to
-do not require any link to be listed
-Review process in terms of quality
-Have clearly defined guidelines for the process
-Link to you as a business
-Have content and promotional guidelines for content
-Created to provide value to searchers

I would stay away from link farms to be sure.

[blackrino]

it's just a page on a .edu full of cool sites that the person likes.

[EGOL]

For instance I can get my site on a .EDU, but it will just be a list of links. Is that bad?

I don't know what your definition of a link farm is but mine is a site that has at least a few SEO links stuffed into every page.

What you are describing to me could be a curated list of outstanding resources done by an .edu librarian or professor.  Those can be some of the best links on this planet... but without more info we can only guess.  It could be an untended forum page or a student site stuffed with naughty links.

[Trupanion]

Google's PR doesn't mean anything to SEO.  Use Open Site Explorer to really evaluate the site.  (They could have just purchased that domain with a high PR). I would also spend a bit of time and evaluate the other links you would be grouped with.  Again, if they are quality sites in your industry, then that may be alright.  But if they are just a bunch of spammy sites, then keep away.

[blackrino]

Well it will have unique content on it. Perhaps I will put more on it than just links than

[john4math]

It's all about quality unique content.  The reason a lot of .edu's do well is because they have a lot of domain authority and a lot of them have been around for a long time.  The directories that pass good link juice have this going for them as well.  If you create a link farm on an .edu domain, you won't be fooling the search engines.  It'll be a brand new site with no links to it that has no unique content which links out to a bunch of sites which may also be spammy, aka a link farm.

I'm not sure what your goal is with this site.  If your goal in creating the site is to give an SEO bonus to these site you're linking to, I doubt it do any good.  If your goal is to create a site that is a directory that is useful to people, and people start using it, linking to it, sharing it, then it could work.  If your goal is to put up a site that has some links for your own enjoyment, go for it!  If Google thinks your site is a link farm, it's not like they're going to dispatch agents to your house in the middle of the night or anything.

[blackrino]

But if it's a PR 5 isn't that a solid link? Who cares if there are other links on the page.

[Trupanion]

Yes, they are bad.  Keep away and focus on good quality links.

If it is a reputable directory with good DA (Domain Authority) and PA (Page Authority) and relevant to your site, then go ahead.  Google's latest updates are really focusing on quality links from quality sites.

In the long run it will do more damage then good.