Many of us become impatient or deploy risky SEO practices and fail to get the desired results. This leads to using unethical practices to boost website ranking like abusing link farms for backlink equity. This practice was a cheat code to get around Google’s algorithm back in the day. But now, Google considers link farming as a manipulative black-hat SEO tactic that can have a devastating effect on the performance of your website in organic search results.

So while link farming can temporarily help your website gain visibility, it is a black-listed backlink building practice that you should avoid at all costs. Here, we discuss the risks associated with link farming and how to detect if a website is using link farms.

Header Image Source: Pexels

What Is a Link Farm?

Link farms are websites made up of a large number of links, often to unrelated sites. The purpose of link farms is to improve the rankings of their associated sites in search engine results pages. Or to just make money—oftentimes, link farms are made solely to generate profit from selling backlinks. Most are created with the intent to manipulate search engine rankings and are considered to violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. 

Link farms can be created using automated programs that generate a large number of links in a short amount of time. These programs create thousands of web pages containing hundreds or thousands of outgoing links to affiliated sites. This helps artificially inflate the number of backlinks pointed to affiliated sites, making them appear more popular and authoritative than they actually are.

Signs a Website Is Link Farm

Here are the signs that a website is potentially a link farm.

An Abundance of Outbound Links

One of the major signs that a website is a link farm is an abundance of external links or links to other websites. Link farms contain a large number of links to other websites that have nothing to do with the content on the page. This is done to increase the number of an affiliated website’s number of inbound links, which can boost the website’s search engine rankings or metrics like domain authority (DA) and domain rating (DR).

Poorly Written Content

Another sign that a website is a link farm is the presence of poorly written content. Link farms contain content stuffed with keywords and phrases, but it is written in a choppy or unnatural manner.

Through the use of AI, link farms can be written at scale in violation of Google’s AI guidelines. This type of content production is not only against guidelines, it can actually harm a website’s SERP ranking by triggering a manual penalty from Google.

Random and Unrelated Content Published

Finding random and unrelated content published on the same page indicates that the website is a link farm. Link farms often contain content unrelated to the site’s main niche because they’re selling guest post placements to anyone with a wallet. 

If you’re wondering if a website has unrelated content, try using one of these Google searches:

• site:domain.com crypto
• site:domain.com gambling
• site:domain.com casino
• site.domain.com “any keyword or phrase here”

Unnatural Anchor Text

Unnatural anchor text is another sign of a link farm. Link farms use unnatural or keyword-rich anchor texts to create backlinks, which can be easily identified by checking the source code of a website and doing a Ctrl+F search for “<a hrefs=”. This will highlight every instance of a hyperlink on a page.

Links from Low Authority Domains

The presence of links from low-authority domains is another indication that a website is a link farm. Link farms usually contain backlinks from websites with little to no domain authority, which can be easily identified by checking the source code of a website.

High Number of Links from the Same Domain

A high number of links from the same domain is a major sign that a website is a link farm. Link farms contain hundreds of backlinks from the same domain or website, which is a tell-tale sign of poor research and only focused on improving the site’s ranking through backlinking.

Web Pages with Nothing But Links without Context

Link farms contain web pages with nothing but links without context, another major sign of a link farm. Link farms are full of web pages with a long list of links without any meaningful content.

Why Should You Avoid Link from Link Farms

We know improving your site’s search results can force you to link farms, but here are all the reasons you should avoid doing it.

Negative Impact on Search Rankings

Link farming is considered a black hat SEO technique, and search engines like Google will penalize any website that engages in this practice. Search algorithms are designed to detect link farms, so it’s important to be careful when buildinglinks.

Decreased Visibility

Link farming can clog up search engine results with low-quality, irrelevant content. This means your website won’t be seen as much because it will get buried in all the links created by link farms.

Reputation Damage

Using a link farm can also damage your reputation and put your business at risk of losing customers or potential clients. It could lead to people believing that your business is operating unethically and will damage the trust between you and your customers.

Risk of Being Penalized by Search Engines

Another reason to avoid link farming is the risk of being penalized by search engines. Google has strict rules regarding linking under its spam policies, and if you violate these rules, your website could be removed from its indexes completely.

Low-Quality Links

Link farming can lead to low-quality links that provide no real value to your website. Link farms are often created by spammers and contain links to sites with poor context. These links will not help you improve your search engine rankings but could potentially hurt them.

Waste of Time and Money

Link farming is a time-consuming and expensive technique that requires constant monitoring. It also requires you to invest in marketing and advertising to get your links seen. All this effort can be wasted if your link farm ends up being detected by search engines. So it’s best to avoid link farms and focus on creating high-quality, relevant content.

Key Takeaways

A link farm is risky and can negatively affect your website’s search rankings. If you want to improve your SEO ranking without being penalized by search engines or damaging your business’s credibility, focus on creating high-quality content instead of link farms.

Link farms are websites with many backlinks without relevant content. 

Remember that:

• Signs of link farming include unnatural anchor text, links from low authority domains, and webpages with nothing but links without context. 
• Link farming can harm search rankings, decrease visibility, and damage your reputation. 
• Link farming can also lead to being penalized by search engines and low-quality links that provide no real value.

Be Cautious of PBNs When Backlink Building

PBNs are networks of blogs that are owned by the same person or company and used to improve a website’s search engine rankings. But what exactly are PBNs, and how can they improve your website’s ranking?

This post will explain everything you need to know about PBNs. We’ll cover what PBNs are, how they work, and why they can be an effective tool for improving your website’s search engine ranking. Let’s dive in to learn more about PBNs.

What Is a PBN?

PBN stands for Private Blog Network and is a network of websites used to build links back to your main website. While building traditional links can take time and effort, a PBN lets you get these results quickly without much hassle.

PBNs are great for SEO (search engine optimization) as they help boost your website’s rankings in the search engines. They are also beneficial for building brand awareness and increasing your website’s visibility. It is important to note that PBNs can be extremely risky if not done correctly, so it is best to do research beforehand before using one.

How Do PBNs Work?

PBNs create a network of websites to link back to your primary website. The links help search engines recognize the authority of your primary site and boost its ranking in searches.

A PBN is usually made up of several websites owned by one company or individual. These sites are interlinked so that when a search engine crawls one of them, it is directed to other sites in the network. This connection helps increase your website’s visibility in search results and gives it a boost over competitors’ websites.

Why People Use PBNs

Link Building Is Hard

Backlink building is complex, time-consuming and is resource-heavy, making it difficult for businesses to stay on top of their SEO game. To make matters worse, search engines are constantly changing the spam policies around link building, meaning that today’s strategies could be penalized tomorrow. People use Private Blog Networks (PBNs) as an alternative solution to link building.

PBNs can be used to create needle-moving links for your website, which helps with its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). With PBNs, businesses don’t have to worry about constantly changing algorithms or spending time manually building links. Private Blog Networks provide a reliable, efficient way to boost your website’s search engine rankings.

However, this comes with a much higher than normal risk profile. When a PBN is discovered by Google, every site it has linked to is often penalized together. Spacebar Collective strongly advises against using PBNs for link building because it’s not worth risking your primary domain. While there are situations where PBNs are suitable, we can’t in good conscience recommend using them to beginner or even intermediate SEOs.

PBNs Can Manipulate Anchor Text

Anchor text is an important component of SEO because it helps search engines understand the context of a website and can influence how your page ranks in the search engine results. PBNs improve your website’s ranking by manipulating anchor text.

By manipulating anchor text, you can control the context of a website and target specific keywords that will help you rank higher in search engine results.

Main Risks of Using a PBN

While a PBN is a powerful tool that helps you take control of your website ranking, it does not come without its risks.

Your Site May Get Penalized

When using a PBN, it is crucial to be aware of the risks. If you are not careful with your practices, you could face severe penalties from search engines. It’s essential to understand that this type of network can be easily detected by search engine algorithms, leading to harsh consequences if they see any suspicious activity. 

Even if your network is private and you think it won’t be discovered, there is still a risk of being penalized by Google. Using this system could also lead to a poor user experience because the links may not be relevant or useful for visitors.

This can ultimately hurt your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. It is important to be aware of the potential risks and ensure that you take all necessary precautions and constantly monitor your website alongside Google Search Engine Essentials.

Your Links May Get Ignored

Search engine algorithms may ignore the links from your Private Blog Network (PBN) altogether. This can be because of not having enough contextual relevance or lacking high-quality content on your sites.

Your PBN links may become irrelevant if the content isn’t updated regularly and monitored for accuracy. Ultimately, if your PBN links seem spammy or suspicious to search engine algorithms, they may be deemed low quality and ignored.

How to Identify a PBN

Once you’ve identified a PBN, several key indicators can help you confirm your suspicions. 

• Look for Duplicate Content: PBNs often copy and paste content from other sources to populate their sites. You can check for duplicate content by copy-pasting a paragraph on a search engine.
• Check for Abundant External Links: PBNs typically link to various other websites and rely heavily on backlinks. This is often done as a way to inflate their SEO rankings. 
• Investigate the Hosting Provider: Many PBNs use dedicated servers or shared hosting providers with IP addresses previously associated with PBNs.
• Images and Videos: Many PBNs use the same videos and images on multiple sites as they are expensive. If the same images or videos appear across multiple sites, this could signify a shared network.
• Look for Low-Quality Content: PBN sites rarely feature original, high-quality content. Instead, they are often filled with thin, keyword-stuffed articles and pages that lack depth.
• Check for Similar Backlink profile: The backlinks pointing to a PBN often share similarities with other sites that link to the same network. It is essential to investigate this further before making any assumptions.

Key Takeaways

We hope this article helped you understand PBNs, their uses, benefits, and risks. Here is what we discussed:

• PBNs are a powerful tool for improving your website’s ranking in search engine results pages, but they come with risks.
• It is essential to be aware of the potential risks and take all necessary precautions when using a PBN.
• Search engine algorithms may ignore PBN links if they are found to be spammy or suspicious.
• Some key indicators that can help you identify a PBN are duplicate content, excessive external links, similar backlink profiles, and low-quality content.

Citation Building Explained

To grow your business, you need your name to be out there so that customers, clients, and potential partners can find you. One way to do this is through citation building. Citation building is creating consistent business listings on popular websites and directories. 

This helps improve your brand visibility, credibility, and authority. It also makes it easier for customers to find and remember your business.

Here, we discuss the best platforms for citation building to get more eyes on your business.

What Is Citation Building?

Citation building is a form of backlink building where you create profiles and listings in business directories.

Earlier, having web pages dedicated to cities, states, or regions were sufficient. But in today’s competitive market, it is not enough. Your local search engine game needs to be on point.

Let’s say you own a retail shop or restaurant. You want potential customers to find you, so you must ensure your business is listed on the right websites and directories. This is where citation building comes in. Citations are mentions of your business online.

Citation building involves creating listings for your business on well-known and credible business directories such as Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and Yellowpages.

Types of Citation 

Here are two primary types of citation building.

Structured Citations

Structured citations are listings that follow a specific format, such as those found in directories, social media profiles, and local listings. Businesses should include as much detail as possible when creating these listings, including their website link, hours of operation, address, and contact information. 

Examples of structured citations include Facebook, Maps, Yellowpages, and Foursquare. 

Unstructured Citations

Unstructured citations are when businesses are mentioned on sites that aren’t necessarily directories. This could include a mention in a magazine, blog post, or review. In other words, an unstructured citation is when someone mentions your business in a non-formal way.

Benefits of Citation Building

78% of local searches on mobile result in an offline purchase and 30% of all Google mobile searches are related to location.

It is, therefore, essential for businesses to use citation building to strengthen their presence in local search engine results. 

Here are a few benefits of citation building.

Improves Reputation

63% of customers say they will trust a brand more if there are positive reviews of the company online. If your citation-building efforts include reviews and ratings, it adds to the credibility of your business and helps you build trust with potential customers.

Increases Brand Visibility

Every business owner aims to ensure their business is visible wherever and whenever customers search. A business listing on Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook will help your business gain visibility.

Improves Search Engine Results

Google prioritizes businesses that seem most helpful and values customers’ experiences. When you claim your business profile on Google, your business, you don’t just make it easier for customers to reach you but also influence Google’s search engine results. Your business will also appear on Google Maps, which can be great for passive lead generation or increasing foot traffic to a brick and mortar location.

Generates Leads

Citation building can create leads for your business by directing users to take action. When potential customers search for businesses like yours, they can find your business and contact you easily. This will help you entice customers who have decided to purchase and are only looking for the right company.

Helps Compete Against Your Competitors

Businesses follow different strategies to win their competitors’ customers. Almost every business focuses on creating better content, running ads, and improving its backlink profiles. But, a well-executed citation-building strategy can be the key to winning customers from your competitors and staying one step ahead of them.

If your competitors haven’t listed their business online, or even if they have but with poor listings, you have a great opportunity to build quality citations.

Reduces Your Marketing Efforts

Today, having a website and creating content isn’t enough to get customers—you must ensure your business is visible everywhere. Citation building helps you ensure your business is seen in all the right places, which reduces the need to spend extra money on marketing efforts.

Does Citation Building Work in 2023?

Some SEO professionals think that citation building doesn’t work anymore. But that’s far from the truth. Relevant and high-quality citations can still be a great way to improve your local SEO.

When it comes to citations, the difficulty lies in determining their SEO value vs the time involved with creating listings. Some sites won’t have much of an impact, while major software review sites like Capterra or G2 could be needle-moving citations for your startup.

Quality citations can help you rank better on search engines.

That said, there are still some good practices to follow when building citations. These include:

• Research the sites where you should be listed and submit your business information accordingly.
• Ensure that the citation sites you submit to are relevant to your industry and respected by Google.
• Keep a consistent NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) across all your citations.
• Link to your website if the citation site allows it.

5 Best Citation Building Platforms for 2023

The following are the best citation platforms to use in 2023.

SEMrush

Source: SEMrush

With SEMrush, you can easily increase your business’s visibility and improve its online presence. Its Listing Management tool lets you audit to determine how visible your business is on local directories and Google Maps.

The tool lets you put your business on Google Maps and optimize your profile on Google My Business and local directories to gain maximum exposure.

SEMrush also assists in discovering opportunities and updating your business’s listings across multiple online sources.

Whitespark 

Source: Whitespark

Finding citation opportunities is difficult. You don’t want your business to be listed on sites that are low quality, but you also don’t want to spend a lot of time researching and manually submitting listings. That’s where Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder comes in.

The tool helps identify citation opportunities based on the top-ranked competitors in your area, monitor citations across the internet, and discover new citation sites.

It also tracks your growth and shares weekly citation opportunities to keep your listings updated.

Moz Local

Source: Moz Local

Moz Local lets you see how accurately your business is listed across top directories and finds new listing opportunities. It leverages a data-driven approach to optimize your online presence and make the most out of it. 

Enter your country along with the business name and address into the tool, and the tool will scan the web to display citations from sources that it finds. It grades each listing and gives you a scorecard with all the details. 

Yext

Source: Yext

Yext is another excellent tool for citation building and local SEO optimization.

The following are a few features Yext offers:

• The Listing Analysis feature scans the web to pull out 3rd party listings data to analyze the performance and accuracy of listings. This helps identify trends and opportunities to improve visibility and performance in local search results.
• Yext’s Duplicate Detection feature helps identify duplicate listings from over 100 publishers and flags them for review.
• Yext’s Knowledge Graph is designed to sync data across the entire Publisher Network. It ensures all data is adequately structured and optimized for each publisher’s requirements.
• The tool offers Edit Suggestions from Google and Facebook. You can review the edits and decide which ones to save to your optimized Knowledge Graph.

Synup

Source: Synup

Synup allows you to optimize and manage your business profiles on Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Google, and 60+ premium publishers.

The listing & reputation management software uses AI technology to manage locations across regions. This simplifies the process of making changes to all your locations from one single interface, saving you time.

Also, you can set up custom notifications to be informed of any changes to ensure accuracy.

Synup’s citation-building platform also tracks your listing’s growth, giving you deep insights into your online reputation.

Key Takeaways 

Citation building helps ensure your business appears in local search results. When your business is listed on Google and business directories like Yellowpages and Yelp, it increases the chances of getting discovered by potential customers. 

The following are the citation-building platforms covered in this article: 

• SEMrush’s listing management feature allows you to audit and optimize your business listings on local directories and Google Maps.
• Whitespark’s Local Citation Finder helps you identify citation opportunities and monitor citations across the web.
• Moz Local scores your listing and helps find new opportunities to get your business discovered by potential customers.
• Yext offers features like Listing Analysis, Duplicate Detection, Knowledge Graph, and Edit Suggestions to help build and implement a successful citation-building strategy. 
• Synup allows you to optimize and manage your listings on 60+ premium publishers, track growth with custom notifications, and get deep insights into your online reputation.

If you want a professional to handle citation building for you, it’s best to get in touch with an SEO agency. This ensures your citations have consistent information, stay up-to-date and are built in a timely fashion.