Synonyms: Spammy backlinking
Link farming refers to a black-hat SEO practice where a website creates or joins a network of websites solely to exchange or build links to manipulate search engine rankings. These links typically have little or no relevance to the content of the site, and the sole purpose is to increase the number of inbound links to boost the site’s authority in search results.
In a link farm, websites are created with the primary goal of linking to one another. These links are usually of poor quality and provide no real value to users. Search engines, like Google, value natural, high-quality backlinks as part of their ranking algorithm. But when a site engages in link farming, it’s essentially trying to trick the algorithm by artificially inflating the number of inbound links.
Over time, search engines have gotten better at identifying and penalizing link farming. Sites caught using this tactic can suffer significant drops in rankings or even be removed from search results altogether. Instead of link farming, modern SEO focuses on earning high-quality backlinks naturally, through valuable content that others want to link to.