17 replies to this topic

[Amit]

hi all,

I am having one travel related site. Recenttly i have started a link building cappaign for my site.

I am lil bit confuse about the difference between link farms and what they call as " quality links". how can i get good quality links of travel related sites for my site.

many thanks in advance.

Admin

[qwerty]

Have a look at this article written by Kim Krause. There are plenty of different definitions of the term "link farm," but this is a good overview of stuff to watch out for.

[Amit]

Thanks qwerty,

Am i going into link farm trap in my link page at:

www.airtkt.com/links.htm

Admin

[amabaie]

Hi admin.

My definition of a "link farm" might be a bit stricter than most, but I think even the most lenient person would see this as over the top. I didn't count your links, but it looks like you are over 100 (which I believe is the magic number that at one time, or maybe even still, Google would vastly reduce the value of the links on the page).

My definition of a link farm is a page that is set up just to place reciprocal links. As long as it works and does not offend the search engines, there's nothing wrong with such a page, but it is still the poorest form of links, imho.

[qwerty]

admin, the page looks like it was automatically generated, and that it's just grabbing the title tag from the pages it's linking to, whether the content of those tags makes sense or not. That's bad sign number 1.

Secondly, the first link on the page is to a "Free Link Exchange". I'm assuming you got all of these links from that exchange, and that your "payment" for getting them is that you have to link back to it, and to all of the pages which are now linking to you. And that just happens to be my own definition of a link farm.

What it comes down to, ignoring that first link, is that this page isn't for people. You don't really expect anyone searching for a hotel to do so via this page, do you? That's not what it was created for. And if the page is designed more for search engine spiders than for people, I'd say you're going in the wrong direction.

[air-dog]

I agree with this lot,

Sorry mate... but if it was one of my sites I'd have this page down within seconds.

But not all is lost. Just think have much you know about finding links and swapping um. If you put this experience into building a quality links page you could end up with one of the best.

[Debra]

Admin, your links page is not user friendly, I agree with the comments posted above.

Overall, get your site in working order before you launch a links campaign. No one will want to link to a site that purports to offer discounts on airfare and yet can't produce any flight information.

Reorganize your links page by category - geographically would make sense for your topic. Help your visitors find the information you're offering quickly!

To answer your is it a "link farm trap" question though - if you're asking, chances are you think it is. Better to start over and get quality links than to feel suspect that your site is taking part in such a scheme.

I mean, you'll end up doing that anyway once you're penalized/banned for participating in a link farm -- right?

[Amit]

Thanks all of you,

All these are real guidelines for me, and i am taking these as my launch pad.

I am redoing the site from the scratch.

But Debra,

Overall, get your site in working order before you launch a links campaign. No one will want to link to a site that purports to offer discounts on airfare and yet can't produce any flight information.

Unless i get a fare amount of traffic on site, it is difficult to put online booking system in the site.

Sorry mate... but if it was one of my sites I'd have this page down within seconds.

Steve, i am removing the links which are looking spammy to me and organizing in categories.

Secondly, the first link on the page is to a "Free Link Exchange". I'm assuming you got all of these links from that exchange, and that your "payment" for getting them is that you have to link back to it, and to all of the pages which are now linking to you. And that just happens to be my own definition of a link farm.

Bob, the link page isnt generated automatically. I have put "travel link exchange" in google, and followed the results.

You know i got very much frustated looking the SERPs of my target keyword. Put "Cheap Airfare" in google, and look at the first two results. They are getting the backwards links from the same sites, from which i am getting. And both the sites dont sell any tickets. Both are part of a link exchange group.

In this scenario how one can be ethical and apply good practice and still expect good results.


BTW i am redoing the site, thanks David, Steve, Debra and you Bob for most valuable suggestions to me. Sorry for my poor english, its not my first language.

[qwerty]

Sorry for my poor english, its not my first language.

Way off-topic, I know, but I want to say something about this. I don't think anyone who manages to communicate in a language other than their primary one has anything to apologize for. I'm a member of a photographic community site based in the Czech Republic, and I don't speak Czech at all. I have to post in English and apologize all the time for it, and people are very nice about it. Only once has someone said to me (in English) "please post your comments in Czech."

If someone were to post on an English language forum in some other language, no matter how much they apologized, I'm sure their posts would be removed. So Amit, you have nothing to apologize for.

[Debra]

Thanks for saying that Bob, you are absolutely right!

[Debra]

Unless i get a fare amount of traffic on site, it is difficult to put online booking system in the site. 

Amit:

Perhaps posting sample fares and their rates would help get people to start using the site. Offer information on a number of your most popular fares and post so people can see that you do offer flights at substantial discounts.

Getting sites to link to you involves getting people to TRUST your site and the product you sell. Give them something to trust!

[Amit]

Perhaps posting sample fares and their rates would help get people to start using the site. Offer information on a number of your most popular fares and post so people can see that you do offer flights at substantial discounts.

thanks debra, the fares are there, but they are less visible on the site. fixing it.

Amit

[Amit]

If someone were to post on an English language forum in some other language, no matter how much they apologized, I'm sure their posts would be removed. So Amit, you have nothing to apologize for.

Sure Bob,

Amit

[compar]

Sorry for my poor english, its not my first language.

Way off-topic, I know, but I want to say something about this. I don't think anyone who manages to communicate in a language other than their primary one has anything to apologize for.

If someone were to post on an English language forum in some other language, no matter how much they apologized, I'm sure their posts would be removed. So Amit, you have nothing to apologize for.

Qwerty,

What you say about posting to this forum is absolutely correct. However when it comes to publishing a web site in your non native language I think one would be wise to get help from someone who does speak the language that the web site is written in.

I know this is a departure from the immediate discussion of Amit's links, but I think the entire site suffers for lack English language fluency. My advice to Amit would be to get the help of a English speaking copywriter or proofreader or both.

[qwerty]

I haven't checked the site for English grammar and vocabulary, but if that's the case, I agree. A forum post is one thing, but if you're going to publish a web site in any given language, it's very important that you appear to be a native speaker.

I used to link to babel fish translations of my pages on one of my sites, but I found that its translations were inaccurate enough to make me look bad, so I got rid of it. If people choose to use it to help them read the site, that's their prerogative, but it affects their image of the site if I recommend it to them. I wish I could afford to get every page professionally translated, but that's not an option. So I have to leave the whole site in the only language in which I'm fluent, and that happens to be English.