Link building: avoid content farms

There has always been something profoundly dissatisfactory about the concept of a content farm. No user can enjoy visiting a site that has poor quality content of dubious relevance to their needs. Yet content farms have been ensuring this happens on a regular basis. However, the tide has begun to turn. Google in particular has been instrumental in ensuring that content farms are no longer as successful as they once were. Link building strategies which are based on the regular addition of high grade content are thus now even more likely to achieve the results which they deserve than they used to be.

At SEO Consult we know that Google’s algorithms are often altered. However, by keeping up with change we ensure that our campaigns gradually develop sustainable momentum. By using top quality content, we build up the sites that we manage. These sites attract excellent links due to our concerted link building efforts.

Relatively recent research by the New Scientist has highlighted the difficulties the content farms have been enduring of late. The New Scientist has reported that one specific business called Demand Media has shed approximately half of its value. Such a plunge in value can only be connected with the succession of Google Panda updates during the course of 2011.

The Google Panda updates do seem to have been effective in combating thin content. Even those sites which have not been penalised directly have been affected. This is because all clued up consultancies recognize the fact that thin content is likely to attract the wrath of Google. Moreover, Google has been encouraging users to help them punish those sites with too little to say. Users can block sites from appearing in their search results. Google apparently keeps tabs on the number of blocks and factors this in to how it treats the sites in question.

Attracting inbound links cannot be done on the cheap as easily as once was the case. A content-based strategy requires skilled copywriters and diligent editors. All the content has to be accurate, well written and focused on the wants and needs of the target audience. Consistency is of considerable importance when it comes to content provision.

The way the search engines work never remains the same. Hence it is essential to look out for fresh challenges. Other link attraction strategies are necessary. These can include work on relevant social media, guest blogging, forum visiting and competition holding. In these diverse activities, it is important to respect etiquette, maintain courtesy and demonstrate expertise. It is about generating the kind of web presence which will be a powerful draw.

However, just because a site receives plenty of targeted traffic does not necessarily mean that it will be a great success. To make the most of the inbound links which have been obtained it is advisable to get the site into a great condition. This activity can help the users get round the site, discover information and make purchases with ease. It is then necessary to keep maintaining the site. Content which is generated by users must be treated with care, for example.

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