What is a link farm?
A link farm is a website that exists mainly to sell links. It may look like a normal blog, but most of its posts are paid placements for anyone who pays, often including casino, CBD and loan sites.
Links from these sites carry little value, and a profile full of them can look manipulative under Google’s link spam policy. Google’s site reputation abuse policy also targets sites that publish low-value third-party content at scale.
What this tool checks
- Spam-niche links in the site’s recent posts: casino, betting, CBD, payday loans, vape and adult sites.
- Link price lists on pages like /write-for-us/ or /advertise/, and whether they accept grey niches.
- Outbound link patterns: how many recent posts link out, and to how many sites.
- Guest and sponsored share: how much of the recent content is labelled guest, sponsored or contributor.
- Content depth: the average word count of recent posts.
- Posting volume: how many posts were published in the last 30 days.
- Indexing: whether the homepage is set to noindex.
How to read the result
Red flags, such as spam-niche links or a price list that accepts casino and CBD, are strong signs of a link farm. Avoid these sites. Yellow flags are worth a closer look: a public price list or lots of guest posts isn’t always bad, but several together form a pattern. Green means we found no warning signs in the sample.
Always check traffic too
This tool reads a site’s content and links. It can’t see traffic. Before you pitch or pay, check the site’s organic traffic trend in Semrush or Ahrefs. A flat or falling line next to high authority scores is one of the clearest link-farm signs.
Part of a complete vetting workflow
- Find sites with our free guest post finder.
- Vet each site with this link farm detector.
- Verify your live link with the backlink placement checker.
Prefer to skip the vetting? Every site in Linkuild’s network is checked by hand before we offer it. See our guest posting services and niche edits, or read our case studies.
FAQ
Is the link farm detector free?
Yes. Each email gets 5 free checks. If a site blocks automated tools, the check isn’t counted.
Can a site pass this check and still be a link farm?
Yes. The tool reads a sample of recent posts and public pages. It’s a fast first filter, not a final verdict. Always look at organic traffic and a few articles yourself.
Why couldn’t the tool read a site’s posts?
Some sites block automated readers or don’t publish a feed. In that case we check the homepage and contributor pages only.
Is guest posting on a site with a “write for us” page bad?
Not necessarily. Many quality sites accept contributors. The warning signs are price lists for every niche, especially casino and CBD, and posts that exist only to carry links.