SEO Guide - Part 20
Part 20 - FFA pages: Why you should avoid them
FFAs are basically web pages where
anyone
can submit the URL for his website for free (hence the term Free-For-All). The web is home to thousands upon thousands of FFA pages.
FFAs may sound like a great way to get lots of free traffic to your site, but you should avoid these pages at all cost.
Why? Several reasons:
1. They are almost useless as a source of traffic. Very few people searching for a topic on the web will use an FFA page. Instead they will use a search engine or directory.
Think about it for a moment. Where do
you
go when you want to find something on the web? If you're like most web surfers, you use Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL Search, etc.
FFA pages are usually just a long list of unrelated and unorganized URLs which makes finding what you're looking for virtually impossible.
2. Most FFA pages require you to register with your email address before you are allowed to add your link. The owners of the pages then use the email address that you registered with in order to send you loads of Spam.
Even worse, they will often sell your email address to other Spammers. If you choose to use FFA pages, prepare to receive a never-ending flood of SPAM in your email inbox.
3. Using FFAs can lead to your site being banned from Google's search engine index. Many FFA pages require a reciprocal link from your site to theirs before allowing you to place your link.
Google considers most FFA pages to be link farms, and we have already learned what Google thinks of link farms!
