What is the actual difference, Im keen to get quality backlinks but dont want to associate myself with link farms, can someone explain the difference or give me a web url as an example?

IMHO opinion, same thing. Google and Yahoo have legit directories. Both those aren't going to get you backlinks. If you're submitting to a directory soley for the purpose of backlink, it's probably going to do little or no good at best. If it's an especially spammy one, it will actually hurt you SERP wise.

If you want backlinks, you need to create good content! Then you'll get "organic" backlinks which is what you really want. Your other option to is approach sites that are in your same niche and see if you can work out some sort of deal with them. If somebody is advertising that you can put your link into their directory, you probably want to just look away.

A link farm is a linking scheme where every site in the scheme links to every other site in the scheme.

Ok so I need to stay away from web directories? what are organic backlinks and how do I get these?

Ok so I need to stay away from web directories?

Nope, most directories are perfectly okay, though pretty hopeless for useful traffic & visitors.

what are organic backlinks and how do I get these?

Organic links are ones you don't ask for.
How to get them? By Having a truly useful site with great content, unique preferably and people will just link to you.

Web directories aren't link farms by their nature, but a lot of them are used as such. Also, link farm can mean different things to different people. It's a dark hat SEO term or technique meaning what Chris said, or it's a site that has no content but links, which describes a lot of web directories.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Nope, most directories are perfectly okay, though pretty hopeless for useful traffic & visitors.


Organic links are ones you don't ask for.
How to get them? By Having a truly useful site with great content, unique preferably and people will just link to you.

Exactly. And a very precise answer to your question. Great and unique content would be a difference...

Originally Posted by fattony

What is the actual difference, Im keen to get quality backlinks but dont want to associate myself with link farms, can someone explain the difference or give me a web url as an example?

i see link farm when unassociated links are submitted into a not relevant category in a directory...

and would be UTTERLY UTTERLY WRONG!!!