What is a Link Train? A link train is a list of links to other blogs in the form of a blog post “chain letter” where someone posts on their blog and then asks that other blogs copy that original list and add their own site at the bottom. Once you’ve copied the list and added your own link to the bottom, you would ask others to do the same. So what you end up with is a blog post that is essentially a long list of links to other blogs.
Why would someone do it? If you’ve been blogging for any time at all, it’s easy: lots of links, and possibly lots of traffic. Also the idea of raising their “authority” on Technorati and Google Page Rank is very appealing, although tthe truth seems to be that Google may consider such posts “link farms” and those who participate could be penalised, rather than benefiting from the scheme.

Ia of Blog Tutorials lists a few reasons why Link Trains can be appealing to bloggers, including the plain fact that they can be rewarding. He says “You are helping other bloggers and they help you.” True. He wisely goes on, I should point out, to note the downsides as well, including the biggie: “Link trains can even be considered as spam or even link farms-and can therefore be penalized by Google!”

If you want to read a truly compelling argument not to participate in Link Trains, read this insightful article by Andrew at alleba.com . When talking about Alexa Link Trains, he says “…it becomes viral because, who doesn’t want links? Every struggling blogger would jump at any chance to get links, right? That’s why it’s so easy to ask them to join. In the end, the originator gets all the link love while the rest are placed in a link farm.”

Another thought by swapw : “Not only does it abuse the blogosphere of its reputations of organic rankings, it’s just another way to cheat the system.”

Summary:

Spam works. We know this, because otherwise our inboxes wouldn’t be full of offers to enhance our sex lives and sell us prescription drugs “fer cheep”!

Link Trains are spam. They add nothing to the blog who posts them or its readers, and are simply a way to try to “cheat” your way to the top. And sadly, they are more beneficial to the person who starts them than to those who participate.

Effective? Possibly, although I can guarantee you that for every cheat method, google, alexa, and others have people working full time to figure out a way to stop it? Why, because when their results are skewed by cheating, it renders their product ineffective.

Last Thought:

By participating in Link Trains, you may actually hurt your reputation. In addition to losing out on Pagerank benefits and possibly being labled as a link-farm spammer, anyone who bothers to look will be put off when they see.

Example: I saw a highly “authoritative” blog on Technorati… something over 1000+. I went to her site, and it was nothing special. It looked like a million other newbie blogs, and it wasn’t that interesting. Why, I wondered, would so many hundreds upon hundreds of people be linking to her? I did a quick peek at her ‘authority’ and saw that it all came from link farms. Ugh. I felt cheated by this “fake” ranking.

Tempting? Yes. Worth it? No.

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