Answer: When it’s a hub.

The things search engine reps mention…

If you were at SES London, you might have heard one or two little nuggets that seemed inconsequential at first, but were probably more important than you realise.

I was lurking toward the back of the room at the Linking Strategies Session when (I think) Tom Alby from Ask made a comment about hubs and authorities. He said that the difference between a link farm and a hub is that at least one or two authority sites would be linking back to the hub.

Hmmm… so there I was thinking about that for a second. If one or two authority sites link back to a link farm, hey presto, you’ve got a hub! I’ll be honest – I couldn’t hold back the snigger, and I wasn’t alone.

From the last row in the room, I swear I could just about hear the penny drop in Greg Boser’s head as he sat next to the Ask guy. I’m pretty sure he was trying very hard to hold back the laugh (he didn’t succeed :grin:).

Very funny moment, and probably one of those little nuggets the search reps wish they hadn’t dropped.