What is a content farm?
“Content farm” is a loaded term, but what does it mean? Let’s define content farming, discuss some examples, and learn why content farmers do what they do.
Today, we’ll cover:
- What is content farming?
- How do content farms work?
- How do content farms make money?
- Why are content farms bad?
- How to identify a content farm
- What’s next for content farms?
What is content farming?
A content farm is a website or page that publishes huge volumes of content, often unrelated and low-quality, to generate high traffic and views. Also known as content mills or click farms, these sites deal in memes, videos, and articles. But, well…why?
How do content farms work?
The more content is produced and the more it’s seen, the more chance to earn revenue. Content farmers can monetize their videos, use affiliate links in their articles, and advertise merch or services underneath memes. To achieve such a swift turnaround, they’ll often outsource content creation to freelancers or generative AI tools.
Sometimes, content farms are built on the reputation of existing websites, social media profiles, and brands. It’s a tale as old as time — that funny Facebook page you followed ten years ago now posts strange memes and random content. That page has either sold up to a content farm, decided to become a content farm, or been hacked.
How do content farms make money?
Content farms make money by keeping costs low. As we touched on, they may generate articles with the help of AI technology, or outsource work to countries with lower salaries. The result is a low-cost, high-frequency stream of videos, memes, and articles, which can then be monetized.
Why are content farms bad?
If this all sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme, you’re not far from the truth. Here’s why content farms are generally considered bad:
- Lack of quality content: They rarely provide high-quality, in-depth content.
- No specialization: They don’t specialize in a given subject, instead jumping on trending, unrelated topics.
- Clickbait focus: Their content is often designed to be clickbaity, prioritizing views over value.
- Unreliable information: The content might not be fact-checked or proofread, leading to errors and visual slip-ups.
- SEO misuse: They capitalize on search engine optimization (SEO) by mass-producing content on high-search-volume topics, often without adding any real insight.
Perhaps content farms don’t sound like a big deal, but they’re more prevalent — and popular — than you’d think. One of the most-followed Facebook pages, 5-Minute Crafts, is generally considered to be a content farm. The DIY-style channel has come under fire for promoting “fake” hacks, and has been accused of promoting clickbait.
How to identify a content farm
We’ve covered what a content farm is, but what do they look like? Here are a few classic content farmer tricks to look out for.
1. There’s too much content
Publishing twenty videos a day? Pumping out endless how-to articles? Clogging up your feed with random memes? You just stepped into a potential content farm.
However, just because an outlet creates tons of content, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a content farm. For example, some of the most-subscribed and -viewed YouTube channels publish numerous videos every day. It’s all high-quality, and they have the resources to deliver at scale.
2. The content isn’t related
The Epidemic Sound blog produces articles surrounding music and content creation, as that’s our audience. If we suddenly started writing about the best places to visit in Rome, key lime pie recipes, and ranked lists of The Rock’s movies, we could add “content farmer” to our resumé.
3. The content is surface-level
There’s no real substance behind the content — it’s low-engagement and stuffed full of keywords, designed to quickly grab your attention. This is likely an attempt to leverage SEO and inspire you to click, rather than any meaningful dive into the outlined topic.
4. There are too many external links
Relevant links are fine — most websites and videos will link to related content. But if a piece of content is jammed with affiliate links, spammy-looking domains, and questionable external sites, it’s probably a content farm.
5. The content is copied from other sites
Does the content seem familiar, or not in line with the site or creator’s vibe? It may have been copied from elsewhere. The quality or originality doesn’t matter — content farms just need the material.
What’s next for content farms?
Content farms blew up in the 2010s, but how will they keep pace with the rest of the internet? It’s too early to tell, but given all of the technological leaps in areas like AI and SEO, content farmers might have to look elsewhere for clicks.
Features like Google’s AI overview and SEO’s constant improvement mean that, in a few years, content farming could disappear. The former could diminish the power of the click, while the latter will keep deprioritizing low-quality, irrelevant content.
But the opportunity’s wide open for good content. Great content. There’s nothing stopping you from crafting rich, thoughtful videos that’ll resonate with audiences and give them something worth clicking.
One way to build this experience is with music — the soundtrack is often just as important as the visuals. So, why settle for second-best? Try Epidemic Sound.
Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best.
You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search functions — finding the right sound’s never been easier.
It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free. Get started with Epidemic Sound below.
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