The term PBN refers to a “Private Blogging Network,” which is a network of websites. People create these networks as a way to generate authority and boost the SEO ranking of a central website. The PBN contains backlinks to an original website, which promotes it in the eyes of search engines like Google. PBNs are an excellent tool to boost Google rankings.
By creating your own PBN, you don’t need to rely on anyone else for your SEO boost.
Why PBNs are a Good Idea for Businesses
Having a PBN to support your website is faster and more effective than other forms of SEO. PBNs use previously owned domains that have since expired. These domains have strong backlinks attached to them and a lot of authority.
Just imagine having a powerful set of domains that you can leverage for SEO for all of your sites? It will be an absolute amazing asset in your arsenal to get your websites ranked on the big search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
However, a private blog network is not without risk. There are a few so called footprints that you absolutely have to avoid. Otherwise Google and Co. could identify your private blog network and penalize you for it. After all it’s something they really don’t like.
This brings us to the risks of using a PBN. Let’s get into those.
The Risks of a PBN
As mentioned above, the main risk of a PBN is that your website could potentially be penalized by Google.
The reason that Google removes websites from their database is often that the search engine determines the site is filled with spam or other low-quality content. Websites can also be penalized because they violate Google guidelines on SEO strategies. You should do your best to stick to the rules and regulations to avoid de-indexing.
Please note that it will take some time, effort, and money to create the perfect PBN. Your PBN will lose a lot of value if you get penalized, meaning you’ll have to start from the ground up again. How you build your network and connect it together determines how long the PBN will last.
There are some things you can do to reduce the risk of de-indexing, such as;
- Don’t sell links on your personal private blog network.
- Don’t register the PBN domains all at one registrar.
- Don’t talk about PBNs with close friends or advertise that you are using PBNs to rank your site.
- Don’t use an already-penalized domain in the PBN. Make sure to check the history of the domain and that the backlink profiles is clean and powerful. You can use tools like Ahrefs and the Waybackmachine to check the history and backlink profile of a site.
Practice some common sense, and you should be fine. Remember – you’re trying to create a network of websites that doesn’t appear to be connected.
Top Tips for Creating a BPN
There are some things you should do to avoid penalization when creating a BPN. Don’t forget that the rules surrounding good SEO change all the time, so you regularly update your BPN as a result. Here are some top tips for creating an effective BPN:
#1. Use Different Hosts
It would be best if you hosted all the different websites on different IP addresses. You want diversity here. This is of utmost importance. We recommend to go with a reputable cloud hosting provider like Digital Ocean or Vultr, or even Cloudways. Make sure to use a separate hosting server for each PBN site. This ensures that each PBN domain is hosted on a separate c-class IP.
#2. Use Different Domains Registrars
Purchase domains from different registrars to avoid detection. Use WhoIs Guard for the domains too to prevent false information from being on the records. Spread it out. We can recommend Dynadot, Namesilo and Name.com.
#3. Use Unique Content & Themes
You should use unique content on the websites. Having different content is the only way to make the websites valuable. You’ll get the best results out of your PBN if you invest in all the sites equally and choose quality over quantity. Try to make the PBN sites look real. This means a logo, legal pages, custom themes, etc. They should resemble a real site.
#4. Link Out
You should only link one PBN site to one money site to avoid creating a footprint. Don’t try to link a single domain to every money site. You also want to make sure that you link out from the homepage of the domains, as this is typically where most of the power stems from. Try to embed the link to your money site in a contextual manner (i.e. in an article).
#5. Link Profile
You can have up to 5 outgoing links per page and should have some pages with no links. This method creates a natural link profile that doesn’t arouse suspicion. Connect to websites that are part of your market and niche. Every outbound link on a website should go to a money site.
#6. Embed Links
Avoid using site-wide links and focus on links embedded contextually within content.
#7. Anchor Text
It’s best to use different anchor texts for the links to your money site. Create branded and generic URL links. You want a diverse anchor profile to avoid anchor overoptimization.
#8. Website Structure
All the websites should have some key pages so they pass any manual review. Websites should have a Contact page, About page, and Privacy Policy page at the very least to appear more legitimate. Also make sure to display a cookie banner on your site, since this is mandatory for every website (GDPR etc.)
#9. Have a Relevant Niche
When using older domains as part of your PBN, you should make sure that every website is part of the same niche they were already in before joining the PBN. It can difficult to do this, but Google can tell the difference between old and new sites and can dock some value from backlinks. You can check how the website looked before by using Archive.org
#10. Don’t Advertise the PBN
You shouldn’t share any information about the domains and avoid selling PBN links. This is the most important thing you can do for the safety and security of the PBN. This is you private network and it should stay like that.
Conclusion
PBNs are a great way to improve your rankings in the search engines. By creating a small network of powerful domains, you can leverage that authority to push your websites into the top spots on Google for your desired keywords.
However, they are not without risk. You have to avoid the footprints we laid out for you above in order to keep your website safe from dreaded Google penalties.
Please make sure that you read the footprints and that your setup is immaculate.
Thanks for reading and we hope that you enjoyed our little guide.