A private blog network (PBN) is a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) tool for growing website rankings, but it requires considerable expertise, experience, and tools to implement properly. Here’s the key to getting good results from using a PBN to rank highly competitive keywords:
- Purchase expired domain names with strong backlinks.
- The PBN has very few outbound links, usually just to your main site.
- Backlinks are published on the home page of each site. This gives a huge advantage over typical link building methods.
Also read: When And Why Should You Disavow Backlinks?
What Is a PBN?
A private blog network is a group of websites and blogs that link back to a main site to manipulate search rankings. The goal is to build links from these sites to the target website, artificially increasing its authority and rankings.
It’s important that the sites are diverse – hosted on different servers, registered to different names and registrars, using distinct plugins and themes, running on varied software. Many cheap PBN providers use automation so all their sites look identical. Google’s SpamBrain algorithm can then identify the entire network and ignore its backlinks.
Also read: How to Create Links Using Content Marketing?
Key Takeaways
For SEO experts and business owners, here is vital PBN information:
- PBN link building is 3-4 times cheaper on average than typical link building.
- Homepage backlinks work best for ranking increases from positions 20-25 up to the top 3.
- Your site needs a strong link profile before you start using homepage backlinks. Not suitable for new or thin sites.
- PBNs can incur penalties if the network is not set up properly, but current Google algorithms mainly ignore such links rather than punish them.
- Homepage backlinks from PBN sites steadily pass weight for top rankings long-term in tier 1 countries. The process of selecting domains, building sites, and indexing takes 6-9 weeks before adding backlinks. This is an ongoing endeavor.
Also read: Subdomains or Subdirectories Which Works Better?
How to Find Domains for PBNs
Expired domains or auction domains can be used for a PBN. Auction domains are highly preferred because they contain more authoritative backlinks, passing more weight to your site. Expired domains may work for exotic geos and small countries where you can register a domain with 2-3 contextual backlinks, which is enough to rank locally.
In tier 1 countries like the US, Germany, Australia, and France, domain competition is fierce and free options are non-existent. You have to purchase domains at auction. It’s vital to check domain history for any spammy anchors or toxic links that could potentially hurt your main site’s rankings when used in a PBN.
Use domain search and audit services like:
- Spamzilla.io – Filter domains by metrics, language, and niche
- SEMrush – Check domain history and traffic
- Wayback Machine – Assess site history over the years
- Ahrefs – Review backlinks. Fastest updating link data.
- Majestic – Cheap alternative to check anchor spam and link profile quality
When evaluating a domain, use metrics like TF 7+, CF 7+, DA 10+, DR 10+ to filter out weak domains initially.
After that, move on to manual checks of each domain, looking for spam in the website’s content or backlinks.
Also read: Guide To Buying A Domain Name
How to Setup a PBN
Building PBN sites is much like building regular sites but with more focus on diversity and avoiding footprints.
PBN building services providers such as MonsterPBN can do all the work and you will get a ready-made network. If you want to build the network yourself, you should be prepared for quite a lot of expenses and time.
Hosting Infrastructure
The hosting platform keeps your PBN domains and sites running. To stay covert, it’s key to:
- Host each site on separate servers with unique IPs, often using VPS plans.
- Point domain DNS to use the corresponding server IP. This digitally and physically isolates them.
- For larger PBNs, use accounts on multiple hosting providers as an added layer of protection.
Invest in robust hosting despite the higher costs. Consider offshore providers that allow anonymity without personal identification.
Developing the Sites
With domains and hosting in place, build out the websites:
- Create WordPress sites for easy content management. HTML sites work too if well-coded. Start with quality themes and plugins.
- Publish high-quality, original articles in your niche while keeping sites thematic. Use human writers if possible.
- Interlink internal articles. Also guest post and link out to other reputable sites.
- Add images, videos, and media to build credibility. Focus on great content rather than just links.
Also read: All Forms of Link Building are Wiped Out by Google
Structuring Link Building
PBN websites are most often used to improve rankings for complex keyword phrases. Therefore, direct keyword matches are used as anchors, but it is recommended not to overdo it and dilute the anchor list. Also, on some main pages, set a link with an image or brand name.
Examples of anchors for a two-word phrase:
- Money keyword
- Money keyword services
- Brand money keyword
- Money keyword on Brand
- Keyword on Brand
- Money on Brand
- Brand’s money
- Brand’s keyword
- Keyword page
- Keyword Brand page
Be extremely careful when link building from PBNs. Too many links too fast seems unnatural and risks penalties. Take it slow over several months.
Maintaining Long Term
PBNs require ongoing upkeep:
- Continuously create and publish content on the sites. This shows search engines the sites are active.
- Optimize hosting, DNS, and CDN for maximum uptime and site speed. Failing sites raise red flags.
- Monitor the latest algorithm updates and spam guideline changes. Be prepared to take corrective actions if risks emerge.
- Consolidate sites if maintenance becomes an overhead.
Regular PBN maintenance keeps assets secure and productive for long-term gains. Adapt strategies to match evolving search guidelines.
Also read: 4 Best Link Building Strategies That Work
Case Study
Here’s a case study showing PBN homepage backlinks in action for highly competitive searches in France, a tier 1 country.
A keyword with an Ahrefs Keyword Difficulty of 43 was stuck around position 15 for a while. After building 5 PBN sites and placing backlinks, it climbed to spot #8 within 2 months. Around 15-20 more PBN sites would be needed to reach the top 3.
Debunking Myths Around PBNs
Based on the search results, here are some key myths around PBNs and the facts debunking them:
Myth 1: PBN links won’t help you rank
Fact: PBN links can temporarily boost rankings, but the effects are often limited and short-lived before search engines identify the manipulation. So they don’t help sustain long-term rankings.
When using other types of links, where PBNs complement your linking strategy rather than form the core of it, their use becomes safe and the results predictable.
Myth 2: Google can’t easily identify PBNs
Fact: Google is continuously improving at detecting and penalizing PBN networks and sites using them. The risks of getting caught keep rising.
Myth 3: PBNs are easy to maintain
Fact: Building and running a quality PBN requires substantial time, effort, and money. Prices of aged domains are rising, making PBNs difficult to scale.
Myth 4: PBNs offer better traffic control
Fact: While directing multiple sites’ links can seem attractive, the volatility in traffic and the risk of penalties outweigh the benefits of control.
Myth 5: PBN sites themselves are useless
Fact: PBN sites host content mainly to manipulate search rankings rather than offer value to users. So their utility is extremely limited beyond SEO.
In summary, many myths around PBNs effectiveness and safety are simply not supported by facts. The risks and downsides outweigh any short-term gains according to expert guidance.
Also read: What Are Reciprocal Links? Do They Hurt Or Help?
Risks
While PBNs may briefly work, there are downsides.
Penalties from search engines
PBNs violate search engine guidelines, especially Google’s. Websites caught using PBNs face penalties such as:
- De-indexing – Site removed entirely from search results
- Ranking drops – Drastic declines in search rankings
- Algorithmic adjustments – Links discounted, no ranking boost
As search engine algorithms get more advanced, the risks of getting caught and penalized keep increasing.
In practice, Google’s algorithms ignore suspicious links instead of imposing sanctions.
Wasted time and resources
Building and maintaining a PBN requires significant time and money. If the PBN gets identified and discounted by search engines, all those efforts go to waste.
At the same time, the cost of hosting, auction domains, working on choosing domains, and creating websites amounts to $200-400 for one website. Plus the annual payment for domains and hosting.
But in highly competitive topics, these are acceptable costs and large projects create networks of hundreds of sites to retain top positions for high-value keywords.
Also read: Fresh Content Can Boost Your Ranking In Some Cases
Loss of credibility
Relying on manipulative tactics like PBNs can undermine a website’s credibility with its audience. It also goes against ethical SEO standards.
Weakened link profile
Too many unnatural, low-quality links from a PBN can dilute the effects of genuine, high-quality links a website has earned. This weakens its overall link profile.
This mistake most often happens when trying to save money on domains and choosing extremely weak and cheap domains. It’s better to buy a few powerful domains than a dozen very weak ones whose link profile consists only of forums and comment links.
It is necessary to initially calculate your resources and allocate $200-400 for each PBN. This amount equals the cost of 1-2 guest posts. The resulting effect will be much better.
Limited and short-lived ranking boost
While a PBN may temporarily boost rankings, the effects are often limited in scope and unlikely to last if search engines detect the manipulation.
So in summary, PBNs are an extremely high-risk, black hat tactic that should be avoided as they violate guidelines, risk lasting damage, and undermine credibility. The consensus is to focus on ethical, white-hat link building instead.
In my experience, I have not encountered the application of manual sanctions or filtering of networks. More often, there were problems with excessive use of direct anchors and it was necessary to dilute the anchor list with other types of backlinks.
Also read: 6 Best Ways To Boost Organic CTR
Conclusion
PBNs are yet another powerful but controversial SEO tactic. When implemented correctly, they can be far cheaper than guest posts for competitive ranking gains. Excellent for highly competitive industries to help keywords crack the top spots. However, they come with long-term maintenance overhead and penalty risks that require careful monitoring.s
