Key Points and Role of PBNs (Private Blog Networks) in Terms of SEO

‍Have you ever had a bit controversial and even forbidden method in your SEO? Does that sound a bit surprising when it comes to private blogs also? But, it is so.

‍Google warned about the application of a Private Blog Network and link-building for blogs in 2014! However, this method is still widely used today. Very soon you will find out what is PBN link building and why it has been banned.

‍While looking at a private blog network, we majorly see a compilation (network) of distinct but quite similar websites that are owned by a single company or even an individual. The latter uses some of the resources from this network to make the links to the primary domain and promote it in this way. The great number of quality links makes a target website more reputable from the point of search engine optimization (SEO). Still, that’s why this approach has been banned.

‍However, if you utilize it, you can easily get extra domain authority for your primary source. In addition, all parts of your PBN, which are closely tied to each other, can also generate revenue. Even if it appears to be tricky but workable, it still has lots of issues to deal with.

What May Be Wrong When You Build PBN Backlinks?

‍Creating this network and building all of these PBN backlinks may be a bit complicated for a few reasons:

• This is an extremely time-consuming endeavor. If you want to make your PBN truly effective, devote sufficient time to growing it. Otherwise, it may be pointless to launch this project overall.
• This approach requires financial resources. You will need to create at least several websites. For this purpose, you must purchase domains relevant to your primary website. Also, you will have to hire qualified copywriters who can help you craft workable pages. And, of course, you will have to keep these pages updated. These pages will not likely derive as much gains as the primary website you promote.
• Probably the most important and serious one – the closer the relations between these two sources become, the easier it becomes for you to get a penalty from Google. Thus, you must be very careful and attentive if you opt for private blog networks. By the way, tactics of this kind are called “black hats.” The greater risk here is that the history and reputation of your website will not be clean anymore.
• There’s also one possible consequence – such links may not be popular. Since they most often look artificial, Google may not notice them at all. So, they will have no impact, either positive or adverse, on the position of your website.

What Is Good about PBN Backlinks?

‍At the same time, PBNs can bring plenty of benefits, for instance:

• 100% control – the lack of control is sometimes more than frustrating. You should align your goals with the demands and preferences of other people. You are also very dependent on external approval. And finally, you have to wait before your article will be published. When it comes to PBNs, you are free to arrange your link-building and publishing as you think this fits best.
• Reduce outreach – you can fully rely on your own. When you have your PBN, it is possible to reduce outreach to a minimum if not to say eliminate at all.
• Helps to promote your website in the end if the overall work has been done right.

‍SEO professionals create PBNs by building new websites or purchasing old domains. The latter ones should be authoritative already – the first ones have to become such. Afterward, SEOs build links to a target website that they actually wish to promote.

‍Dealing with PBNs may sometimes be quite challenging for SEO. The reason is that most commonly various automation tools are applied to manage a variety of pages. As you may guess, there are sometimes far more websites than two or three. Since the outcomes may look quite uniformly and artificially, search engines may highlight and de-index all of these pages.

‍To the contrary, SEO PBN should be focused on crafting organic content that is unique and human-written. However, it should completely align with the algorithms and rules the search engines use. This is the single way to be on the safe side and keep your webpage history clean at all times. Overall, SEO should promote the value that has to be delivered to the readers.

Coming Closer to a Violation

‍So, you have websites where you can publish any article, with any anchor, and you can do this anytime. It’s great, isn’t it? Not yet.

‍Google link spam guidelines clearly define that any links where the main purpose is solely to manipulate search rankings may be considered spam. This covers both links that go to your website and go from it as well.

‍A backlink network is not based on the links you earned but instead, it is based on the links that actually don’t offer any useful information. They merely promote your website – not more, not less. Overall, these links are like “bad guys” – they bring no value but break the rules.

True or False?

‍It’s difficult to argue that PBNs constitute a quite controversial practice. There are lots of uncertainties around it, here are some of them:

• A group of websites that link to each other form a PBN – this is not true even if it may appear so. Typically, it is not common for a business to run more than one webpage. However, it may be a natural wish to diversify its informational resources a bit. Even if several websites have links to one another, this doesn’t mean they form the PBN. The only thing that matters is to make all articles sound natural.
• Backlinks PBN will not help your website with rankings – this is not true. Even if you violated Google policy in this way, they can help you with promoting your website.

‍The major point here is centered around the content. If you manage to bring some value to the readers, this is not a serious violation already. Many website owners manage to upgrade their rankings in this way indeed.

• Paid links originate from PBNs – this is not true again. However, the purchase of this kind can also violate the Google guidelines. At the same time, most bloggers or similar websites sell the links. However, these relations don’t form a backlink network under any terms.
• Google can detect your PBN easily – this can happen but it will not be an easy thing. Actually, there are numerous signs that put red flags for Google, namely: same IP address, common web-hosting provider, domains from the PBN were purchased on auctions, blocking external link analysis tools.

‍In any case, this is a machine. If you manage to overcome its algorithms, your endeavor will be effective in the end. Many business owners remain unnoticed when they promote their websites thanks to PBNs.

‍And there is one secret – Google actually bans poor links and marks them as spam, regardless of whether they originate from PBNs or not.

‍Commonly the single PBN links meaning is to create artificial conditions to bolster the website’s visibility by increasing the quantity of the links to it. This is a crucial point – quantity but not quality. This is the key criterion for search engines.

‍Most often they detect the following scheme. There are several, and sometimes quite a lot, websites that are either inactive or post periodically low-quality content. All of these pages are linked to the same website that is active. The latter one has higher authority. If it has been acquired just after this group of inactive websites was linked to it, this is a red flag. The algorithms of search engines automatically de-index such pages.

‍Another trigger is PBN automation. The content is posted on different web resources almost simultaneously. And this content looks very similar. In real life, blogs are posted on a case-by-case basis. The content of articles in each case is unique and, most often, human-written.

‍These are the two most common cases describing how search engines detect PBNs. Of course, there are far more algorithms enabling search engines to detect and de-index probably suspicious content. Luckily, there are absolutely “white” strategies that help to implement the approach and remain compliant with Google policies.

‍As you see, link building PBN is quite a tricky and sometimes risky thing. However, there are already some security patterns that will help you remain compliant with the Google policies:

• Never, never, never neglect SEO backlink analysis – preventing negative consequences for your website is sometimes much better compared to dealing with them. At this point, it is always important to remember that once your history with the search engines has been worsened, there will be no way back. Thus, devote your time and effort to checking the sources of your backlinks and highlighting some unusual patterns.
• Take a precise look at those unusual patterns. Actually, they are easy to notice – backlinks look unnaturally. For instance, pages from PBN frequently use the same anchor text. This is a huge red flag for search engines. Another example to avoid is utilizing irrelevant links. If your blog is about SEO, there should be no content about pets, for instance.
• Analyze domain metrics. This is a more deep and thorough assessment. In its course, evaluate precisely the domain authority, citation flow, and, trust flow overall. There is a standard approach applicable in the context of PBNs.

‍SEO PBN backlinks are often attributed to expired domains where metrics become irrelevant to the content placed, especially after the domain purchase. That is a point that triggers search engines. However, this risk has to be prevented while being on the shore. The need to create such deep analysis may be a reason to request private blog network service.

• Put more work into your PBNs. Even if this takes more time, it may turn out to be a beneficial affair. Develop and post unique content solely. What is even more important is that it has any other purpose beyond simply promoting a target website. Elaborate on and implement unique SEO tactics for each of them. In this way, you will indirectly contribute to the authority of the primary website you intend to promote. More effort to the point will bring you far more results in this case as well.

‍PBNs are like forbidden fruits. Even if they are at risk of being flagged as spammy ones, businesses worldwide still manage to overcome potential threats effectively. There are only a few things to highlight in this context.

‍Avoid any generic patterns. Instead, develop and follow unique approaches for website promotion, in the first turn. The most important PBN SEO meaning is to create superb conditions that could enhance the website’s visibility.

‍However, quality is over quantity in this case as nowhere else. Post unique content instead of general articles. Bringing value to the users is a primary goal to reach in order to prevent any bans. Your website’s promotion will go next and bolster its authority. Make steps towards web success wisely, always.