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PBNs 101: The Pros & Cons to Using a PBN

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PBNs 101: The Pros & Cons to Using a PBN

Numerous PBN and SEO professionals have taken on the private blog network approach to assist with web ranking. As soon as your web ranking moves up in the Google search engine, it’ll generate more traffic which translates to increased profits in your business.

Several PBN hosting sites accommodate almost everyone, but some hosts cater to a broader range of users, including web development agencies, web designers, IT consultants, freelancers, and web developers in a more secure way.

What is a PBN?

A Private Blog Network (PBN) refers to a series of websites that lead many links to your main website. PBNs are often used to manipulate search engine rankings through backlinks. This assists in increasing a site’s rankings because Google uses backlinks as a basis to award ranking.

Even though PBNs improve ranking, Google regards them as an unauthentic approach to improve SEO.

How Do PBNs Work?

Typically, PBNs are based on other types of marketing approaches — expired domain marketing, to be specific. PBN owners monitor domain auction sites to find potentially interesting or relevant domains to buy.

They look for domains that can give their sites a head start to create traffic, adding value to their sites. They then create a good enough blog to look legitimate but not so good that it ranks highly in search engines.

The main reason for using blogs that are part of the private blog network is collecting small link numbers from each blog.

What Are the Uses of PBNs?

You can use Private Blog Networks in the following manner:

1. Sell Links

You can sell links to other practitioners or SEO organizations. However, this is against Google guidelines, so Google regards it as malpractice.

2. Direct Links to Your Website

Set up a new website to an expired domain, write articles, and add links that point to your website.

3. Attach Them to Your Homepage

You can buy several private blog network websites, re-design them and attach a link on each homepage (which is deemed the highest trust flow).

If you’re thinking about using PBN to increase your site’s SERPS’ (Search Engine Results Pages) ranking, you have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of PBN.

Advantages of PBN Hosting

High-quality Private Blog Networks backlinks are crucial for ranking; some individuals depend on PBN backlinks for their complete SEO. PBN backlinks are generally used in highly competitive niches for highly competitive keywords.

In some niches, you can’t rank without PBNs since everyone in the SERP is utilizing them. Therefore, to compete, you also have to use them. Here are some of the pros of using PBNs:

1. Additional Income

Private Blog Networks have the potential to be monetized. If you no longer need the PBN, you can either sell it or the backlinks it creates.

PBNs can help you generate a lot of revenue. When you adopt an effective backlinks approach, your website’s rankings will significantly improve, resulting in more profit.

2. Enhances Content Strategy

Proper use of PBN sites provides a powerful content strategy. However, it takes time to build them. If you notice that you’re always on the low-ranking end, starting a blog to boost your visibility might be an excellent idea.

3. Control Keywords

With PBNs, you can select which keyword leads to your main website. This will help in the fast growth of natural traffic.

4. No Footprints

Creditable sellers usually sell PBN backlinks without footprints. This is why you shouldn’t use the same PBN for your other websites; Google views this as a red flag.

Some sellers can tell you not to do this, while others will restrict you from placing your site to a limited number of PBNs.

5. Few Backlinks

Top-quality PBNs are very powerful; you don’t need to waste time building many backlinks.

Even though most people purchase several PBN backlinks for one post, one is usually enough.  However, for highly competitive niches, you’ll need several backlinks.

There’s no use in filling the PBNs with backlinks since they’re usually indexed.

6. Fast Rankings

One of the significant reasons PBN backlinks are popular is that the results are fast. You’ll notice an increase in rankings in a few weeks instead of months when you don’t have backlinks.

The speed with which your rank will increase depends on your on-page SEO quality and how competitive your niche is. Typically, top-ranking PBN backlinks usually have low outbound links.

7. Already Indexed

How difficult it can be to catalog new backlinks. Google will never index some backlinks. PBN backlinks are usually indexed quickly since they’re already on an indexed page or post. These individual posts typically have a high page authority (PA).

Therefore, you don’t need to worry about indexing services or Tier 2 backlinks. PBNs are somewhat similar to parasite websites; the significant difference between them is that with PBNs, only the admin can post.

Drawbacks of PBN Hosting

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Like everything in SEO, PBN backlinks also have some drawbacks. The major challenge with these backlinks is that everyone is selling them, and most don’t know what they’re selling.

Some sellers just build blogs with low-quality content and want to use backlinks to monetize them. Such blogs usually leave a lot of traces, and chances are, Google has already discovered that they’re selling links that are against their terms of service.

1. Risk of Google Penalties

As stated in the Google links scheme guidelines, links meant to manipulate page rankings in Google search will lead to a breach of Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Google searches for PBNs regularly. Google can penalize and de-index your website if these are discovered since you’ve “frauded” the system.

Once Google blacklists or de-ranks your website, the traffic declines or halts, leading to little or no revenue.

2. Time-Consuming

Building a PBN takes too much time since you have to create posts for the PBN sites that link back to your main website. It takes effort and time to develop an elaborate network like PBN. You’ll also have to fix any issues that arise in the websites.

An easy way out is to go for managed PBN hosting, in which the provider does the bulk of the work.

3. Can Be Expensive Overtime

Even though you may have excellent backlinks to your website currently, as your website grows, search engines will look at the PBN more closely. You’ll have to create high-quality content to keep things looking good, and great content usually comes at a price.

4. Low-Grade Content

In most instances, people develop PBNs to sell links, and the network owners don’t invest in high-quality content. Instead, they use spun or scraped content. This can cause more harm than good since Google considers it a red flag. Ensure you check PBN links’ content quality before buying them.

5. Fake Authority

This is a major problem with most PBNs. PBN backlinks authority usually determines their prices — the higher the TF, PA, and DA, the higher the price.

Unfortunately, some sellers manipulate these metrics and inflate the PBN domains’ stats to earn more money. The backlinks they use to increase the PBN authority is a significant footprint in google’s eye.

6. Blackhat Method

Blackhat refers to all the backlinks you build or purchase for ranking purposes. Google forbids Black Hat SEO — the use of links and other covert tactics to manipulate algorithms. Blackhat refers to all the backlinks you build or purchase for ranking purposes. Private Blog Networks belong in this category.

Most people can’t differentiate between whitehat and blackhat, so some sellers fool beginners into believing that the backlink is developed in a whitehat pattern. Ensure that you are certain of the method used to create a backlink before buying it.

7. Homepage and Temporary PNB Links

Some people sell homepage PBN links. Most sellers place your link on their homepage, and the backlink disappears from the homepage after a few days. However, permanent homepage PBN links are rare.

Some sellers usually tell you that the links are temporary homepage backlinks, but others don’t disclose such information. Even though others sell permanent homepage PBN backlinks, you’ll find out on their homepage that it has multiple outbound links, rendering the backlink worthless.

If you purchased the PBN backlink, you could report the seller. If you use it for ranking, your ranking drops. Confirm if your link is still available on the PBN and indexed.

8. Deindexed PBNs

The first thing you need to do after buying PBNs is to confirm if they’re indexed. Most people sell backlinks from deindexed PBNs, and buyers don’t notice. Google penalizes the PBN when it identifies it as a link farm. The link is worthless if the main domain isn’t indexed.

9. No Report

Some sellers don’t report with the backlinks. They do this to protect their PBNs. In some instances, buyers take the report and blast every link with several backlinks, which destroys the PBN.

Some sellers don’t send reports to escape blame if you don’t get any PBN backlinks.

Other sellers build a few backlinks to boost your site’s TF, PA, or DA to prove that the PBN links have been developed. This approach is questionable.

10. No Ranking Guarantee

PBN backlinks don’t guarantee you’ll rank. Most sellers blame your website’s content quality if you don’t rank even with multiple PBNs.

Google ignores specific links that its algorithm deems unnatural; PBN links fall under this category. This means that they are of no use in SEO. Therefore, investing in these links can be a waste of time if Google ignores them.

Bottom Line

Private Network Blog hosting can boost conversion rate and site ranking. Your website can get increased traffic from a higher ranking, therefore generating a lot of revenue. However, you have to do some groundwork and be patient since there are also some drawbacks.

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