PBN (Private blog networks) are an excellent strategy to have your website punished.
“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence”
Colin Powell
Let me share with you one of my favorite quotes, as stated in that quote, there are three key factors to achieve massive success in your life:
You’ve probably heard of private blog networks (PBNs), but you’re not sure what they are or why they’re used. A PBN is a network of websites that are used to establish links (and hence convey authority) to a single website in order to manipulate search engine rankings. This strategy is similar to a link wheel or link pyramid in that it involves multiple independent websites that all connect to one another or to a central page. While these types of schemes were widespread in the past, PBNs are now regarded a pure black hat approach and should be avoided at all costs, as they can result in a loss of ranks or even a manual penalty. PBNs typically give little to no long-term value to the websites to which they link.
PBNs have long been a source of contention for Google, and businesses caught up in this dubious practise have been made examples of throughout the years. The J.C. Penney link scheme, for example, was discovered by The New York Times in 2011. As Google becomes wiser and develops better technology to counteract link spam schemes, black hat SEOs are finding it increasingly difficult to pull off a PBN successfully.
This is Liquid Fancy heading element
How to Recognize Private Blog Networks
The cross-site “footprint,” in which much of the technical data on the sites is the identical, is the key to detecting a PBN. Old PBN networks had the same IP address, shared servers, utilised the same WHOIS information, and even used the same content across sites.
PBNs are significantly more complex today and may be more difficult for consumers to detect because the sites cover a wide range of businesses, themes, and design. Consider the following factors when deciding whether a site is part of a PBN and, hence, should be avoided at all costs:
Hosting. Are they all connected to the same IP address? SpyOnWeb.com or similar technologies can be used to determine which sites are hosted by another site.
Design of the website. Do the sites all have the same design, navigation, and colour scheme?
Themes that are similar to WordPress themes may include the theme name in the code. In your browser, look at the source code.
Ownership of the website. Check the WHOIS database for contact information for the site’s owner. The presence of hidden WHOIS data is a red signal. If all of the site owners are the same, it is clear that the blogs are linked.
There is duplicate content. Copy and paste a paragraph into Google search to see if the text is available on other websites.
Profile of backlinks Checks the backlink profile in Ahrefs or Majestic (the main link databases) to see how much interlinking exists between sites.
Photographs and videos Because films and photographs are difficult and expensive to recreate, they will almost certainly be replicated on other sites. To locate comparable items, use Google image search or video search.
A comparable backlink profile is a dead giveaway for many PBNs. If numerous sites have the same link profile, or if they all link to the same page multiple times (especially if it appears to be excessive or irrelevant), the site is most likely part of a PBN — or, at the absolute least, is selling links. Google’s Penguin algorithm, which is now part of the core ranking algorithm and runs in real-time, can detect these types of scams and degrade your website ranks as a result. In rare situations, you may even face a manual punishment.
However, simply owning multiple websites does not qualify you as a private blog network. For example, media businesses that own numerous sites and link to them in all website footers are unlikely to be recognised as a PBN unless the websites are unrelated, there are dozens of links in the footers, or they are frequently linked to similar internal pages.
Furthermore, PBNs are typically groupings of sites controlled by the same company or individual, however, independent individuals working together to link to one another could be regarded as a PBN if there is a pattern of continually connecting to the same sites or pages across numerous different groups of websites.
Example of SEO with PBN
How can you safeguard your website from PBNs?
No competent SEO consultant will advise you to use private blog networks to create links or increase website traffic. Unfortunately, your site may be participating in a PBN without your knowledge, particularly if you outsource your link building activities to a third party. Purchasing links on sites like Fiverr or through other services may endanger your website. And run if someone tries to get you to join in a link exchange (i.e., trade links with them).
It is critical to keep a close eye on link-building efforts. Educate yourself on the practises Google deems to be link schemes, and ensure that anyone responsible for generating links to your site follows these criteria strictly; any credible link builder should agree to be upfront about the links they are chasing for you.
This will take some work on your part, but keep in mind that just because you aren’t aware of what’s going on behind the scenes doesn’t mean you won’t be held accountable for the repercussions.
Best practises will ultimately triumph.
You may be irritated by competitors who appear to be employing spammy link-building strategies such as PBNs. Of course, you could file a webspam complaint against them. Even if you don’t, keep in mind that their underhanded techniques will eventually catch up with them.
While your competition is relying on a PBN to obtain links, your organisation can develop more powerful link-building efforts based on best practises that will last longer and are not frowned upon by search engines. When your competition is caught and demoted, deindexed, or otherwise penalised, your site will have the upper hand.
Private blog networks, as a whole, are a risky and unethical link-building method. A link should only be provided when it actually adds value to the user’s experience; otherwise, it may result in lower visibility in search engine result pages, or possibly a manual penalty.
Save yourself and your company the headache of wasted money, resources, and time by focusing on superior link-building strategies that will deliver you results without causing conflict.