For people that are new to SEO you might have never heard of a PBN (private blog network) backlinks which is probably a good thing because you don’t want to get involved with this black hat backlinking tactic but you should at least know what they are and how to avoid PBN backlinks. In this article, we are going to explain what they are, how they are used, why they are bad for SEO, and how to avoid them because they could kill your SEO efforts if Google ever finds out you use this type of network.
What Is A PBN Backlink?
PBN (private blog network) backlinks are hyperlinks built from a network of connected sites and blogs. These sites are generally owned by the same individual, who's using them all to create links to their money site. They also have an option to sell PBN links to other website owners for extra profit.
The arrangement of a personal site system bears similarities to that of a publishing company like Gawker Media LLC, which owns sites like Deadspin, Lifehacker along with others. However, the distinction with websites found in a PBN is that they're primarily used for building links instead of providing valuable content for their target audience.
Since the unnatural link building of this kind is a form of exploitation in the eyes of Google, the site network is closed from the public to avoid detection (hence, "private" blog network). In addition, you should use different hosting providers for every site to hide your digital footprint.
Why Are PBN Backlinks Shady?
The reason why this backlinking strategy is considered spammy in Google’s eyes is that the person running the PBN needs to buy expired domains with existing authority. Building links from a brand new domain with no authority won’t have any effect in organic search rankings and also will not be valuable from an SEO standpoint because why would you pay for a backlink on a website that has no authority.
The PBN owner will need to purchase domains with high domain authority and they need to make sure they have a clean link profile or trust score. This means the domains can’t have any spammy links pointing back to them.
Now that the PBN owner has purchased the domains with high authority they need to start creating blogs on each of the domains. They will usually target multiple industries and write very general content that is not specific or technical. This helps them attract multiple people from various backgrounds so they don’t have to turn anyone away and can make as much money as possible.
How to Notice and Avoid PBN Backlinking
You might be asking yourself how do I know if I am getting a PBN backlink or a normal backlink? Are there signs I should look for? Yes, there are and I am going to tell you the big red flags to look for.
Blogs have multiple outbound links- If you run into a blog that you really like and the domain has a good authority check to see if there are a lot of outbound links on the page. If it has more then 5 and it is a medium to short piece there is something fishy about that and I would avoid those types of blogs. This means they have already offered that blog(s) to multiple people to backlink from already and you are just another person part of their scam.
Random people who email you saying they have multiple high authority websites for backlinking - The reason why they have all those websites to offer you is that they own them in their private blog network. It is easy for them to offer those websites because they don’t have to reach out to any admin for approval.
Websites that have a spike in organic traffic in a short period of time- If you look at the websites they are offering you and you see they had no traffic six months ago an not all the sudden they have thousands of organic traffic this is a red flag that they just purchased this domain and start adding blogs on it to get ranked on keywords easily. The next thing you will see if you keep tracking that domain is there will be a spike down in organic traffic because Google has caught on to their spam tactic. After that happens the owner of the private blog network will discontinue that domain because it is not valuable for them anymore and you will eventually lose that backlink if you purchased one from them.
Why Do People Buy PBN Backlinks
In my opinion, there are really two reasons why people buy BBN backlinks. The first reason is they don’t know they are a PBN backlink and they unknowingly get scammed. This happens a lot to website owners that are just learning about SEO and want to get more organic traffic or SEO beginners also fall for this type of tactic because they don’t know any better.
The second reason is that you can see short term immediate results in your search rankings. However, within six months or less you will notice your organic traffic will spike down. This is because Google noticed the private blog network domains and penalized all the sites associated which indirectly affects your site because you are backlinked to them. Your site’s trust score and spam score will be negatively affected as well. If you are okay with short term results that have long term consequences you might like PBN networks. However, most people are looking to grow their business online for the long term.
Conclusion
Obtaining backlinks out of a PBN is a really divisive topic. There'll be individuals who'll use PBNs to increase their link profile, everything considered. But, as mentioned previously, there is a lot of risks involved when using PBN backlinks on your SEO efforts to raise your website's rankings. Rather, utilize sustainable, white hat SEO link building approaches to cultivate your website’s online success. When these strategies are more time-consuming and harder to pull off, they will supply you with long-term outcomes that will get your website to the top of SERPs--and keep it there.