Understanding PBN (Private Blog Network)
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a network of websites used to build links to a single site for the purpose of manipulating search engine rankings. This scheme is similar to link pyramid or link wheel in which several sites are used to direct link juice to the target site. However, PBNs bring about certain unique features. They are primarily used to mimic natural link building, to increase the rankings of a Money Site – the main site that earns revenue for the owner.
The Mechanics of a PBN
The underlying principle of a PBN involves three important components: The Money Site, The Private Blog Network, and the Backlinks. The Money Site is the primary website that the owner wants to drive traffic towards, to gain more visibility, rankings, and revenue.
Secondly, the Private Blog Network comprises of several smaller websites, usually purchased expired domains, which link back to the Money Site. These PBN sites are used to create backlinks to the money site, thereby improving its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The process begins by purchasing expired domains that already have a substantial amount of backlinks pointing towards them. These domains usually have a solid Domain Authority, due to their age and the links pointing to them.
Next, content is added to these domains, typically blog posts, which include links pointing back to the Money Site. This method of linking is referred to as tiered linking where the PBN sites link to the money site and the money site links to the main money-making target site.
Each of these parts plays a critical role in a PBN. The PBN sites need to look and act as natural as possible, to avoid raising flags with search engines. They must be hosted on different servers, with different IP addresses, to make it look like they are owned by different people.
The Risks and Rewards of Using a PBN
While PBNs can provide short-term success in improving the ranking of a website, they are highly risky. Google and other search engines disapprove of these tactics because they present a false depiction of a site’s popularity. If discovered, the consequences can range from a drop in rankings to a complete deindexing of the Money Site by search engines.
In addition, building and maintaining a PBN can be quite costly. Hunting for expired domains, setting up different hosting, pushing out regular content across the various PBN sites, and other management tasks can consume a substantial amount of time and money.
Despite these risks, many site owners opt to use PBNs because of the lucrative rewards they offer. The backlinks generated from a PBN can drastically improve the rankings of a Money Site, thereby driving more organic traffic towards it.
However, it is important to understand that a PBN is a ‘grey hat’ SEO tactic, i.e., it straddles the line between what search engines regard as ethical (white hat SEO) and what they regard as deceptive (black hat SEO).
Thus, as an SEO strategy, PBNs are not for everyone. If utilised, they should be used judiciously and ethically. After all, investing in genuine, quality content and developing actual relationships with other reputable sites for backlinking purposes can be a safer and equally rewarding SEO approach for improving site’s rankings.