Emerging on the first search engine results page (SERP) is the holy grail of any online business. Research shows that most users visit sites that appear on the first page and rarely scroll further. So, top positions in the search results are extremely sought-after because they increase exposure to the target audience, boost sales, and facilitate the company’s development. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is thus a necessity allowing businesses to rank higher in online search.
However, not all SEO tricks are welcomed by search engines such as Google because some mislead and misinform users. This article focuses on one such dubious SEO approach called Private Blog Network (PBN). On the one hand, PBN links help increase the number of website visits and lure more potential clients. On the other hand, they can be easily detected by Google, resulting in penalties. Below, we guide you through the ins and outs of PBN content strategy to determine whether it’s worth the risk.
Definition of PBN
A PBN refers to a group of privately owned blogs catering to a niche market. Their main goal is to provide backlinks to the main website that generates revenue, also called a money website, thus improving its Google search rankings (see Figure 1 below). The idea behind PBN is to increase the perceived authority and reliability of the website, thus drawing more customers.
The main benefits of PBNs are as follows:
- Improve search engine rankings: The more links to the main website, the more chances there are to draw a large audience.
- Provide control over backlinks: Companies can control PBN content quality and choose where backlinks appear and how they are inserted in the text.
- Allow for a customised strategy: PBNs help create content that meets the company’s specific needs and target audience’s interests.
- Increase organic traffic: Due to higher search engine rankings, more people visit the main website, which can potentially increase revenues.
PBN Structure
All PBNs have a similar structure and consist of the following components:
- Expired domains with high domain authority, trust flow, and citation flow: These domains have a history and authority required for good search engine results.
- High-quality, SEO-focused PBN writing: Each site within the PBN is filled with unique and useful content that adds value to readers and complies with the main topic/goal of the network.
- Diverse hosting: PBNs are hosted on different servers, IP addresses, and hosting providers to make it harder to detect their common origin.
- Appropriate linking: PBN sites contain contextually relevant anchor texts with high PBN content authenticity to maximise the benefits of the PBN backlinks.
Unfortunately, companies using Private Blog Network writing often fail to comply with these basic rules, which explains why PBN has gained such a bad reputation in the SEO world. The main problem is low-quality, meaningless content that does not add value to users and is only created to insert PBN backlinks. Failing to create an illusion of unrelated websites is another common mistake companies make when they do not use different IP addresses, templates, and themes. So, those using PBN are strongly recommended to steer clear of these fatal mistakes.
PBN Criticism
The sloppiness with which the PBN strategy is often used is one of the reasons why this strategy is currently illegal and against Google guidelines. This SEO technique is regarded as a black hat technique that can significantly drop search engine rankings or even result in the complete exclusion of a website from search results. It is believed that while PBN content optimisation may bring short-term gains, it is unsustainable and may bring more trouble than gains.
Two main risks are associated with PBN content linking. First, websites using this strategy risk being penalised and losing ranking, which may dramatically affect a company’s development. Returning to the previous ranking may take time, even if the company receives a positive reply to its reconsideration request. Google is constantly developing its strategies to detect and penalise unethical SEO practices such as PBN, so companies using them should always be one step ahead, which is costly and requires much creativity. Second, there is a risk of a search engine ignoring the links as unnatural. It means that companies may invest a lot of resources in creating PBN articles that will end up being completely useless.
Nevertheless, getting natural links also requires tons of work, taking up precious time and resources. So, even though the described limitations of PBN are valid, businesses still rely on this strategy as a cost-effective and fast way of drawing attention to their website. With proper methodology and PBN content best practices, businesses can easily avoid being detected by Google and make the most of PBN links.
How to Write Content for PBN
Given the challenges associated with PBN use, it’s easy to go wrong with this strategy if companies are not following some tried-and-true methods. Several well-tested methods are used to mitigate the risks of PBN use.
Method #1: Use New Domains
Even if a company ensures sufficient PBN content uniqueness, it means nothing if this content is posted on domains with a bad history (e.g., a history of penalties or the use of restricted content). So, the winning strategy is to register new domains and start from scratch.
Method #2: Create Content That Stands Out
The main rule of effective PBN content risk management is to create articles/blog posts that are unique, engaging, and valuable for readers. Generic rewritten texts stuffed with keywords can hardly draw users’ attention or encourage them to follow the backlinks. Besides, Google detects poorly written content and bans it from the first SERP page. So, it is recommended to invest more time in creating a logical and easy-to-follow PBN article structure and ensuring high PBN content relevance.
Method #3: Complement PBN with Other Link-Building Tactics
PBN should never be the only SEO strategy. The best results can be achieved only if it is combined with legal strategies such as guest posting, social media marketing, etc. Google also encourages companies to engage with the community related to the selected niche by contributing positively to blogs and forums.
Method #4: Create Visually Appealing Design
It’s tempting to ignore the website design of pages existing to lure users to the main website. However, PBN sites should also look impeccable because they create a favourable first impression and encourage users to learn more. More importantly, they should look differently to eliminate the risk of being detected and removed by Google.
Method # 5: Choose Diverse WordPress Plugins
Another method closely related to the site design involves using different plugins for PBN sites. It is recommended to randomise between themes and customise their functionalities, like contact forms, SEO plugins, and sitemaps. PBN sites with diverse WordPress plugins leave no footprints in HTML, thus decreasing the risk of raising suspicion.
Method #6: Monitor PBN Functioning
It’s important to regularly check how PBN sites work and what search engine rankings they occupy. Keeping track of the sites’ status may help detect and address issues promptly.
Method #7: Optimise PBN Sites’ Management
Running many PBN sites simultaneously is very time-consuming, but there are tools that make this task easier. For example, tools such as Zapier automatically share new articles from PBN sites on social media accounts.
Alternatives to PBN Links
Alternatives to PBN, such as link building, are legal and can potentially bring long-term benefits to the company by increasing its authority and trustworthiness. The following strategies are known to bring guaranteed results if implemented wisely and with due dedication:
- Digital PR
- Email outreach
- Resource link building
- Broken link building
Essentially, these tactics involve reaching out to bloggers, website owners, and journalists to convince them to insert links to the website in their content. Guest posting and blogger outreach are the most common and risk-free PBN alternatives that are 100% legit and can help build a customer base. Industry influencers can be particularly valuable for promoting a website/product, especially if they are known as trustworthy experts and have a large audience.
Link exchange is another useful strategy that may work better than PBN. It involves two websites posting links to each other to improve their link profile. A key to success when using this strategy is to exchange links with website posting content of similar or higher quality.
PBN: To Create or Not to Create?
It’s easy to disregard PBN as an illegal, unethical, and risky SEO strategy. Google prohibits it because it consciously misleads users, creating an illusion of authority. Yet, many companies continue to use PBN to draw attention to the money website and boost revenues. Ethical concerns aside, PBN backlinks can indeed be a cost-effective way of increasing domain authority that brings fast results. Those daring to use it should follow best practices that decrease risks for the company while also generating value for users. One of the key rules is that writing for a PBN should be unique, relevant, and useful. It should also never be a sole SEO strategy but rather a backup that helps increase the chances of success.