Private Blog Networks (PBN): The Myths and The Risks

Private Blog Network is among the most talked-about and debatable topics of search engine optimization. The debate between using or not using them will never be going to end and you need to decide what suits you better. For those who don't know, PBN is a secretly built network of websites that points to a single website and it confuses search engines by making them believe that the links are real.

In short, you are creating backlinks for your main website on your own and tricking the search engines. In this article, we will discuss what could be its potential risks and what are the myths associated with it. As the search engines are getting smarter, the PBN tactics are also getting more professional and relevant to the business. If done correctly, the private blog network can bring certain benefits to your SEO strategy and give your company a sudden boost in the search engine rankings.

Myths Of PBN That You Need To Know

They don't help you at all

Many people believe that it's useless to have a PBN as it doesn't help in generating any traffic, but it's not true completely. If your private domains are of high quality, there are chances that you will get traffic from them. If you build a PBN without having any prior knowledge, there are high chances of a mistake. But when done in the right way, it can artificially increase your rankings.

That's why it is recommended to get a PBN made by an SEO professional who knows how to operate a private blog network from the inside out. If you are putting valuable content on all the associated websites, then it will definitely help you in the long run as it is ultimately attracting more users.

Search Engines Can Locate Them Easily

Well, a poorly established network's footprints are easy to trace even manually. But a professional who is working in this field for years knows how to get it done. If you are planning to get one for your business, make sure you only contact the best SEO company for this purpose. They are highly experienced in carefully building a network for you.

Search engines can't locate if they are registered with different domain owners and hosting owners along with different IP addresses. If you are planning to create a PBN on your own, then you must keep these things in mind. That is the reason why people use advanced level VPNs to protect and grow their PBNs and drive traffic to their main website.

Don't miss: Why You Need A VPN Now More Than Ever

Paid Links and PBNs Are The Same

No, private blog networks and paid links are totally different but it's easy to get confused and many people use them interchangeably. Paid links are the normal kind of links that you can purchase from any website. On the other hand, in PBN, you are creating links on your own. If you are only interested in building high-quality links, a professional and best SEO company can do it using white-hat techniques like guest posts.

To make it more clear, there are many websites that openly promote paid guest posts that you can buy and publish an article on your own identity. On the contrary, in a private blog network, you are not listing your identity on any of the sites as you carry out the PBN task while keeping the ownership away from the radar of search engines.

Risks That Comes With A PBN

After knowing about some major myths associated with PBN, let's have a look at what are some risks associated with when you own a PBN for the main website. However, all the risks could be mitigated when you operate the PBN with care or let the expert operate it for you.

The Site Loses Rankings or Gets Penalized

If you use the PBN technique in an expansive manner, there are high chances that you will notice a sudden drop in rankings as it will become easier for search engines to spot. In extreme cases where you have built, say, hundreds or thousands of PBNs, you will get penalized. So, it's always recommended to use PBN in a measured way and you know how much you are extending your network.

Don't make it look like a thin-content plethora of websites that are just for the purpose of linking back to the main website. The more genuine you will keep the PBN, there are less chances of losing your rankings. One of the smartest ways to deal with it to earn good backlinks from genuine sources also as it will build your credibility.

Sometimes Links Get Discarded

As the algorithms are getting smarter day after day, they can easily spot a naturally given link and artificially generated links. While calculating the overall ranking of a website, the crawlers simply discard those PBN links and your ranking does not increase in that case. That's why it is recommended that only opt for the best SEO company that will help you generate a lot of links with the right techniques.

If you are not fully aware of how to create a PBN and how it functions, opting for a professional SEO company will solve your purpose. Just like any other marketing process, SEO is also an ongoing process and even if some links get dropped, new can always be created. But, this should be done with utter care and hence let the experts do it for you.

Relatively Harder To Manage

As compared to any other SEO techniques, private blog networks are literally harder to manage and run to make them look like real websites. If you don't have time to manage them after creation, it's better to not have one for your business. We would recommend you to go for safer options that can gradually add value to your domain.

And, if there is a need for a PBN or multiple networks, we recommend you to hire the best SEO company so that they can manage your SEO profile in the best way possible. If you don't have an in-house team, it would be more expensive to hire resources for this purpose only. So, if you plan, it's better and affordable to outsource.

PBNs Are Temporary

This thing totally depends on how the network is established and how you are managing multiple websites associated with the main business website. If you overlook the complete process for a longer period of time, there are chances that some domains may get penalized and you might temporarily lose them.

But if you have a dedicated team to manage your SEO activities along with PBN, you will hardly face such issues. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that managing PBN requires slightly more effort as compared to other tactics.

It's not true that PBNs don't work but the fact is that they are risky and have certain downsides if anything goes wrong. If you can hire someone who is an expert at building this, you can consider it but that also won't help you in the long run. For a long-term benefit, only trust the best SEO company and let them build links in a safer manner.

Get in touch with a good SEO company and have a better understanding of this practice and also know about the white-hat methods available for earning links for your domain. Also most importantly, don't fall into the trap of ads that sell tons of links at a cheap price as it will definitely hit your website's reputation.

About the Author:

With over 13 years experience as a leader in digital marketing, Mansi Rana is Managing Director of EZ Rankings - SEO Reseller Company. Passionate about all things data; providing actionable business intelligence in digital, future tech; and venture bubbles categories for everyone, everywhere.