Definition of Private Blog Network
The Private Blog Network is a practice considered black hat in natural referencing. PBN consists of having several blogs with high SEO potential (in terms of traffic and domain authority) in order to create a powerful linking strategy. The goal is therefore simple: to share what is called SEO juice (authority between domains) between the different blogs in the private network in order to position themselves quickly on the search result pages. This principle consists of meeting two of the principles of Google EAT, expertise and trust.
How a PBN works
As said above, the principle of the private blog network consists of exchanging SEO strength from one site to another and in large quantities. But how is this possible? Authority in the eyes of Google works thanks to the different links made between websites. However, two criteria are essential to speak of an authoritative site in its field: the site must have a large quantity of backlinks but these must also be qualitative. But why does this structure work? There is a major reason, which is that very often, it is complicated to position yourself on the first pages of Search Engine Result Pages. PBN therefore allows SEO to obtain good backlinks without having to think about an effective linkbaiting strategy (which very often requires a lot of effort).
The disadvantages of the private blog network
Netlinking being one of the three pillars of SEO, one might think that PBN only presents advantages, in fact, obtaining quality links can take time, but with a private blogs network, it can be done in just a few moments. month. However, there are many disadvantages in the short term before thinking about PBN in your netlinking strategy:
- This takes a lot of time when launching websites: Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were your websites,
- Domain name search: although often forgotten, searching for a domain name is tedious, you have to check their background in terms of sanctions taken in the eyes of Google, imagine doing this for around fifty sites,
- Content writing: building a qualitative PBN requires that blogs be recognized as experts in their field, this requires writing qualitative articles in the eyes of the search engine,
- The cost : While hosting a blog alone does not require a huge budget, the needs are increased depending on the number of blogs you are going to include in your PBN. If you host your sites sharedly, the budget will increase quickly. Finally, the renewal of domain names can quickly reach large sums (count 10€/NDD/year).
How to use a blog network wisely?
To use a blog network correctly, you must avoid being spotted by Google robots and suffering a penalty from them. To do this, you will have to ensure that the different blogs do not mesh with each other. But also that the latter have qualitative content (limit expert in their field/niche) and that they do not present the same IP addresses Finally, remember to diversify your anchors and send quite often to your home page (this is the page which is most often meshed in terms of natural backlink acquisition).
To conclude on PBN in SEO
You will have understood during your reading that the creation and use of a blog network that is specific to you can be beneficial for your digital marketing strategy and boost your SEO. If your goal is to quickly place your money sites in search results, it will help you get there. However, it has many disadvantages which at launch, if not done gradually, can have heavy financial burdens. Finally, if this is feasible, remember that this is a technique considered black hat, and therefore not recommended by Google.
Esteban Irschfeld, SEO Consultant at UX-Republic