Netlinking SEO: What is a PBN and How to Create it?
What is Netlinking SEO?
Netlinking seo is a practice of using multiple links – the famous backlinks – by redirecting them to a website. Beyond the possible direct traffic they generate, their primary goal is to optimize visibility on search engines and in particular Google using their popularity. Indeed, Google will interpret this profusion of links as a sign of authority in your field. Today, several methods exist (linkbuilding, linkbaiting …), but some, which have become archaic, can literally cause a site to lose all its visibility.
PBN, for “Private Blog Network”, is currently a method that divides the SEO community. While some find an interest in it, others consider this technique ineffective and impossible to perpetuate because the links do not meet Google’s quality requirements.
So what should we really think of PBN ?
What is a PBN ?
A private network is a network of websites whose aim is to generate links to money sites. Money sites are sites intended to be positioned in search engines, being those which generate turnover (e-commerce, services, affiliation, showcase sites etc).
There are two types of PBN: the dedicated and the mutual. They are comparable to the different types of accommodation that can be purchased for its website. The dedicated, by definition, is devoted to a single site. Its owner has invested a certain budget in the purchase of expired domain names (NDD), to recreate sites without starting from scratch. This method provides an interesting basis from a popularity point of view. Thus, the owner of the site will be able to quickly create links to his money site. The obvious advantage of dedicated PBN is that it generates themed links that competitors will never have.
Mutualized PBN is generally used by independent SEOs or agencies. It is a network of sites on different themes, intended to be sold to advertisers.
There is an important detail to remember here: the sites of a PBN worthy of the name are in no way linked to each other. As a result, the links seem natural, as opposed to an editor who refers to his own website from his other sites.
Should We Aim for the Quality or Quantity of Links ?
The effectiveness of a PBN depends primarily on the quantity of sites that compose it. Indeed, these small themed sites do not display impressive metrics (TrustFlow, CitationFlow, SEMrush Rank, positioned keywords, number of visits, rebound rate, etc.). Thus the popularity / authority transmitted to your money site remains low. It is therefore necessary to multiply them in order to hope to receive a certain amount of “jus SEO”.
A few years ago, sending small links en masse to a site was a technique that worked very well. But with the almost daily improvement of its Pingouin and EAT filters, Google is putting more and more sticks in the wheels of PBN adept reference machines. The search engine has changed its evaluation methods and is now giving increasing importance to the visibility of the site that sends the link. It relies in particular on its positioning and notoriety. Thus, it becomes difficult to believe in the future of PBN, which only have small sites with no real added value. This is why the leitmotif of a large number of SEOs today is to prefer some good links to a multitude of links that are too little qualitative. The famous LESS is MORE !
The Importance of Google EAT: Expertise Authority Trust
To judge the quality of a business, what more can we say than word of mouth ? On the web, it’s the same thing and Google EAT is responsible for better understanding the environment of a website. From now on, the technical qualities and the number of links are no longer sufficient: the “noise” around a site and its author (s) has become essential.
On August 1, Google confirmed the arrival of a major update of its basic algorithm. This has affected many sites classified under what Google calls “YMYL sites” (Your Money Your Life). The YMYL illustrates Google’s interest in the relevance and accuracy of the content it displays in SERP. Thus, this update mainly concerns the sites addressing the themes relating to health, finance, security… With EAT, Google highlights sites that display a high level of expertise, authority and reliability. This is how it protects Internet users against poor quality content which can be detrimental to them.
But what does this have to do with the PBN ?
With its high level of requirement, Google EAT has shelved small sites bringing little added value and no real expertise. And as we said earlier, small PBN sites have never been recognized for their quality and relevance. They are therefore gradually losing Google’s trust, which will directly impact the effectiveness of the links they send.
What are the Benefits of a PBN ?
Fast and easy to generate
Today, with the CMS plethora that exists on the market, it is very easy and inexpensive to quickly set up small sites. Some writing platforms also allow you to order inexpensive themed articles to feed them quickly. It is also possible to buy some links to “make” the metrics of these small sites.
Total control of its links
The main advantage of PBN is that it offers total control of the links that point to your site since you will be at the origin of it. In case of Google penalty or change of algorithm, it is possible to delete them, modify the anchors or the landing pages. This is a significant advantage, especially when you know that Google’s link disavowal tool is not necessarily very effective.
Thematized niche sites
Advertisers operating in a niche market often struggle to find sites in their theme. Thanks to the references that mount PBNs made up of small nestled sites, these advertisers manage to find “relevant” links, essential to their off-site strategy.
A competitive advantage
When you own your PBN, you are able to send exclusive links to our money site. In other words, our competitors will never be able to receive links from one of our themed sites. You will therefore have an advantage over them.
Long-term links on the home page
The advantage of having your own sites for your netlinking seo is being able to make the links where we want. Thus, they can be added directly to the home page of small sites to transmit more “jus” SEO. The links of the home are therefore in theory more powerful and do not weaken over time (unlike a blog article that usually ends up in oblivion).
What are the Disadvantages of a PBN ?
Too artificial sites
The major drawback of a PBN is its lack of “natural”. Indeed, one can legitimately wonder what Google can think of a site that has little, see no traffic, no off-site ecosystem, often composed of a majority of sponsored articles, with links to rarely neutral anchors. In the same way, with the implementation of Google EAT, we can all the more doubt the effectiveness of PBNs insofar as they are very rarely well positioned and are never cited as a reference on the web (on social networks or others sites)
Identical CMS
Often, the SEOs that cause PBN use the same CMS to administer small sites. The most common is of course WordPress which allows you to set up sites very quickly. Google knows of course how to detect the CMS used and it is a safe bet that in case of suspicion, this is one of the first things that will be checked.
The footprints trap
In natural referencing, a footprint is the imprint that you leave on the internet and that can be used to monitor your activity through different sites, to locate several accounts and several sites that you have. For example, if the network sites have the same IP address, you directly establish the link between them, which will be interpreted by Google as an attempt to manipulate its algorithms. This is why, to be as discreet as possible, the network must come from several CMS, but also from several accommodation… There are a lot of footprints to go up a network of sites. These precautions, which strongly complex the creation of the PBN are rarely respected by the SEO.
Ideally, to perpetuate its netlinking seo, we must find this diagram :
A link = a site = a unique IP address = a different editor.
Clearly, you have to be as natural as possible and build your link profile via different publishers, even if it turns out to be much more time consuming. This is why some emerging platforms like SEMJuice.com offer to buy links by varying the publishing sites to minimize the risks.
Tips for Your Netlinking SEO Strategies
Whether you opt for a PBN, the purchase of ad hoc links or “old-fashioned” netlinking via partnerships, here are some tips that are still applicable :
- Vary your link anchors as much as possible (avoid overoptimization) and your landing pages
- Send a large part of the links to the home page, because that’s what’s natural: when we talk about you, we most often link the home page,
- Mostly use URL anchors or branded anchors, it’s the most natural too,
- Make sure that the sites that send you links display different metrics and are administered from different CMS
- Sprinkle your link profile with themed nofollow links, this will only make it more natural,
- Make maximum use of canvassing with real bloggers / influencesers who will send you juice but also real qualified traffic,
- Monitor the quality of the links you receive. No one is immune to the negative SEO even if Google claims to control it. To do this, you can use the Backlink Audit tool and audit the quality or toxicity of your links.
Conclusion
The network of sites is today a technique which is no longer unanimous because the Google noose tightens over the months. If some still manage to rush into breaches, we must keep in mind that what Google tolerates (or does not see) today may not be tomorrow. It is therefore preferable to focus its netlinking seo strategy on the development of a profile of clean and varied links. Varying links means buying them from different publishers to protect you, in particular, from footprints.
PBNs are not to be avoided but they should no longer be your only source of links. But they still have a bright future ahead of them in your netlinking seo, especially in specific activity sectors (plastic injection, specialized CAD / CAM, lifting pumps, etc) who have great difficulty finding real publishers of sites or blogs, or to complete a strategy of more varied links.
