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What are Private Blog Networks?



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What are Private Blog Networks?

Read this over and let me know what you think.

  • Do you use private blog networks?
  • Do you like private blog networks?
  • Did you see a benefit using private blog networks?
  • Did you get banned into oblivion because you used a bad network?


So what are Private Blog Networks, or PBNs?
The main reason for a private blog network is to funnel traffic and sales to your main money site.

Most of the time the blogs in the network don't provide any value to the search engines since they are focused mainly on funneling traffic/sales to your main site. People tend to go to extremes to acquire high PR domains that already have links aimed at them. This way they can get a domain that already has the work done to it and they just have to make a quick blog behind the domain and add some fresh relevant content.


What Actions Did Google Take In Order To Negate PBNs?

Some of the main actions Google has take are as follows:
  • Managing thin content penalties to your money site if it's found pushing links through Private Blog Networks (PBNs).
  • Removing the PBNs blogs from their index resulting in a drop in rankings of your money site and possible penalty.



In the end, Google is trying to cut down on PBNs in order to make their search results better. Penalizing PBNs will reduce the amount of people willing to set them up and that will naturally cut down on spammed rankings. Google claims to have made a big dent in these, but in reality there are still some big networks out there doing pretty well. These networks are managed daily and now make money on their own, so that's the main reason the link juice still flows.


Another theory is that Google keeps pushing for the https in order to lift the anonymity of the webmasters resulting in a cut down of PBNs. It's a good idea, but an SSL, or https, isn't required in order to have a website. Google now gives a slight boost to https websites since they are secure, but they can't force you to use it.



Thanks,

Razzy

Comments

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Drake83
Great article, thumbs up (literally, via the thumbs-up option above). Doesn't Google heavily target PBNs now? I hear Matt Cutts talking about it often. How would having a secure site (https/SSL) lift the anonymity? You can get a certificate without really identifying more than is already on the whois.



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TommyCarey
Google does target PBNs pretty heavily now. They try to void any crappy content in their search results and since 99% of PBNs are just a few pages long, maybe up to 10 pages.

As for the anonymity I should have read that over a little more before posting it. It's been a long day lol What are Private Blog Networks?
For the anonymity with and SSL, it doesn't necessarily lift the veil since it's just securing the pages. I meant to add in there that most of the PBN owners won't opt for an SSL since it costs money. And if they have a few dozens websites in their PBN that will add up. If they opt for the privacy protection with their domain registrar that's an extra $12 - $15 a year and most small fry won't opt for it. Not opting for the privacy will easily link anyones websites together since the information is publicly viewable.
  • Not having an SSL will put you behind your competition and lower your rankings in the SERPs. So if you want to be competitive with the big guys, you'll need an SSL for each blog/wesbite.
  • Not having privacy protection will link all your blogs/websites together based on a whois search leaving you vulnerable when Google does a sweep to crack down on PBNs.
  • Google giving a boost to SSL blogs and websites will weed out the small guys leaving Google to just focus on the big fish.
  • In order to run a good PBN you'd need a good amount of cash flow, Virtual Assistants posting for you everday, people moderating members posts, etc. Basically it would need to be a fully functioning website and by the time you get to that point, you should just monitize your traffic and not send it to a money site.


Thanks,

Razzy



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MasterA
No, I don’t use or like Private Blog Networks. A few months ago, I was going to purchase a SEO service here that offered Private Blog Network links and after doing some research, I found out that Google hates these links and they will penalize you if they find out you use them. Therefore, I decided not to use them. Using these are like investing into high risk products, either Google will find out you use them and penalize your site or you will get traffic and boost your rankings. I think the risk is not worth it so I rather play it safe. There are some big networks out there that are doing pretty well so this method still works but you don’t always know which ones are safe and which ones aren’t.



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ballyhara
The big issue with PBN is that they are expensive to develop, keeping a domain is super high. Also, you have to stay hours creating domains, so that will consume a lot of time. The good part is that they are great for marketing, and that is what makes their use a little bit controversial.



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vinaya
Without realizing what PBN was, I created private blog networks. When I began publishing on wellbeing and wellness niche, I thought to have a mental health blog to feature contents on anxiety, stress, anger management would be profitable. When I launched a blog on mental health, I decided to launch another blog that featured contents on physical health. This is how I created PBN. However, the contents on these blogs are not so thin. each of these blogs has more than 25 articles and I am also regularly updating my blogs.



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Corzhens
The Private Blog Network is new to me and I am perplexed on what it is all about. You have mentioned the reaction of Google on PBNs but you forgot to explain how a PBN really works. How do you create a private blog network, does it have 1 or 2 blog sites?



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