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PBNs - please explain exactly what a private blog network is!



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PBNs - please explain exactly what a private blog network is!

Can anyone please explain to me what a private blog network is? I have heard that Google is now penalizing PBN's?

The reason I ask this is because I have 3 blogs, all in different niches. I do sometimes link between my websites, I mean of course I would right?

I make sure to only link when it is relevant and I don't go crazy with links. Would I be at risk of being penalized by Google for this? Surely Google will be able to see that all 3 websites are owned by me?

What do I need to know here to make sure that I don't get into trouble with Google in this regard?

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idealmike
A PBN (Private Blog Network) is just that. A network of blogs that are kept private. Although not really kept private in the same sense as private would mean if you was talking to someone in private. But private in the sense that they belong to one person or a group of people.

The reason for a PBN is for ranking purposes. If you have a PBN that is made up of say, 100+ sites and all those sites are basically on different hosts, use different class IP's, are hosted all around the world and all have lot of good rank. But they aren't connected together in anyway (maybe a few of them might be on the same IP or host etc) but generally not connected to each other.

Then you add your website link to all of them either in a guest post or simple text link or something. Then that can have a really powerful effect on that link/site and help to increase its ranking in the SERPS pretty fast.

The PBN owners know this. And Google knows this. That's why they don't like PBN's because they help people to rank sites fast in a "gamey" way and not a "natural" way. And Google doesn't want sites ranking high that are ranking high because they have been ran through a PBN. They want sites to rank high naturally through real organic links, social shares (social signals) etc.

Starting a PBN isn't a hard thing to do. But expanding that PBN and making sure that it flies under the radar is no mean feat. You have to be really careful and completely scrupulous in the way you build and manage your PBN. One small mistake and it could ruin all your years of hard work and money spent on building up that PBN. Although sometimes when Google detects a PBN. It can only see a certain part of that PBN (such as 1/3 of its sites in that PBN). Since they are not all connected together, it's hard for Google to see them.

One way they can find out all your PBN sites though is through doing it manually by looking at all the backlinks a site that is suddenly ranking high has and then if that site is being linked to by all the PBN sites, they can know all of your sites in the PBN from that. That's why PBN's are a double edged sword. On one side of the sword, they can be very effective and powerful. But on the other, they can also decapitate one of your limbs if you make a mistake.

So yeah, hope that's insightful enough for you? PBNs - please explain exactly what a private blog network is!



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Lynne
Ok so when Google is talking about a PBN it is huge network of websites not just little old me with 3 websites right? I cant see that Google would worry about my few websites,especially since they will be able to easily see I never set them up for the sole purpose of ranking.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Your responses are always such an eye opener for me and much appreciated!



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idealmike
Yeah that's right. And when you link to one of your sites from one of your other sites. You're doing so because it's relevant and adds value to that page or the page/site being linked to. It's helpful to/for your readers. But when you use a PBN, you're only linking to a site for one reason alone and that is to increase the ranking of that site in the SERPS.

And it works too! That's why people invest so heavily in time and money into their PBN's. And Google knows this which is why they don't like people using PBN's and punish those that are caught doing so with a nice manual penalty. So they can work but they can also hinder too. Hence the double edged sword!



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Lynne
Thanks Mike. I don't want to set up a PBN so I am safe.

I was just reading something about how Google is targeting PBN's and I started wondering whether I would be at risk. Glad to hear that it won't be a problem.

Just out of interest now, if I buy a service that includes links from PBN's and Google finds that PBN would that affect my website?



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idealmike
Possibly yes. The same way as the sites in that PBN would get a manually penalty placed on them. Any sites that are being linked to might as well. It's a shady black hat practice and Google doesn't like it because they know it works. Just goes to show how important backlinks are for ranking. But you can still get high rankings without using a PBN.



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Lynne
Yes that's what I thought which is why it is so important to find a quality seller and not just grab the cheapest service. I find it quite concerning how some buyers just seem concerned with the amount of links and getting them "fast"... don't they know that fast is unnatural?



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vinaya
I have 10 blogs in different niches and I have interlinked these blogs. All of these blogs are hosted by the same web hosting company. Am I under the risks of being penalized by Google?
I did not create these blogs to generate backlinks for ranking purpose. As a professional writer, I have a lot idea and interest and I thought having different niches in different blogs was better than cramming everything in one blog.



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Barida
I think you're fine with those blogs as long as you're not breaking any rules placed by Google on the ownership of blogs. Just do not get a lot personal with those links as well.



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