You might have never heard of a PBN (private blog network) backlink; if you’re new to SEO, that’s a good thing since you don’t want to be involved with this black hat backlinking tactic. However, you should know what they are and how to avoid them. This article aims to explain what they are, how they are used, why they are bad for SEO, and how you can avoid them so that your SEO efforts don’t suffer if Google finds out you are using this type of network.

Introduction of PBN Backlinks

Backlinks from a PBN (private blog network) consist of a collection of links from connected blogs and websites. Most of these sites are owned by the same person, and they are used to generate traffic to their money site. Additionally, PBN links can also be sold to other website owners for an extra profit.

A personal site system is similar to those used by media companies such as Gawker Media LLC, which operates sites such as Dead spin, Lifehacker, etc. In contrast, a PBN website’s primary purpose is to build links rather than provide valuable content to its target audience.

Since Google views unnatural link building of this type as exploitation, the network of sites is closed from the public to avoid detection (hence, the term “private” blog network). Additionally, you should use different hosting providers to hide your digital footprint for each website.

What Makes PBN Backlinks Shady?

The PBN owner is required to purchase expired domains with authority since this backlinking strategy is deemed spammy by Google. In addition, building links from a brand-new domain with no authority will affect organic search rankings and will also be useless from an SEO standpoint because you wouldn’t pay for a backlink from a website with no authority.

PBN owners need to make sure their links or trust score are clean, and they need to purchase high domain authority domains. This means the domains can’t have spammy links linking back to them.

The PBN owner now needs to create blogs on each domain they have purchased with high authority. Most of their content will be general and not technical and target multiple industries. As a result, they are able to attract a variety of customers, so they do not have to turn anyone away and can make as much money as possible.

Buying PBN Backlinks: Why Do People Do It?

In my opinion, there are two significant reasons why people purchase BBN backlinks. Firstly, people don’t realize they are getting scammed because they don’t know they are getting a PBN backlink. It is common for website owners who are just learning SEO and want more organic traffic or SEO beginners to fall for this tactic because they do not know any better.

Your search rankings can be improved immediately in the short term. You will see a drop in organic traffic in six months or less. Since Google obtained notice of the private blog network domains, it penalized all the sites associated with it, which directly impacts your site as you are backlinked to them. Additionally, your site’s spam and trust scores will be negatively impacted. PBN networks might appeal to you if you are okay with short-term results that have long-term consequences. However, the majority of people are interested in the long-term growth of their business online.

How To Detect and Avoid PBN Backlinks

If you are wondering how to know if a backlink is a PBN or a normal backlink, here are a few questions that might help. What signs should I look for? Yes, you need to look for red flags, and I will tell you what to look for.

Blogs Contain Many Outbound Links

When you find a blog you like and the domain has good authority, check to see if there are many outbound links on the page. There is something fishy about a blog with more than 5 posts and medium to short writing, and I would avoid those types of blogs. You are just another person participating in their scam since the blog(s) have already been offered to multiple people to backlink from already.

Emails From People Who Claim to Have Numerous High-Quality Websites for Backlinking

These websites are owned by their private blog network, which is why they have them to offer you. Since they do not need to seek approval from an administrator, it is easy for them to provide those websites.