How to build a PBN
There’s so much of contradicting information on the internet about everything SEO-related. Most of it is being peddled by self-proclaimed SEO gurus. In other words, it should be taken with a large grain of salt.
One of these theories is that PBN networks are dead or redundant. Why we even read a blog post on an authority website written in 2017, that PBN networks are a shortcut to a Google penalty. The sheer number of websites that we’ve managed to rank after that post was published is testimony to the fact that PBN networks work great.
A PBN network, when ‘perfectly created’, is no different from a bunch of organic backlinks that your website earns. The only way that Google will ever detect it, is if it’s poorly constructed with visible footprints that can be linked back to your original website.
That’s where we step in. If you are skeptical about PBN networks or are trembling with fear thinking about a potential penalty from the Big G, then this foolproof method is all you need to get started with PBN.
Step #1 – Find great domains
Strong, authority domains are the fundamental building blocks of any PBN network. If you can find yourself a great domain with backlinks from niche-relevant (not always necessary) websites, half the battle is won.
However, the market for expired domains is ridiculously competitive. Most good quality domains are backordered days in advance. The rest are scooped up by large domain retail corporations who then put it up for auction.
There’s your chance to pick up a decent domain without paying through your nose. There are two simple metrics that will help you determine a domain’s worth.
- The number and quality of referring domains – How many websites or referring domains link to the domain that you want to buy? There’s no rule set in stone. But any number over 25 is usually considered good enough. The more important thing is the quality of the websites that link to your domain. Are any of these authority websites? A domain with just 5 backlinks from Wiki, Forbes, BBC and Foxnews will be worth a lot more than a domain with 25 backlinks from more generic sites.
- Spam Check – It is extremely important that the domain has not been spammed to death. An easy way to detect spam is to check the anchor text that links to it. There are various tools that can help you do this. Ahrefs is generally considered the gold standard for domain research. Watch out for spammy text, like Pharmaceuticals drugs, Chinese language and counterfeit goods. An alternative way would be to log on to the Wayback machine and check the screenshots of the domain when it was active as a website. If it was used as a spam site or a PBN site, skip it. Chances are that the domain has been penalized already.
If you are new to this, we highly recommend that you buy a verified, clean domain with great metrics from a domain reseller. This will cost you more upfront, but will save you a ton of hassle and time that are better spent building your PBN.
Step 2 – Host them on separate servers
We cannot emphasize on how important it is to host your PBN domains on separate servers. No, don’t get swayed by fancy claims of ‘Zero Footprint SEO Hosting’. No matter what they try to sell you, these servers are traceable.
Instead, look for budget-priced shared hosting and try to host these sites on random hosting providers. We would even recommend spreading it out all around the globe if you can.
Here’s a list of inexpensive shared web hosts to get you started.
- Hostpapa
- Bluehost
- Hostgator
- A small Orange
- Fatcow
- iPage
- Greengeeks
- Dreamhost
- A2 Hosting
This is not an exhaustive list of options you have mind you. Do your research. Spread out the sites as far and wide as you can.
Step 3 – Set up the websites
We can write a 1000-page e-book on the many ways in which you can set up distinct looking PBN websites. But the key here is to retain the link juice that your PBN domain already has. There’s an easy way to do it.
- Logon to Wayback Machine and check how the website looked when the domain was active. You can even download most of the original content and reuse it. There are gigs on Fiverr which will do this for you. Just ensure that you pad it up a little with your own unique content. This way, you can maintain the niche relevancy for the original domain.
Use WordPress. It’s reasonably simple to set up. Use different themes on all the domains in your PBN. That’s it. You have just completed the third step in creating your PBN network.
Step 4 – Hire a content writer
Even if you have used most of the old content, you do not want Google to come snooping and discover that this is rehashed content. So, hire a content writer and create some great content around the niche.
Make things even better. Add some videos, an infographic or two, some image posts, some random blog posts. Create fake author profiles. Don’t try to portray yourself as an expert on any topic. Rather, speak like a blogger who’s sharing their experiences.
Always remember. The idea here is to ensure that your PBN website looks like a legit, functioning website.
Step 5 – Make contextual links
In the early days of PBNs, you could buy a great expired domain, throw some links on the footer with your primary keyword as the anchor text and boom! Your money site would just skyrocket to the moon in Google search.
Unfortunately, it’s no longer as easy as that. So, you’ve got to create contextual links, which are links naturally occurring in content. Make a great blog post and link to your money site from that blog post. Don’t go overboard with the anchor text either. Just use it sparingly and mix it up with random anchor text such as ‘moneysite.com’ ‘money site’, where money site stands for the domain that you are linking it to.
Closing thoughts
There are of course a lot more details that can go into each one of these steps. There are a whole bunch of advanced strategies too, such as network clustering and bot blocking.
But even these basic steps should suffice to help you understand how to build a great PBN network. If you have any doubts at all, just give us a holler in the comment box below.
