Do PBNs work in getting a good rank on Google?

Anyone who knows Search Engine Optimization probably has the idea what Private Blogging Networks are. PBNs (Private Blogging Networks) are basically short groups of networks that work collectively to improve a website’s rank in Google. This network includes websites that have either an expired domain (purchased for the purpose of PMNs) or a domain that has authority in Google but is now irrelevant.

Private Blogging Network is not a legal way of improving a website’s ranking. The sites that usually opt for these are monetized.

Many Search Engine Optimization specialists would recommend trying out other alternatives before giving in to this much notorious one.

Do they actually work?

To put it simply, no. In the beginning, they might work for certain websites, but it is not long before Google identifies a website involved in a PBN and penalizes it.

Yes, websites involved in a PBN, once identified, are punished by Google. As it is an illegal way of improving a website’s ranking, it can get a website banned as well.

Coming back to how they work, if they do.

These websites are aimed at tricking the search engine giant into believing that they are just natural backlinks. Actually, in order to appear as organic links, these websites can’t have any connection with each other.

The websites that pull off the trick to get their goal accomplished. The network includes websites that have authority in Google. The sites that are backlinked by websites that have authority in Google (i.e., their domain score is higher) are credited for it.

Since these websites have successfully tricked the search engine into believing that the backlinks are organic, it positively impacts their ranking.

You might be thinking that I am contradicting my initial answer, but I am not. Let me explain to you a little further.

Here are a few factors to explain my position:

Websites involved in PBNs get nailed every time Google updates its Algorithm

Whenever one employs an illegal tactic, the anxiety of getting caught comes with it. With every update, one’s heart skips a beat.

‘What if my website gets caught this time?’ Can you relate to that feeling?

The anxiety of this kind is the worst. And it is actually a pretty legitimate one. The search engine guru is smarter than you think and gets even smarter with updates. Each time Google updates its Algorithm, the chances of black-hatted techniques, however shrewd they may be, increase.

This is the reason why you’ll see all of the black-hatters panicking every time Google announces an update.

With ever-increasing dependence on digital media, Google is updating its Algorithm quite frequently. All the websites that are involved in the Private Networking Blogs get caught at some point. No matter how many concealing skills you may master, it all goes to waste as soon as the search engine‘s Algorithm gets smarter.

It is not even worth the cost and time

People invest a good deal of money and their time in building a Private Networking Blog, which is always on the run (Yes, it is that risky). Buying expired domains that have authority in Google is not cheap, of course.

Then, to make sure that it does not get caught, one needs to fill in reliable content on each of the websites. Getting an article written also costs bucks unless you go for dummy content (which is even worse as it makes the PBN get nailed quite easily).

Imagine investing that much money along with time that is required to pull it off nicely and then waking up to a Google update?

So, yes, even if it is working out for a website, it is still very risky as the site is vulnerable to getting nailed all the time.

The alternative

Since the idea of setting up a PBN wad to gain backlinks, there is another choice less vulnerable than the former to achieve the goal. Buying backlinks is always an option and is legal as well. But then again, some sites may take advantage, so one needs to be very careful where they are buying backlinks from.

One can find a handful of these websites, Healthy Links being my favourite.

If your website is involved in a PBN and it is working perfectly for you, we recommend you not to wait until the situation becomes dire. Switch to organic and acceptable ways of improving its ranking before it is too late.

Better late than sorry!

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