What Is a PBN? | What Is a Backlink?

Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘
Masterminds, let's have a discussion about backlinks!
We have been getting a ton of questions lately about private blog networks (PBN)s, backlink equity, how to vet websites for backlinks and so forth.
Let's start at the beginning
What is a backlink?
When Google was created the developers needed a way to measure authority on topics. In short, their solution was to address this through citational resources.
Why? Because it's been done for 100's of years. When books like encyclopedias were created, they cited studies as a way to prove legitimate reference – and Google did the same.
All a backlink is, is a citation from another website that tells Google you are being referenced. If there is anchor text, it helps Google understand what the citation is for.
What is a PBN?
A PBN is a private blogging network. It is a series of websites that are connected together to help pass citational flow, also known as PageRank.
Through multiple tiers you can compound the PageRank and sculpt authority signals to websites of your choice.
Is this a problem? Inherently, no. If people's PBNs were fully built out, informative websites that provided real value (and some do), passing PageRank signals wouldn't be a problem.
However. The black-hat search engine optimization (SEO) industry has ruined PBNs for us because over time they used them in previous algorithms that weren't as stringent as they are today. In essence they earned a lot of authority for bad content, bad practices and for websites that had no actual value.
After doing this, they then attempt to sell backlinks from this website with the pure intention of sculpting PageRank.
If all PBNs followed Google's actual guidelines, we wouldn't be in the situation we are facing today.
It is now strictly against Googles TOS to purchase or gain links for the pure purpose of passing PageRank – which leaves a lot open for interpretation.
So should you use PBNs?
That is ultimately a decision you have to make as an SEO.
If for any reason you can tell it is a PBN, you should probably not use it.
Easy ways to spot a bad PBN.
Sells links in mass
Has thin content or bad grammar
Has thousands of pages and no comments even when comment areas are open
Has up and down search engine result page (SERP) volatility in SemRush or other programs
Has no about us or any information about the creators of the website
So what PBNs should you use? In all honesty, the ones that are the exact opposite of the above.
Real PBNs are maintained by high end grey-hat SEOโ€™s that do not sell links in mass. They sell them at very serious prices and require you to contribute valuable content to their website in the form of articles that cover your topic of choice in complete depth.
They will contact you, you will not find them.
Real PBNs are real websites that continue to do well over time.
Does DA Matter?
The answer is – it depends. Domain Authority is a metric provided by Moz that attempts to put a score on your entire domain. Interestingly enough, Google doesnโ€™t work this way most of the time.
Pages you index are usually on a per page basis, but if interlinked correctly pass on PageRank signals from pages you have already built that have earned authority.
DA is a vanity metric mostly and should be seen as as directional information – it is not the end all be all of ranking. Most well known SEOโ€™s (users) have websites with low DA that rank high on certain pages, and websites with high DA that rank low on certain pages.
Talking about DA without discussing any other factors is almost inconsequential. As a singular data point it is almost useless.
What else can I or the community answer for you? Letโ€™s straighten all this out for our community ๐Ÿ™‚
Attached topics
#backlinks
[filtered from 25 ๐Ÿ’ฌ๐Ÿ—จ]

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what is a pbn what is a backlink
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Vincent
For a domain that have stayed expired for many years, will the domain still be good for use after restoring it?
Assuming the number of referring domains didn't drop, all old content is fully restored and indexed.
If the expired domain has been picked up and redirected for pbn previously, and therefore the history of the domain is not as clean ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ1

Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ
Honestly Vincent,
No one really knows what Google will think of the expired domain besides Google.
I have unintentionally purchased many expired domains and have never had an issue.
If your only intention of purchasing the expired domain is to sculpt PagRrank in some way or another, you are again breaking Google's TOS. That is not what expired domain purchases are for.
You should be purchasing it because it fits your websites goals and the business strategy. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ’Ÿ2

Mamun
Sir, can social share and social signals any impact on ranking? ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ2

Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ
Yes, but not by muchโ€ฆ
Think of it this way. If anyone can get the link, it probably isn't worth much in terms of ranking. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ’Ÿ2
Mamun ยป Mew
thank you sir for your information. I don't have enough knowledge about grammar. Can i still rank my website? Or should i hire writer?
Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Mamun
– Is the native language of your website English'?
Mamun ยป Mew
yes sir, I try write my own content, but not enough good i guess.. ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…
Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Mamun
– What's the niche bud?
Mamun ยป Mew
digital software and tools affiliation. .
Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Mamun
– Since this is a niche that requires a lot of trust, it may be best to have a native English writer assist or you may possibly be able to use Grammarly.
Mamun ยป Mew
thank u sir.. I will try to get someone, can u give any secret tips, from your experience sir ? ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜Š

Gary
Generally the only backlinks I care about are the ones I would have been proud of for non-SEO reasons. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ2

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Kafka
Great post! This is why we run a Private Business Network, not a private blog network.

Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ
Bing-O was his name broski! ๐Ÿคญ1
Kafka ยป Mew
what is a pbn what is a backlink
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what is a pbn what is a backlink
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Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Kafka
– That's pretty impressive! ๐Ÿ’Ÿ1
Kafka ยป Mew
thanks. I work hard not to brag lol ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ1
Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Kafka
– Something of that nature is brag worthy lol.
Kafka ยป Mew
I know, thank youโ€ฆ but I feel a sense of leadership when I follow group rules and set the example by not self promoting myself when I respect the group owners. ๐Ÿค“
You made a post about links, so I HAD to say something lol ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ1
Mew ๐Ÿ‘‘โœ๏ธ ยป Kafka
– Definitely appreciated. I take into consideration how much total value someone adds to our group when it comes to promotion.
I'm not strictly against it, but I am against taking more than you give. A 1:1 ratio sits well with me, especially when applied to conversations and posts where it makes sense to discuss.
Kafka ยป Mew
๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿš€๐Ÿš€๐Ÿค‘ well that's great to hear! I'll always shoot to give 4-10x more than I take.
Honestly, giving usually results in friend requests and messages from the lookers who never comment or post, but want to learn or spend with someone they respect, trust and admire.
I've truly enjoyed our few interactions and look forward to many more my friend. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ’Ÿ2

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Roger
Backlink is a vote. Social media share is also a vote. From my study ( work on some niche and not on some ), if your products can sell extremely well in Facebook, your pages will also get extra juices in google search. Vote = trust. Another reason might be no harm for the big g to give you some free traffics. When you see that in your analytics, you might be interested in google Adwords๐Ÿ˜Personally, i did use private blog network (PBN) but niche related PBN only. For those who want to buy PBN links, please check DA PA TF CF DR UR spam score, Moz trust of the PBN and decided from there. Why? I have seen many PBN that use "redirect" trick. DA is super easy to cheat right now. Instead of buying, you can build your own or use it as redirect. Spamzilla is a good tool to harvest domains.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75u6p2tD9E – This trick still work to get the best backlinks for your site. Another trick is win google heart – google stacking and get as many votes from google users ( local seo ) ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ1
Sravan
I check 3 points. Article Quality, Relevance, Traffic.
It doesn't matter whether it is a Medium/Blogger/WordPress/Weebly/Tumblr etc., It's ranking or not getting traffic or not is matters to me.
This method is working perfectly & getting ranking improvements. ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฝ1
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