Web 2.0 is still in its infancy in terms of application to SEO compared to Private Blog Networks that have been around for quite some time.
However, as web 2.0 platforms like social media take over a huge chunk of online traffic, many webmasters are starting to tap the potential of this option.
Today, we’ll answer questions such as what is web 2.0, how it compares to PBNs, and which one to choose.
What is a PBN?
PBNs are prominent amongst webmasters as they offer strong and fast website ranking solutions for the main sites.
Primarily, a website ranks up on the search engine results page when it is authoritative and relevant.
This authority score is powered by the number of backlinks pointing to a website like a referral from other people.
Now, Private blog networks are made by buying quality old or expired domains going after their historical metrics such as the domain authority, citation flow, and backlink quality.
These old domains are being rebuilt and interconnected to serve as backlinks to the main money site to raise its SERP rankings.
What is a Web 2.0 property?
Web 2.0 is the term used to call websites that are filled with user-generated content and in the context of SEO, this is considered a white-hat practice.
Content syndication, or the act of publishing own’s content to another site, is the main thing in Web 2.0.
The main examples of this are social media, open-source online knowledge-sharing platforms, and video streaming sites.
These platforms power the content uploaded by users to increase user experience and reach.
From this, backlinking is just simply natural and site traffic becomes organic which SEOs would like to tap the potential for site rankings.
In Web 2.0, domain owners are responsible for making the entire domain authoritative while the users have the power to make or break the page authority.
Major Differences
PBNs are considered Web 1.0 where the domain and the content are solely managed by the owner while Web 2.0 platforms are user-powered.
Let’s look into the differences to further understand which one to choose and when to use.
Owning the Network VS Using 3rd Party Service
Maintaining a blog network or a Web 2.0 platform requires expertise, and entails significant costs of time, money, and effort.
Owning one requires you to manage web hosting, content, and domain security, and do all the research to effectively maintain and draw results for your website ranking.
Utilizing free or rented 3rd party services saves you time, money, and stress on building your own PBN.
All you have to work on at most is where you would like the link to point in your domain.
Zero Links VS Established Backlink Profile
Another difference between PBN links and Web 2.0 are the way they put a value on the backlinks pointing to your main money site.
PBN links have an established backlink profile since these are rebuilt old expired domains and their historic metric is what webmasters are banking on.
Since these old and expired domains have been previously living, they also used to have other domains pointing back to them creating an already vast network of link juices flowing.
So even after these old domains have expired or gone offline, their backlink profile is established and remains recorded.
In comparison, Web 2.0 domains are owned by a third party that only allows users to create content within their domain.
While the domain authority of most of the web 2.0s is strong, individual pages created by users usually have zero backlinks pointing to them, hence it’s called zero links.
Building Links To Web 2.0
Web 2.0 now comes to play in terms of website ranking as many Google algorithm considers the links from these platform natural.
Many webmasters today are now tapping into the potential of backlinks from web 2.0 platforms like social media platforms, video streaming sites, and photo blogging domains.
Getting Web 2.0 links starts by creating relevant and quality content. In SEO, always remember that content is king.
Your main goal in building links from web 2.0 is to add value to your individual page by flowing link juices from these platforms banking on their good domain authority score.
In contrast, PBN links are banked on high backlink scores so they are best pointing back to your homepage to boost the ranking of your domain in the SERP.
Web 2.0 Chance of Removal
It is important to be mindful of the user guidelines when publishing content or on how you are interacting within the Web 2.0s environment.
This is their part of ensuring that their domains are authoritative and not violating any search engine webmaster’s guidelines.
Common web 2.0s like social media platforms are moderated by the owners, especially on sensitive topics.
If your niche belongs to those deemed sensitive, chances are that your page and content inside the web 2.0 domain would be taken down.
Another underlying risk is that if the owner of the platform decides to discontinue, they’ll just do so regardless of the preference of the users.
Ease of Setup and Control
Setting up accounts on web 2.0 domains could be annoying but is a lot easier compared to setting up your own blog network.
There’s a lot to consider when building your private blog networks such as old domains relevant to your niche, link-building strategy, and the content itself.
You also have to be mindful of the risks from PBN links going to your domain compared to that of web 2.0 links.
However, owning one offers much control, especially in managing content and managing risks unlike with third-party services, particularly with social media where the owner controls almost all channels.
Web 2.0 are usually owned by big groups and has user guidelines in place that you must adhere or your content could be taken down.
Anchor Text Choice
Anchor Texts are the word where the hyperlinks are attached and they are very important to your backlink strategy.
You must always do your keyword research to effectively implement your link building.
In web 2.0s, there’s a higher chance that you can only go for naked anchor texts since you cannot edit much on this platform.
Also, generic anchors or URL anchor text are your best option for web 2.0s links as they are weaker compared to PBN links.
While on blog networks, there are a lot of options of anchor text that you can choose from and it will now be dependent on your strategy.
The general rule of thumb is that PBN links are great for aggressive keyword meaning, targetted keywords.
Scalability
In terms of scalability, you have the freedom to upscale or downscale depending on your current needs if you own the network.
This factor becomes more significant when the niche that you are targetting starts to become more competitive as the days go by.
You won’t have this privilege if you are going for third-party blog networks or web 2.0 domains.
Conclusion
Time to review your SEO needs and your project timeline for your target website.
You may start asking yourself if do you want to be on the top of the SERP quickly, or do you want to build a strong foundation for your domain as a whole?
This will guide you on what to choose between PBN links and Web 2.0s.
Knowing when to use either of the two could be great but learning how to use both at the right time and circumstances is exceptional.
