The world wide web is a huge network of interconnected pages.
From this nature, search engine algorithms are programmed to rank a website’s relevance to a search query based on how strong is its network.
This gave birth to a network of blog sites intended for the sole purpose of ranking a website. Let’s dig deeper and compare Public and Private Blog Networks.
Table of Contents
What is a Blog Network?
According to PC Mag, a blog network is defined as an organization that hires people to write articles for a blog site that they own and use it for advertising.
Another definition mentioned is that it is a group of blogs that have shared common interests. This will surely ring a bell.
In the world of SEO, that shared interest can be equated to a blog site being owned by a single entity or individual.
Now, there are two kinds of blog networks which are Public Blog Network and Private Blog Network.
Today, We’ll deep dive on these types of blog networks so that we can have PBN explained in detail.
How is PBN Created?
In the context of search engine optimization, the term PBN is always attributed to Private Blog Networks. So, how do we create it?
Building PBN requires you to buy old or expired domains that are of good quality.
When we say of good quality, that means that the domain has a good authority in the record.
When a website goes offline due to non-renewal, they eventually expire and go old as time passes however, its authority score and other web metrics remain.
This is where these old domains get their value and are being used in building a PBN.
There are some important PBN checklist that you need to follow for a fool-proof build that will guarantee success for your SEO campaign.
What is a Private Blog Network?
It is called a Private blog network when all the domains within the blog network are owned and used by a single individual.
The operation is essentially like the link farms however, each domain is built looking like a real website accessible to the public.
This means that the websites within the network have a good layout and design and contain blogs that are in the same context as the target main money site.
This technique is employed to avoid getting detected by the search engine bots as PBNs are considered a black hat practice.
It is still useful today because there are loopholes in the algorithm that can be worked out.
What is a Public Blog Network?
Public blog networks are essentially similar to private blog networks where the only difference is that they are offered to the public as a service.
Since building a PBN requires time and knowledge, amateur website owners who have a budget are the main customers of public blog network services.
Public vs Private PBN: Pros & Cons
Blog networks are classified as private and public with the main difference being scale and their use. Private blog network is smaller and for personal use while a public one is used commercially and usually much larger.
Both Private and Public blog networks offer a fast way to rank your domain on the search engine results page.
All webmasters eye the top three spots of the SERP and some want it in a short span of time.
It is made possible as PBN utilizes the Domain Authority and Page Authority of the quality old domains purchased and built back to life.
These DA/PA scores flow back through the target main site through backlinks.
Consequentially, PBNs are essentially link farms, and websites caught using these are penalized under Google’s Webmaster’s guidelines.
There are various aspects of PBNs that we can review as we learn what are the pros and cons of going for a public or private blog network.
Hosting
One of the first challenges in building a PBN is where to host all the websites that you will be owning.
One important rule on PBN is to have a diversified hosting.
Nameservers house domain names and so, you want to buy your old or expired domains from different locations.
This also applied to web hosting. This is the place where your websites are stored.
Google algorithm can easily smell a PBN when a couple of domains on a single IP address are pointing to a single target website.
Now, the pros of going for a private blog network are that it is of small scale which also means a person can manage it single-handedly.
Also, Since it is for personal use, less diversity is needed which also equates to a cheaper cost of hosting.
However, if you happen to use it on a larger scale, expansions are required, and doing it solo is difficult and costly.
Unless you are to sell links, it is not advisable to go public if you’re only doing SEO for a single website.
Public blog networks are of a larger scale which is ideal for servicing multiple websites.
This kind of blog network has its own complexity that managing it requires either a team of people or software.
Common usage of public blog networks is to service customers who want a convenient route to use PBNs for their SEO.
This means that more diversity on the implementation is required on PBN hosting to support multiple PBN link renters.
Content
Your content writing will be solely under your discretion when it comes to private blog networks. Ideas and their delivery will all be your call.
However, brain drain will soon happen and it can affect your content. This is a considerable downside.
On public networks, content is usually included on the PBN link service and thus, it’s the service providers’ call on what content is being added to the PBN sites.
If you are building a public blog network, this also requires your to diversify your Content Management System (CMS) solutions to avoid leaving a PBN footprint.
For those who are buying PBN links, public networks may or may not accept client content.
The risk of the contents being spammy spun, or irrelevant could pose a risk to your website.
Also, the link presence is not guaranteed as you have no control over whether this public network might get penalized and shut down.
Outbound Links (OBL)
Outbound Links are links that point out from your website to another with the purpose of adding more context to your content.
Private blog networks tend to have lower OBL. This could be attributed to the scale of the network.
This, however, is not always the case on public networks since they are meant for commercial purposes.
OBL from public networks could be at an average of 30 that could leak considerable link juice out of the network which is not the best scenario.
However, there’s a risk that the PBN service provider is spammy where the OBL could be as high as a few hundred.
Link Neighbours
PBNs are about networks so the quality of the domains to which your website is linked is a significant factor to consider.
On private networks, you have sole control over outbound links being published. An advantage that is not present in public networks.
A con on public networks is they might be linked to a toxic neighborhood which can negatively impact your website.
Overall Control
Private blog networks offer much control over your hosting, contents, OBLs, and the link neighborhood you will belong.
On public networks, you won’t have this kind of extensive control.
The cons of this on private blog networks are that you might overlook important aspects of PBN building such as leaving some PBN footprints will make you bear the cost alone.
Renting PBN Links
Renting PBN links from public networks is a reliable way and a faster route to your SEO goals as they can quickly boost website ranking.
There are public blog networks that offer one-time payment options that can provide very short-term benefits as your link stays on the homepage for a very short time.
Also, rather than building the whole PBN yourself, there are service providers offering PBN link rentals that cost cheaper which is great for webmasters that are conservative when it comes to dealing with PBN risks.
Renting links from T-RANKS is a great option as we have a healthy link neighborhood, quality content, and a team of SEO experts managing the network.
