In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to build a PBN from the ground up.
You’ll see how I built my first PBN and why it’s hands down the best way to rank a website regardless if you’re using it for affiliate marketing or Local SEO.
First – What the Heck is A PBN?
PBN stands for Private Blog Network.
The concept is very simple – you own or control a network of sites that you use to link to your money sites in an effort to boost them in the Search results like Google.
In the old days, in order to rank, you could just blast away and the person with the most links won.
That’s not the case any longer.
While links are still the primary driver for ranking, you can no longer just blast away with your favorite link building spam tool.
Let’s step back just for a second for those of you that may not be familiar with SEO or why you should focus on SEO traffic.
You may be asking…
Why should I focus on Search Traffic instead of Social Media Traffic.
For starters, there’s nothing wrong with social media traffic.
However, it’s completely different.
In social media, you’re interrupting users that are there to socialize, gossip, bitch, share photos, stalk or to simply brag.
And in turn, it’s more of a challenge to warm them up, build rapport and turn that lead into a conversion.
Notice I’m not saying it can’t happen – I’m just saying it’s a different bird all together.
However, when you rank in the search results you’re putting your site or offer in front of people looking for a solution right now.
The user has turned to Google, Yahoo, or Bing for a solution right here, right now.
They're not looking necessarily to be warmed up.
And when you do that, you’re able to not only target your ideal customer, but you’re able to position yourself in front of people that are ready to buy.
Google is the 800lb Gorilla for search and deserves your attention and focus because it will mean more traffic than of the other search engines combined.
This does two things.
First, you'll get more traffic but also you can use this for you or your clients as a branding perspective.
Imagine just for a moment that you're in the Heating and Air business and being able to tell a customer – “well just Google us and you'll see all you need.”
That's a powerful statement to make.
Over the years, ranking a site has become a bit more complex however there's one strategy that works time and time again in multiple markets.
It works for local SEO as well as affiliate marketing or if you're just looking to boost your brand in the search results and capitalize on the traffic.
That strategy is using a PBN which I'll walk you through the entire process through these tutorials.
Here's what to do…
We simply use our PBN (Private Blog Network) to give our money sites a push to rank in the top of Google as shown in the diagram below.
It’s all done through links. (red arrows represent links going to the money site)
The PBN will link to our money pages that we're trying to rank and by using a PBN we are doing 2 things:
- It will give your site or pages a boost in the Search Result.
- And you “control the links” going to your site.
Take note of the word “control”.
I've used bold for a reason.
As Google makes changes to their ranking guidelines, you can modify your links easily because you control the network.
So, how do we setup a Private Blog Network?
Before we dig into buying domains, I’ll begin by showing you how to setup the right infrastructure.
To begin with, you want everything to look like the links are coming from different people or different sites.
Here’s the process that we'll be showing you…
1. Fake It!
I’m referring here to the registration details of your domain.
So, instead of being able to pull up the whois data and it showing your real name, we use the Fake Name Generator to come up with a fake name, address, and phone number.
Don't worry, it's a free service and I use it all the time.
I rarely use private registration because I feel if all your domains are set to private – that just looks weird.
So, instead – just fake it.
See the diagram below of a sample Faked Name, Address, and Phone
Next, I’ll use an email forwarder to forward to a legitimate email that’s checked.
That can be forwarded from your domain or the emails can be bought then forwarded to a valid email
For me, I’ll buy a bunch of bulk emails that forward to a good email, so I can use one of those email addresses.
The reason you need to setup the forwarder is for two reasons.
For starters, you’ll get an email verification – if the email verification goes unanswered the hosting will be pulled and you'll have to verify it over again.
Also, on occasion – you'll have the previous owner contact you wanting to buy it back.
Just last two weeks, I've had two email offers from where an administrative error let the domains lapse.
It happens and it's an easy return on investment.
Just last week I sold a domain for $600 that I'd picked up for $174.
I've sold others for thousands.
Now, back to the PBN setup process…
2. Setting up your hosting
You want to have multiple “C” Class IP addresses.
That basically means you want them hosted on as many different blocks as possible making it look like they’re coming from all different places.
You can do this by setting up host from a lot of different small hosting companies that provide $1- $5 hosting packages.
The problem with going this route is it’s a pain in the ass keeping up with a ton of host.
Many of these host go down often.
While we’re talking about it – I encourage you to stay away from SEO hosting companies – these can be an easy target for wiping out your PBN’s.
You’re goal is to stay under the radar.
You have another option I highly recommend…
It's called Hostnine.
This is my favorite option.
I’ve got 200 + domains hosted here alone from just 1 of my accounts.
The reason this works is because it allows you to setup your accounts on different server locations.
So, you can pick your server to be on US East, the next domain US West, and the next domain Australia.
This gives you a wide range of IP addresses just from picking different server locations.
See how you can determine your server location.
In order to be able to do this, you've got to have a Hostnine Reseller package that can be found here.
These sites will be shared among other regular sites – some local sites, some affiliate sites, not just SEO or PBN sites, so they are blended in with other niches and markets.
The key is how you stack the domains on the server in order to get random IP's.
For your first domain, use Server Location # 1
In other words, let’s say you have 5 domains for Internet Marketing niche and 5 for Home Repair
Server 1 would get the following:
Domain # 1 for the Internet Marketing Niche
Domain # 1 for the Home Repair
Server 2 would get the following:
Domain # 2 for the Internet Marketing Niche
Domain # 2 for the Home Repair
And so on..
As more sites are loaded on the server and filling up the IP's, they'll begin to issue new IP addresses.
Wait a few days and come back and add more of your domains to get a new IP address to add more diversity to your network of sites.
3. Have a Different look
Each site needs a different look and feel and if you’re super-paranoid you need to have the option of using different platforms.
Most will use WordPress which in most cases there’s nothing wrong with it, however I feel WordPress could possibly become more and more of a footprint for PBN’s.
Nothing to be alarmed about, just keep that in the back of your mind that in the future you may want to start diversifying platforms to keep your network over the long haul.
Currently, most of our pbn’s are using WordPress, however we've also began using Forum platforms among other blogging platforms in order to accomplish the same results without the footprints from WordPress.
Here's What’s Coming Up Next…
In the next tutorial, we’ll be discussing domains, what to look for in a domain and how to avoid domain buying pitfalls.
And then I'll show you rebuilding techniques, and how to keep everything scheduled out.
Now, for those of you thinking – “aren’t PBN domains expensive?”
Just wait, I’ll show you how to pick domains up for less than $10 that have authority 🙂
Now, if you enjoyed this tutorial, give it a share or a like and be sure you're signed up for the Ultimate SEO Blueprint Training Webinar here.