SEO 101: What is PBN Hosting and What Else Do You Need To Know About It?
With all the erroneous information and inaccurate data that tackles private blog network (PBN) hosting all over the web nowadays, it is not surprising that a lot of people are facing a lot of mistakes and problems with the right way of PBN hosting. In this article, we’ll talk more about the facts on PBN’s according to a renowned digital marketing company who provide SEO services for decades.
There are a lot of unconfirmed reports that talked about how the giant company showed an indication of tremendous penalty for sites that are participating in PBNs. Everyone is asking for any information regarding their manual actions, but Google said that they refuse to comment particularly on it.
What is a Private Blog Network (PBN)?
A private blog network (PBN) is a system of definitive websites and blogs administered by one publisher that operates to establish links within the network with the primary goal of assisting a particular content or money site to achieve a significant rank in Google.
The public can see them on the web in contrast to the word “private.” The truth is that PBNs do not aim to get public visitors but instead to produce links to allow higher chances of SEO rank in Google.
However, Google saw this content as search spam and does not tolerate any spamming including link spam just to boost rankings. They have explained in their webmaster guideline about the measures they can take on a particular kind of action. Apparently, Google does not support the use of PBNs for search spam, and many already claim that they will not be using PBNs again.
However, there are still people who believe that this is not yet the end for PBNs. Check this article for more information on the 5 best GoDaddy alternatives for web hosting (2022.)
Hosting Solutions to Avoid
Before we dive into this topic, we just need to uncover those old solutions first that you need to remove from your list to avoid deindexing your network. You know, when it comes to PBN hosting, cheap is your number one enemy.
Good hosts are expensive, and there is no way around it. There’s always a way to cut down costs, and clustering and grouping your PBN is one of them, but in general, you must prepare to pay for the consequences if you want to stay safe.
SEO Hosting
The easiest way before was to grab SEO hosting, buy 200 IPs for a dozen cents per domain, outsourced web designs and work things out. Now, everything is under one dashboard and adding new sites becomes easier. Google finally caught up with this strategy which making it out-of-date nowadays.
Host Nine
Host Nine was an excellent platform in the past. It allows you to host a dozen of websites and obtain a different IP most of the time. After several years, it got worse and is no longer feasible as a hosting solution. PBNs control their IPs, and their support is no longer existing.
VPS Hosting Plus Rocket IPs or Cloudflare
This method was amongst the most popular platforms to host a large PBN for more than 100 sites for less than $100. It involves purchasing a VPS or Virtual Private Server, just like what you do for a money site, and use CloudFlare, a CDN, Rocket IPs, or other ways to hide your real IP.
Just like other SEO hosts, Rocket IPs quickly went bankrupt, and 100% of your network on CloudFlare is a footprint on its own. You can still use it on a smaller percent of your network to eliminate and diversify footprints. CloudFlare is not that terrible, but you can’t count on it to conceal your IP.
Hosting Solutions to Use
Now, let’s move on to what’s working nowadays. You have two choices here, either go with Cloud-based hosting solutions or with a reseller or shared cPanel hosting on Premium hosting companies.
Cloud-Based PBN Hosting Solutions
Cloud servers are growing its popularity over the last few years. Companies like Vultr and Digital Ocean allow you to deploy instances (small virtual servers) or droplets with unique IPs for each of them. You can also use multiple locations to expand your network.
Cloud hosting companies host millions of reputable and authentic businesses and possess clean IPs which only means that your network is living in a good neighborhood. Most of these companies also provide one-click WordPress install scripts and root access. But they don’t offer support, and in most cases, they are non-managed services. It means that if your site goes down, you’re on your own.
Hosting your sites on cloud servers is another feasible option, but you need to be extra careful with security, clustering, and server size to prevent footprints and crashes. Check out the following tools and services that use cloud servers below.
Self-Managed Cloud Server Setup
For this setup, you need to create an account with each company, deposit payments, and utilize the instances (mini servers and droplets) and sites through one-click install scripts. Below are some of the good cloud server companies that you can employ:
- Vultr – It’s an excellent hosting site. You can use it for money sites as well. What’s good about it is that it gives $20 worth of credit which is equivalent to 4 months of free hosting on one server;
- Digital Ocean – It’s another reputable cloud service provider like Vultr with clean IPs and multiple locations. You can use them for money sites too;
- Windows Azure – It owns a lot of clean IPs, but it’s a bit costly, so you need to use it wisely;
- Linode – It’s an outstanding virtual private server that provides on-demand access to Linux virtual servers through high-speed internet connections;
- Amazon AWS – This provider is well-known for its clean and quality IPs.
Pros
- It deploys instances and new servers quickly.
- It’s affordable if you cluster your network.
- Excellent ‘Neighborhood.
- Multiple Datacenters and Locations.
- Quick loading time for your sites.
- It has reliable servers.
Cons
- It has no support.
- It needs basic Linux Knowledge.
- IP sharing becomes problematic on a larger scale.
- Difficult to manage.
Easy Blog Networks
EBN or Easy Blog Networks is a software or software that allows you to host big networks on cloud servers through their easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard. You can divide your networks into clusters or groups, and they will guarantee that the IPs are not going to overlap in a single group.
EBN also counters a lot of consequences from self-managed setup and makes it very easy to manage and add your network. It’s a bit expensive than a self-managed network since the mode of payment is per site hosted and not per server. It’s just a little sacrifice for in the long run it can save a lot of headaches.
Pros
- A massive amount of IPs come from reputable cloud hosting companies;
- Quickly deploy dozens of sites;
- Intuitive and easy dashboard and UI;
- It doesn’t lag on performance;
- It provides backups;
- It has Metrics, Index, and Uptime Monitors.
Cons
- It has no root access or FTP.
- It only uses WordPress.
Hosting your PBN on Premium cPanel Hosting
Most people prefer to use cPanel hosting because it’s a good setup, easy to use, and familiar interface over cloud servers. You can also host multiple sites per server and remove most footprints out of the box and integrate with other real websites. cPanel hosting has two types, shared hosting and reseller hosting.
Shared Hosting
You get the advantage of hiding in plain sight among thousands and even millions of real blogs and business websites if you are hosting on shared servers. The rule of thumb here is to avoid using 1-2 hosts. You can use reputable and premium companies instead and try to copy the real-world distribution.
You will get a different IP for every shared server you buy. In some cases, a different geographical location and data center depending on the provider. You can’t get root access, but you still have cPanel which is already sufficient for most users.
What is PBN Hosting: Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting is another option you can use, but it’s more expensive than shared hosting. You still obtain the same deal in most cases such as cPanel, shared IPs, etc. Its primary advantage is that you get more resources per server. You can also get access to WHM (WebHost Manager) for easier management and further control. People with 100 to 200 network sites can use shared hosting and manage everything through excel sheets.
Some hosting companies such as Godaddy and Siteground don’t have traditional reseller hosting. Instead, they sell their shared plan with big discounts which is worth remembering if you have the plan to go this route.
How many servers can you buy with each company?
You can purchase multiple servers or plans with each company to obtain more IPs. You can also buy more servers without leaving a footprint if the provider is popular. For instance, you can buy up to 5 servers for every server at Siteground or DreamHost.
Below are some guidelines you can use in choosing a hosting company:
- Renewal price – Many hosting companies offer big discounts for first-time buyers. Check for renewal prices and hidden fees;
- Multiple domains – You have to be careful with multiple domains. Some companies sell cheap plans for a reason, and they only allow hosting to a single site. So, make sure that you purchase a premium plan with unlimited domains;
- cPanel – See to it that they have cPanel or equivalent not unless you want to spend 10 minutes manually installing WP per site;
- Shared IP – It’s understandable, shared hosting plans render you a shared IP, that clinches it;
- WordPress support – Come on, what’s the point if you can’t install WP with one click?
Below are some advantages and disadvantages of the cPanel hosting setup.
Pros
- It has a familiar and easy-to-use interface;
- It has different Datacenters and IPs;
- It hosts on large servers compared to other sites;
- It accommodates multiple sites on a single IP;
- It provides support.
Cons
- It’s difficult to manage.
- It’s expensive if you don’t host multiple sites on one IP.
- It has unsatisfactory poor performance. Sites have slow loading time than on cloud servers.
- Some companies have a weak support system.
Bonus Corner: Here is the list of some substantial premium hosting companies.
- Bluehost. It’s a robust host for PBNs, but it’s not ideal for money sites.
- Siteground. It’s a good choice for PBNs and Money sites.
- It’s the same with Bluehost. You can get several of these for multiple IPs.
- Hostwinds. It’s a good choice and not to mention pocket-friendly.
- Godaddy. You can only use it to host PBNs. You just have to be careful not to connect your PayPal account or credit card to them, because they will steal from you without contrition.
- If you’re going to use it, you need to avoid EIG (Endurance International Group) hosting and such. But since you’re hiding in plain sight, you can utilize it for blog network sites.
- It’s similar to Hostgator.
- A Small Orange. It’s a decent host that allows you to take multiple servers.
- Green Geeks. They’re good servers.
What is PBN Hosting: Takeaway
There certainly are many ways to augment your marketing stratagems, be it outsourcing web development, blogger outreach and etc. But if you prefer to go unconventional, might as well try your hands at PBN hosting. If you are unsure about it, consult with experts who offer various SEO services. Many types of web hosting will help people organize private blog networks and get away undetected.
However, it needs intensive research to know the general guidelines of the hosting and understanding its PBN safety, as well as for deciding what will work best in the long run. The combination of the selected options is possible to makes PBN much safer. Other than cost-efficiency, the top priority should be safety.
Authorship Information
Johnny Chen is the lead SEO specialist at Johnny Chen, SEO services. Over the years of research and development, he has continued to expand towards making website conversion more applicable for his onboarding clients with additional services such as content creation, social media distribution, and web development.
