Ways to Find PBNs
In the past, it was easier to find PBNs because they typically had the same IP addresses. Now, they’re more complicated, but there are still ways to determine if a backlink is part of a PBN. Here are some things to look for:
Hosting
There are still some PBNs that use outdated practices, and you can find these by checking if they have the same IP addresses. There are a few tools online that can help you identify these—all you have to do is input the links that you want to check.
Domain Authority
A higher domain authority (DA) means a more valuable backlink. Many PBNs have a DA lower than twenty-five, which makes them easy to spot. That said, a lot of current PBN backlinks have higher DA, and those require further investigation.
WhoIs Information
If you suspect that a backlink is from a PBN, check its WhoIs information. The WhoIs database contains information and contact details about site owners. If several links turn out to come from websites owned by the same person, then they may have been taken from a PBN. Similarly, if the information is secured or hidden, that could be a signal that the owner is the same and doesn’t want this information known.
Traffic Data
PBNs typically have low traffic. Verify this by using web browser extensions or traffic websites–if the link has unusually little traffic, it could be a PBN.
Content Quality
Many of the factors that could indicate PBNs aren’t conclusive, but one of the best pieces of evidence of a PBN is the quality of content in the links. Most PBNs use low-quality photos or publish badly produced content. If you see a site using several links with these qualifiers, those links could be from PBNs.
