Some Quick PBN Tips For You

So I have a few extra minutes until my movie gets uploaded on a USB, and decided to throw those few quick PBN tips.

PBN's are serious business, if you don't have money / time, don't get into it.

1. Don't buy deleted/expired domains from vendors (for many reasons that I won't get into) get them on auctions instead.

2. Check the backlink history and page history on Majestic (for the PBNs you already have, check those as well, you'll be surprised...)

3. Check wayback history, if it doesn't have at least 1 entry in any year, don't buy it.

4. Check hosterstats, if it has 'deleted' entry, don't buy it.

5. Check viewDNS.info 'IP History' look for fishy hosts.

6. Bid only on domains that are indexed.

7. Unless you are doing wayback rebuilds/sitewide links look only at the majestic URL links, links going to pages are worthelss (just saw domain sold for 450$ that has 98% of it's links going to hundreds of pages and only 8 homepage links...)

8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever.

9. Most importantly set the criteria for domains that are older than 3years, on domcop websiteseochecker.com/domain-age-checker or any tool you use to find domains, that will save a lot of time.

10. After you've got your domain - test it. Find keywords for 2 local sites, 2 regular sites that don't have any links built to them for the past 2 months, get 200-300 article, link to those 4 sites, track them over the period of 2 months, if after those 2 months rankings are up the PBNs are ready to be used for your money site.

What movie you watching ?

Oh, nice informative post by the way

Nice info.. Will help me in my next project.. Thanks op

Some of those things I already knew but a few of them a didn't, thanks man!

get them on auctions instead.

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What auction sites would you recommend, how much would you expect to pay in general?

LeanLow said:

get 200-300 article

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Is this a 200-300 word article, or 200-300 articles, you have written on these test sites?

Check viewDNS.info 'IP History' look for fishy hosts

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How do you identify fishy hosts?

Cheers

Great tips mate, cheers!
"8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever."
Can you please explain, I don't get why not to keep linkjuice by 301 redirect to main page.

Nice bullet points. I don't agree about you have to test the domain before linking to money site, just feels like waste of time when you could link direct to money site instead of waiting 2 months.

Just wondering why everyone says use majestic to check backlinks? Majestics crawler is horrible and doesn't even pickup a large majority of links. Ahrefs is way better for those that need to analyze a backlink profile for a possible PBN purchase.

jacker818 said:

Just wondering why everyone says use majestic to check backlinks? Majestics crawler is horrible and doesn't even pickup a large majority of links. Ahrefs is way better for those that need to analyze a backlink profile for a possible PBN purchase.

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People have to use majestic's metrics because it's the only cheap option that isn't complete junk. I agree with you that Ahrefs is light years ahead of majestic, but for the majority of the SEO community it's just too expensive, and since nobody is planning on using Moz anytime soon, Majestic is the only viable option

Expired domains are still working just fine for many SEO's, I wouldn't totally discredit them. You just need to keep up with what works e.g. http://diggitymarketing.com/expired-domain-test/.

Testing is very important, if you knew a link was going to be toxic, then you wouldn't send it to your money site.

LeanLow said:

So I have a few extra minutes until my movie gets uploaded on a USB, and decided to throw those few quick PBN tips.

PBN's are serious business, if you don't have money / time, don't get into it.

1. Don't buy deleted/expired domains from vendors (for many reasons that I won't get into) get them on auctions instead.

2. Check the backlink history and page history on Majestic (for the PBNs you already have, check those as well, you'll be surprised...)

3. Check wayback history, if it doesn't have at least 1 entry in any year, don't buy it.

4. Check hosterstats, if it has 'deleted' entry, don't buy it.

5. Check viewDNS.info 'IP History' look for fishy hosts.

6. Bid only on domains that are indexed.

7. Unless you are doing wayback rebuilds/sitewide links look only at the majestic URL links, links going to pages are worthelss (just saw domain sold for 450$ that has 98% of it's links going to hundreds of pages and only 8 homepage links...)

8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever.

9. Most importantly set the criteria for domains that are older than 3years, on domcop websiteseochecker.com/domain-age-checker or any tool you use to find domains, that will save a lot of time.

10. After you've got your domain - test it. Find keywords for 2 local sites, 2 regular sites that don't have any links built to them for the past 2 months, get 200-300 article, link to those 4 sites, track them over the period of 2 months, if after those 2 months rankings are up the PBNs are ready to be used for your money site.

Click to expand...

Good tips, but you know how difficult it would be find a domain that would fit all the criteria. Forget about the price, even if I have the budget still would find only one domain a month with that criteria. I think risk comes along with PBNs, cannot mitigate that.

2 months is a long time to wait. I like the tips though. Is there a reason for the 60 day time frame? Like any reason that if you wait any less that something goes wrong?

LeanLow said:

8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever.

Click to expand...

thanks for the tip man. any particular reason not to do this? i personally tried to mix it up, some use 301 and some don't.

joseph15 said:

People have to use majestic's metrics because it's the only cheap option that isn't complete junk. I agree with you that Ahrefs is light years ahead of majestic, but for the majority of the SEO community it's just too expensive, and since nobody is planning on using Moz anytime soon, Majestic is the only viable option

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I figured that was probably why but if you ask me the difference is honestly worth it. If i started out by only using majestic i would have been lost in the woods.

speter178 said:

Great tips mate, cheers!
"8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever."
Can you please explain, I don't get why not to keep linkjuice by 301 redirect to main page.

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It's a footprint to have a 301 plugin on all your PBN's. I personally don't think it's that big of a deal and have never had a problem with it but it is a footprint end of the day.

MisterF said:

What movie you watching ?

Oh, nice informative post by the way

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Jurassic World. You're welcome.

alwaystoday said:

What auction sites would you recommend, how much would you expect to pay in general?

Godaddy, NameJet

Highly depends on the project, no more than 300$ tho.

Is this a 200-300 word article, or 200-300 articles, you have written on these test sites?

200-300 articles sounds logical to me.

How do you identify fishy hosts?

When you spend a lot of time analyzing domains, with time you learn which ones are likely to be 'bad'.

Cheers

Click to expand...

speter178 said:

Great tips mate, cheers!
"8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever."
Can you please explain, I don't get why not to keep linkjuice by 301 redirect to main page.

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Got too many sites de-indexed that had this plugin, and 0 de-indexed that didn't had this plugin.

NxPain said:

2 months is a long time to wait. I like the tips though. Is there a reason for the 60 day time frame? Like any reason that if you wait any less that something goes wrong?

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Random algo, sometimes it takes 2 months for the link to kick in, sometimes the rankings goes up for the first month and then down on the 2nd month. If they are up after 2 months then it's 99.9% everything is good with the site. You could wait 1 month with auction domains, I would recommend waiting at least 2 months with expired ones tho.

monty82 said:

thanks for the tip man. any particular reason not to do this? i personally tried to mix it up, some use 301 and some don't.

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Answered above, even having a lot of 404 is bad IMO.

LeanLow said:

Random algo, sometimes it takes 2 months for the link to kick in, sometimes the rankings goes up for the first month and then down on the 2nd month. If they are up after 2 months then it's 99.9% everything is good with the site. You could wait 1 month with auction domains, I would recommend waiting at least 2 months with expired ones tho

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2 month after link placed or index ?

joseph15 said:

People have to use majestic's metrics because it's the only cheap option that isn't complete junk. I agree with you that Ahrefs is light years ahead of majestic, but for the majority of the SEO community it's just too expensive, and since nobody is planning on using Moz anytime soon, Majestic is the only viable option

Click to expand...

Also for some reason the metrics Majestic created became defacto standard for domain sales. Don't ask me why, I really don't know.

dondada7 said:

It's a footprint to have a 301 plugin on all your PBN's. I personally don't think it's that big of a deal and have never had a problem with it but it is a footprint end of the day.

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Ok, thanks for explanation!

LeanLow said:

Got too many sites de-indexed that had this plugin, and 0 de-indexed that didn't had this plugin.

Answered above, even having a lot of 404 is bad IMO.

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Thanks for confirmation mate. Cheers

LeanLow said:

So I have a few extra minutes until my movie gets uploaded on a USB, and decided to throw those few quick PBN tips.

PBN's are serious business, if you don't have money / time, don't get into it.

1. Don't buy deleted/expired domains from vendors (for many reasons that I won't get into) get them on auctions instead.

2. Check the backlink history and page history on Majestic (for the PBNs you already have, check those as well, you'll be surprised...)

3. Check wayback history, if it doesn't have at least 1 entry in any year, don't buy it.

4. Check hosterstats, if it has 'deleted' entry, don't buy it.

5. Check viewDNS.info 'IP History' look for fishy hosts.

6. Bid only on domains that are indexed.

7. Unless you are doing wayback rebuilds/sitewide links look only at the majestic URL links, links going to pages are worthelss (just saw domain sold for 450$ that has 98% of it's links going to hundreds of pages and only 8 homepage links...)

8. Don't use linkjuice keeper or any other 301 plugin for PBNs, ever.

9. Most importantly set the criteria for domains that are older than 3years, on domcop websiteseochecker.com/domain-age-checker or any tool you use to find domains, that will save a lot of time.

10. After you've got your domain - test it. Find keywords for 2 local sites, 2 regular sites that don't have any links built to them for the past 2 months, get 200-300 article, link to those 4 sites, track them over the period of 2 months, if after those 2 months rankings are up the PBNs are ready to be used for your money site.

Click to expand...

I feel kinda obliged to chime in. I agree with the most.

1. Well, I will stay out of this one, no idea what's wrong with buying the domains though, depends on who you buy from. Would also like to know those many reasons why is it a bad idea.
2. Yep, historic index can reveal tons of crap. Even domains that look perfectly fine could have been neg SEOed. Happens more often than one would think.
3. Not necessary really. Especially if you compare with hosting history. For less experienced people though, this might be a good idea. Also, if you see "403 forbidden", then avoid the domains as well, unless you can compare with hosting history properly.
4. Absolutely no problem with entry being deleted at all. Pretty normal and common.
5. Very important step.
6. Even though it's not completely necessary, I agree.
7. I disagree here. It's of course better when links point to the homepage, but it's not that much of a big deal if they are scattered. I have my opinion about this, but that's for a longer discussion.
8. If you overdo it and have this plugin on every domain, then that's a problem. If you keep it within some normal ration, like using it for 10-15% of the domains, then I do not see too many issues with that. Not overdoing it is a key here.
9. Not necessary, though I also like to avoid the domains that had been up for a short period of time. The main reason is, that those sites got a lot of links in a short period of time and that's kinda fishy.
10. I completely disagree with this point. Useful for people who do not know what they are buying, but haven't had this issue ever. I would be more inclined to rather build the site and let it age for a few weeks and link out then, but this "testing" is to me completely unnecessary.

Oh and about Ahrefs being lightyears ahead of Majestic. Good one.

Ahrefs absolutely lacks any niche relevancy info. Even though the one on Majestic may be off on domains with lower RD, it's still better than nothing.

Ahrefs is probably the slowest site I ever had to work with. They are ridiculously overpriced and those limitations to like 100 domain checks per day. Sometimes I go through 1K domains daily and that would come up to a nice sum if I were to use Ahrefs for that. Not to mention how slow it moves, how often it lags and so on. For small term users it's fine I suppose, they can take advantage of the additional data that Majestic does not provide, but overall, considering quality, price, usability, it's not even close to Majestic.