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Blog networks dead as IM strategy?

by Lightlysalted
17 replies
  • SEO
    • |
In recent years large groups of bloggers have worked together to create massive blog networks to share back links between each other.

This strategy is proving to be quite a success. However I note that some of the penguin updates from Google may have begun to target these blog networks and Penalise them.

So are blog networks now dead as a illegitimate IM strategy?
#blog #dead #networks #strategy
  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Not dead.

    The game has just changed.

    Adapt or die, as they say.

    GRM
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  • Profile picture of the author bluebrain
    Blog networks are quite effective if Google doesn't discover them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I have a friend who's very into private blog networks.



    It's NOT my cup of tea (I literally SUCK at SEO, always have sucked, and always shall suck).

    But, it's definitely feasible.

    (They mentioned how a boatload of his blogs were recently killed by Google actually, but some of them are still working).
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Far from it. You just have to know what you are doing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Paid Surveys View Post

    I note that some of the penguin updates from Google may have begun to target these blog networks and Penalise them.
    That's putting it mildly. Some have even been deindexed, and people with backlinks from them (i.e. their users/customers) have been penalized. But still some people want to try to rank well by using methods which Google openly and repeatedly states that they consider algorithm-manipulative in intent and that they'll continue to identify and penalize.

    However, SEO discussions belong here: Search Engine Optimization

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    It's far from dead. Most people just have no idea what they are doing. It is a far more effective ranking method than guest posting and link outreach.

    But again, you have to know what you are doing. It's not just about throwing up 20 Wordpress sites and hoping to rank.
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  • Profile picture of the author sweezeter
    Blog networks that are sold to the public are dead, or quickly die.

    That's the nature of the game. The vendors don't care about their clients and focus solely on the quick buck. Which means fast exposure and higher risk for the clients.

    My friends that bought every BHW BST they could have regretted it ever since. From manual penalties, to random massive drops in rankings to everything in between.

    My private network is just as effective as it once was and all of my current rankings sustained this last update.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      At some point a distinction has to be made and if we continue to use the same terms people will insist they are similar so tonight I am going to coin and run with a new name.

      ESNs

      Exclusive SEO Networks are different from PBNs. They are networks setup and run for the use on ONE person or business

      PBNs as most people know them are the shared network model of rental SEO services and they are set up like those services with multiple subjects and anchor text. Due to that they have certain unavoidable footprints

      ESNs since they are constructed for and owned by one person or company can be built in ways that are niche and subject specific that do NOT have to have those footprints. are not dependent on blogs and that can pass manual inspection. Some people presently call thse niche specific PBNS but again as long as we use the same terms and no matter how we distinguish people will get confused

      ESNs will never be able to be targeted by Google because they can and often are built just like regular websites. In fact some websites in ESNs are in fact regular websites on their own basis

      As such they are not now nor ever will be dead as long as Google relies on links which is many years to come. No algo could ever drastically affect ESNs because

      A) ESNs don't have to have discernible patterns
      B) Any algo that hit ESNs would end up affecting all websites that link out

      Despite what people on the main board say before these threads are moved here and no matter how much they swallow Google's Kool aid buying links is a STRONG, mainline and ongoing part of SEO and networks are just a part of that.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        At some point a distinction has to be made and if we continue to use the same terms people will insist they are similar so tonight I am going to coin and run with a new name.

        ESNs

        Exclusive SEO Networks are different from PBNs. They are networks setup and run for the use on ONE person or business

        PBNs as most people know them are the shared network model of rental SEO services and they are set up like those services with multiple subjects and anchor text. Due to that they have certain unavoidable footprints

        ESNs since they are constructed for and owned by one person or company can be built in ways that are niche and subject specific that do NOT have to have those footprints. are not dependent on blogs and that can pass manual inspection. Some people presently call thse niche specific PBNS but again as long as we use the same terms and no matter how we distinguish people will get confused

        ESNs will never be able to be targeted by Google because they can and often are built just like regular websites. In fact some websites in ESNs are in fact regular websites on their own basis

        As such they are not now nor ever will be dead as long as Google relies on links which is many years to come. No algo could ever drastically affect ESNs because

        A) ESNs don't have to have discernible patterns
        B) Any algo that hit ESNs would end up affecting all websites that link out

        Despite what people on the main board say before these threads are moved here and no matter how much they swallow Google's Kool aid buying links is a STRONG, mainline and ongoing part of SEO and networks are just a part of that.
        I've actually been doing something similar for quite some time now. I agree there should be a distinction. There is nothing private about networks that are sold publicly to the masses.

        I build Private Networks, not PBN's. As far as I am concerned, PBN really stands for Public Blog Network.
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        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Blog networks are just as alive as ever, even when done in a semi-crappy way.

          Deindexation is easy enough to prevent by using solid hosts and written content instead of auto generated crap.

          Google is not going to manually attack small public blog networks, only the ones that break the news like RankHero, BMR, ALN etc as they win much more that way so that risk is hardly worth mentioning unless you use such "famous" blog networks obviously.

          I'm running my blog network for over 2 years now and made some mistakes with SEO hosting as well so I did lose a decent amount of sites over time due to collatoral damage when Google was going after some big fish, but when I look at sites deindexed from shared hosting it's less then a dozen all together. So it's just a matter of knowing what you do really.

          Google's latest Penguin update definitely affected quite a few sites with links from public blog networks though in an algorithm way so that risk seems much higher then deindexations at the moment. However as always, there are ways to protect you from that by adding relevant links from other sources, more natural link distribution and what not. When keeping such things in mind it works like it always did.

          Oh forgot to add, for a noob it's pretty hard to pick a decent public blog network provider as most are full of shit in their sales letters, think of faked PR domains, generated content instead of written disguised with the words "unique created" instead of unique written and more of such things so if I have to give an advice it would probably best for most people to avoid such networks.

          Personally I don't even bump my sales threads anymore and just stick with a few dozen decent clients and rank my own sites as that's simply more profitable.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
          Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

          I build Private Networks, not PBN's. As far as I am concerned, PBN really stands for Public Blog Network.
          I hear you Mike but the re-education of what the "P" really means is hopeless So I'll be switching over to a new abbreviation. People have got it into their head that PBNs can be rented publicly and they are going to forever equate the two as the same.
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  • Profile picture of the author SEO Power
    Private Blog Networks aren't dead. Google just deindexed a lot of them recently but they are still working like they used to. Every SEO strategy involves some form of risk, and PBNs are blackhat, which heightens the level of risk involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author hipeopo02
    Originally Posted by Paid Surveys View Post

    In recent years large groups of bloggers have worked together to create massive blog networks to share back links between each other.

    This strategy is proving to be quite a success. However I note that some of the penguin updates from Google may have begun to target these blog networks and Penalise them.

    So are blog networks now dead as a illegitimate IM strategy?

    IM in general sounds like it's dead for you...

    This is not work for the lazy.
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  • Profile picture of the author EvcRo
    Legit : If you follow Google, the only legit way for them is for you to buy adWords credits.
    Effective : they are very effective , one proof is Google scrambling to catch them.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketmongoose
    It's not dead. You just need to know what you're doing mate!
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  • Profile picture of the author OnTheRun
    I don't think this is a problem, as long as all blogs linking to your site are active and offer quality content to readers. I have 2 websites of my own and have always exchanged links like this. Worst case scenario, you still get traffic.
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