Updated: June 2018
After 5 years of building my own private blog networks and using them to rank locally, nationally, and internationally; here’s what I’ve learned about PBN hosting.
And yes, this is an extremely important topic.
Get this wrong and you’ll save a few pennies on hosting, while accidentally throwing away thousands of dollars worth of domains as they get de-indexed.
So let’s start with the basics:
Skip all this hassle and rent links directly from my personal network. Details here.
The first thing to understand is the types of hosting available.
Types of PBN Hosting
There are 6 types of hosting for a blog network, each with their own advantages, footprints, and drawbacks:
- SEO/PBN Hosting
- Reseller Hosting
- Cheap A- Shared Hosting
- CloudFlare/Reverse proxies
- Popular Hosting
- PBN & Popular Host Hybrid
We’ll break these down later in the guide, but before that, you need to understand what makes a good or bad host?
For this guide, we’re specifically referring to the use of hosting private blog network sites. Nothing else.
Meaning the priority above all else is no footprints.
Speed and reliability are bonuses, but not a priority.
What are the potential footprints?
Below are a list of common hosting footprints with bad hosting, then later in this guide we’ll explain how high risk each of the individual hosting types are.
Multiple sites on the same IP Address
Lingo Explanation: IP Address is a series of numbers (e.g. 216.3.128.12) that are used to identify a computer or server connected to the internet
While it’s technically possible for two completely independent websites that link to yours, to be on the same server, it’s highly unlikely.
They would have to purchase from the same hosting company, probably at a similar time, in the same location, etc. Possible, yet unlikely.
Make that 5 sites, and it’s 100% clear you own all of the websites. So avoid using the same hosting account for more than one site, unless clustering (see “Network Clustering” section).
Webmasters Email Address in SOA record
Lingo Explanation: SOA Record, short for State of Authority Record, is a record added to your domain for storing admin information
This can happen with traditional SEO hosts and some reseller hosts, where an SOA record is created for your domain, revealing your email address.
You can check the SOA record by performing a DNS lookup.
IP Address Owner
It doesn’t matter if a company gives you 15 unique IP addresses if they’re all owned by the same company.
You can find the owner of an IP address by doing a whois lookup.
So even if each of the 15 IP addresses (in this example) are unique, they will still show up as being owned by the same hosting company. Which is a clear footprint.
Again, for a couple sites on the same host, it’s not impossible. But 5, 10, 15? That’s highly unlikely to happen unless you owned all the websites, which is what we’re trying to hide with PBNs.
Bad IP Neighbourhood
Which sites are you sharing an IP with? Are they legit websites that should be ranking, part of blog networks, or worse?
Using a Reverse IP Lookup you can see all websites on the same IP. Easy way to uncover peoples networks, for you, me, or the big G 😉
Same Nameservers
When purchasing hosting, they’ll usually ask you to point your domain to their “Nameservers”, they’ll look something like this:
ns1.example.com
ns2.example.com
This essentially allows them to manage where your domain is pointed, so they can point it at the server they’re hosting your website on.
If multiple of your websites have the same Nameservers, or the Nameservers you have are shared with bad sites (similar to the previous point), then this is another footprint.
Overwhelmed yet?
Luckily, it gets extremely easy with the right solution.
Let’s break them down…
SEO Hosting
There are certain hosts advertising themselves as SEO or PBN hosts specifically designed for hosting private blog networks. In the old days this was standard practice, today it is a huge mistake.
Footprints
Several, but varies with providers.
- Email address shown in an SOA record
- Sharing an IP exclusively with blog networks
- Sharing nameservers exclusively with blog networks?
- Same owner of all IP addresses
- Same ‘B Class’ IPs
Setup / Management
The upside is how easy it is to manage.
- You can usually manage all the websites from a single account
- You are given a list of nameservers and IP’s to use
- Only one company to contact if you have issues
- One easy bill / payment to keep track of
Pricing
Relatively inexpensive, $4-$7/month per IP address, depending on the provider.
Providers
- SEOHost – Starts at $4/month per dedicated IP, minimum of 5.
- aSEOHosting – Starts at $4.75/month per shared IP, minimum of 5.
- Indianets – Starts at $2/month per shared IP, minimum of 5. 1 site per IP maximum.
- SkyNet Hosting – Starts at $1.99/month per shared IP, minimum of 5.
Verdict
Using these hosts is as good as writing “THIS IS A PBN SITE” on your homepage (…actually worse). Completely avoid.
Reseller Hosting
This involves purchasing a reseller hosting account and requesting additional IP addresses so each site is on a unique IP. The same can be done for dedicated services.
Footprints
Several.
- Default Nameservers are all the same – do not use.
- IP addresses are owned by the same company.
- Are the IP addresses separate ‘C Class’? Space out your requests.
- IP addresses are recycled from ex-customers that were hosting PBNs
Setup / Management
Can be quite easy, depending on the provider.
- You can usually manage all the websites from a single account
- Only one company to contact if you have issues
- One easy bill / payment to keep track of
A bad point…
- Need to use a DNS manager
Pricing
Can be very well priced. I used to pay around 37c per site, back when I was doing this.
Providers
- IXWebHosting – $71.96/year with 15 dedicated IPs, exit cart to get $60 off (from $131.96)
- HostNine – $24.95/month plus $2/month per dedicated IP
- OVH – $309/month plus $3/IP (one time fee), up to 256 IPs on a server
Verdict
Only marginally better than old school crappy SEO hosting. Avoid this one at all costs.
Cheap A- Shared Hosting
When everyone realised that SEO hosting and reseller hosting was causing issues with de-indexing, this is what came next. A rush to buy cheap hosting plans for $1-$3 per month aka cheap a- hosting.
Footprints
The good:
- Nameservers are unique for every webhost, therefore every website
- IP addresses are owned by different companies
- IP addresses are shared with real legit websites
The horrific:
- Extremely bad neighbourhoods full of PBN sites or worse sites you don’t want associated with
Setup / Management
Pain in the ass.
- Hosts regularly disappear without giving you backups
- You need subscription payments, manual is too much work and easy to lose track of
- Very hard to manage, get your spreadsheet skills out
- Cheap hosts often have terrible uptime and speeds
- Need to manually install WordPress, even worse if they do not have Softaculous
Pricing
Great. Up to $3/month per site at the higher end.
Providers
Standard practice is to look at shared plans offered on WebHostingTalk.
Verdict
You may save a few bucks, but you’ll get your sites de-indexed within no times, so avoid this hosting.
Reverse Proxy Services
A service that provides IP addresses which mask the one your webserver is using. CloudFlare is what most people refer to.
Footprints
- All IP addresses owned by same company
- Same nameservers (if setup incorrectly)
- Same nameserver owner
Setup / Management
Takes a couple mins to setup each domain. You need existing hosting which isn’t cPanel.
- Quick and easy setup process
- Once it is setup, you never need to touch it again
And the bad…
- New account needed for each domain (with CloudFlare)
- The website hosting needs setup separately
Pricing
Free for the service, but you’ll still need a host for the website, such as a VPS.
Providers
- CloudFlare – Completely free service with CDN feature to speed site loading
Verdict
Can be used for a small portion of your network to lower costs, but adds an extra headache managing all the CloudFlare accounts and a VPS or other hosting account.
If you’re interested though, you can read this guide on how to use CloudFlare for PBNs.
Popular Hosting
This is the gold standard of PBN hosting. It’s where you go to popular hosting providers that real business owners would use, and purchase a new account for each site.
Footprints
Absolutely none.
- Nameservers are unique for every webhost, therefore every website
- IP addresses are usually in separate ‘A Class’
- IP addresses are shared with real legit websites
Setup / Management
Pain in the ass.
- Hosts regularly disappear without giving you backups
- You need subscription payments, manual is too much work and easy to lose track of
- Very hard to manage, get your spreadsheet skills out
- Cheap hosts often have terrible uptime and speeds
- Need to manually install WordPress, even worse if they do not have Softaculous
Pricing
Expensive.
Quite easily $10+ per month for each website. Can be lowered with clustering, but for your first one, you’re easily looking at $200/m for only 20 sites.
Providers
Look for popular hosts real businesses would use, examples include:
Verdict
Highly recommended for networks with hundreds of sites and a team to manage them. Only downside is it can get pricey fast.
Thankfully there’s a better way…
Skip all this hassle and rent links directly from my personal network. Details here.
PBN & Popular Host Hybrid
This is a relatively new type of hosting aimed at PBN owners that want the safety of buying separate hosting from several popular hosts, without the hassle of managing them all.
These are built by the provider purchasing all of these accounts on your behalf, and then allowing you to add your website to their account. Which massively reduces your costs and management time.
Footprints
Absolutely none.
- Nameservers are unique for every webhost, therefore every website
- IP addresses are usually in separate ‘A Class’
- IP addresses are shared with real legit websites
Setup / Management
Easy
- One simple dashboard for accessing all of your website
- A single bill to track and pay
Pricing
Cheap.
Often times you’ll only be paying a couple dollars per month for each site.
Providers
- BulkBuyHosting (Recommended)
Verdict
Highly recommended. Zero footprints when setup correctly, extremely easily managed, and low cost.
Which hosting option is best?
The only two options worth considering are Popular Hosts and the PBN & Popular Post Hybrid.
If you’re doing this at scale, the Popular Host option may be viable. But take it from someone that has been doing it for years, it SUCKS.
Miss one renewal and suddenly your sites drop offline. You’ll have to manage the billing for 10, 20, 50+ hosting accounts separately. And the websites themselves. Frankly, it is a horrible chore.
That’s why I tried to create my own PBN & Popular Post Hybrid all the way back in 2014. It was never completed, but now there are far better solutions than I ever could have created, like BulkBuyHosting.
Yes, that’s an affiliate link.
But I’m actively hosting my websites with them.
And the reason why is simple:
- Zero footprints
- One simple dashboard for managing all of your sites
- A single bill for all your sites
Aka PBN management no longer sucks. Well, at least the hosting side of it.
That’s my verdict, you can agree or disagree, but hopefully I’ve presented enough detail here for you to make your own decision.
Skip all this hassle and rent links directly from my personal network. Details here.
Hi Daryl,
Any word on when ZealWP will be ready? I’m very interested.
Until then, I’m going to continue with the multiple Shared Hosting plans and Cloudflare. That’s what you’re doing, right? With 25% of your total PBNs put on the latter?
If you happen to know of an extensive list anywhere of cheap hosting providers, that would also be very cool 🙂 Thanks man,
Zak
Hi Zak, in the PBN guide (http://lionzeal.wpengine.com/pbn-guide/) I give away a list of 50 cheap hosting providers. I also have a small mix of sites on a dedicated server with dedicated IP’s, and reseller plans, but most on individual shared hosting plans.
Will send an update on ZealWP soon.
Hi Daryl,
Would you reccommend using hosting providers from webhostingtalk forum?
Some of them are OK, but so many are awful, full of other PBN sites, and shut down after a while so you need to move. Try to pick the providers that are a bit bigger, so it’s less of a footprint – and just less hassle.
Hi, great stuff here. I am planning to make my first PBN site but not quite sure about something.
Am I supposed to use fake user information when signing up for the hosting? I mean would it need to be different from the user information of the hosting account of my money site?
For Example: I registered with a hosting account with Mr Joe King from Neverland for my money site. Can I registerd with the same name and address for a hosting account for my PBN site?
Read many stuff about reducing footprints but never really found anything about this?
Thanks,
Thanks Isagini.
For hosting, the information you register with is practically irrelevant, the only people that can see it is the hosting provider. With ONE exception – some hosts will show your email address as an “SOA record”. The easy way to overcome this is using a different email address. But it’s not many hosts that do this, usually only SEO hosts, VPS’, dedicated servers, and reseller plans. Sounds like a lot when I say it like that lol, but with shared hosting plans you should be fine.
How do i know if my hosting is showing this? And how can i change? Good post. 🙂
Just use shared hosting, then you won’t need to worry about it.
You can use this tool to check your DNS records http://viewdns.info/dnsreport/?domain=lionzeal.com
Awesome post Daryl. Quick question, just to piggy back off of your last comment, I understand using different IPs, accounts, and hosting providers but I’m assuming you have to put your real billing address when purchasing hosting or domains right?
Thanks Dennis!
For billing, yes. I need to anyway because I’ve got a real company, so I need it to have my company details in the invoices/receipts for tax purposes. Google can’t see the billing info used for hosting or domains though, presuming the registrar allows a separate billing address to the addresses shown in whois.
Now I understand the difference between hosting c class & class c. Yes, its really helpful for me, as I know, there is still a misconception between the two.
Just wondering if you’ve had experience or would advise using ‘free hosting’ accounts with sites such as 000WebHost & Byte.Host that offer completely free hosting accounts.
I’d advise the opposite lol. Free is definitely a no-no. Go for higher paid ones like $5/m popular hosts, less of a footprint using them as you’re “hiding in plain sight”.
Daryl, really love your posts. I believe I have read every single post here.
And absolutely love all of them..
I have to ask one question though – SO if I have only one money site and a list of 10-15 pbn sites around the same niche.
How do i plan out my hosting?
I can’t go for 15 hosting accounts because that may addup a lot of cost.
How would I host all of them safely?
Glad you love the content 🙂
Ultimately the best recommendation is to have each on a unique “popular” shared host.
You have a couple options…
Share hosting with others, to split the cost. Pretty sure there are services for this already.
Or build more money sites. Can’t imagine you only plan on having 1 money site forever anyway.
So, its better to create 1 site per hosting? And the e-mail i register on the hosting, does it have some problem? Can it be the same?
Yep. Google can’t see the email you use to register for hosting, so it doesn’t matter.
Cool post. What it all boils down to is to strive to look as natural as you can with your network.
Just to clarify- I could have 5 PBNs with the same host as long as each of those sites points to a different money site? I find it confusing because PBN can refer to both a network and an individual site. So with the shared hosting approach, if you only have one money site now it will feel expensive but as you increase the number of money sites you can use the same hosting for a site that points to money site #2. And another different shared hosting plan for a site that points to money site #2 again. Does all of that sound correct? And thank you for all of your awesome content- you’re site is extremely helpful.
Yep, that’s right. I explain this better in the clustering part of the PBN guide: http://lionzeal.wpengine.com/pbn-guide/
Hey Daryl,
Does it matter which country servers a PBN is hosted in? If a site was hosted in Europe, will it matter if you host it on a US server?
Thanks!
Nah, not a problem.
Hi, Daryl nice post about PBN, I have one question to ask. For say 10 pbn sites, Is i use 10 different web shared hosting solutions or take a PBN package from a PBN web hosting provider which is best and less risk!
Thanks!
10 different shared hosting solutions is a the safest choice. That’s what I do.
Hi, Daryl. Great guide.
If I’m using Easy Blog Networks, do I need to worry about SOA records? Even if I register my domains on the same 3-4 registrars?
Thanks.
Don’t think so, they’re smart guys. But you can always check with them.
Thank you for such a detail guide.
Hi,
Good read. Any thoughts on the following
what about https://multiplecloud.com/ and https://app.sitewyz.com/ or http://ip-networx.com/
Would you recommend any of the above for hosting.
Thanks
No
Wooow this is the best. well explained. i love your articles. still beginning to understand the PBN. looking to create a Adsense account to associate with PBN. Hope it will work for me. Greetings from Sri Lanka
Daryl, really love your posts. I believe I have read every single post here.
And absolutely love all of them…
Great post. thanks
I don’t actually understand this last hosting you recommend.
If the provider purchases all the domains for me, and let me use the accounts – all the domains would still have ONE owner – my hosting company. Wouldn’t that be a HUGE footprint?
They just buy the hosting accounts, you need to buy and own the domains. There’s no footprint showing who owns a hosting, not if they’ve done it correctly.
Hi Daryl,
I have read many articles on your website LionZeal.Com and found your list of PBN sites which is very easy to locate,few examples are listed below of ur PBN .
http://www.less-life-XXXXXXXXX.world
http://www.life-XXXXXXXXX-right.life
http://www.life-XXXXXXXXX-therefore.world
http://www.life-XXXXXXXXX-amidst.life
http://www.life-XXXXXXXXX-then.life
So how to avoid such footprints?
Regards
Rahul (aka ManGo)
No idea what sites you’re linking to lol, but that’s not our PBN. The URLs sound like some spam network.