How I Build My Private Link Network , SEO
This thread is not about dissecting Penguin 2.1,
there are plenty of other threads for that, so please keep comments and
questions related to the topic at hand. If you have a question of a
different nature, you can PM me or hop over to my journey thread and
comment there.
Part 1 - Types of Network sites
1A. Expired domains:
I am not going to go into detail at how to look for these as there are many ways including freshdrop and other services that will help you in part or make purchases for you. These services mostly help you sort through domains. The first thing we want to look at is PR since this is a good indicator of the type of links that are coming into the site we have an interest in adding to our private network. Additionally some services let you sort by quantity of back links and Domain Authority.
Generally the thing you want to look at on these is Domain authority and Page Authority based on SEOmoz. Now keep in mind, There is a HUGE FLAW in this system of SEOmoz gauging the strength of the site, which is that Domain authority and Page Authority can be built with crappy links. What we want to find however is quality links which build this Page Authority and Domain Authority. From here on out I will reference Domain Authority with DA and Page Authority with PA.
In order to make sure that DA and PA are not being inflated we need to manually look at the incoming links. You can use OpenSiteExplorer, Ahrefs and MajesticSEO for this. The way you check for quality incoming links is to verify that the links are still live on the pages providing them. This might involve manually going to the page and looking at the source code to ensure they are live. Additionally you will want to look at the PR of the page it is on as a generic indicator of the quality. This is not always the most important thing though. The age of the link as well as the authority of the site it is on is also important. So for example... If you had a link from a .EDU page that had almost no outbound links and was put live back in 2000 then that's a pretty good link even if the PR might be 2 or 3. Always focus on the quality of the site itself the link is from and the age of the page itself. Many times you can verify how old a page is by going to archive.org and checking it there.
Once you have verified that the links going to your site you are interested in bidding on or purchasing are quality in nature then you will want to check the history of the site in archive.org to ensure it was not used for spamming in the recent past. The reason this is important is because you don't want to get a domain that was used for shady redirects or other purposes that may have gotten the ban hammer from big G. You might think you are helping when in reality this could be damaging to your link building activities.
1B. New Domains:
These are domains that I buy with the intention of giving my money site strength through relevancy. These are domains that are 100% relevant to my money site and on the same subject. Keep in mind that with link building, you need to show authority and relevancy. This side of link building takes care of the relevancy part. Just because these sites don't have existing links like the expired/expiring domains, don't think they don't offer value. They help enormously. You may want to buy and set these domains up before you ever even buy a domain and start your money site. Having all these domains start out with the same registration date might look fishy.
1C. Abandoned Websites:
Usually a few times a week for maybe 30 minutes I will start looking for websites which have been abandoned. This means that the person lost interest in posting to their blog, or they haven't done any updating to their site in months.
The first thing I do is start building a list of sites by using various search operators. I am not going to share the exact ones I use, but you can do a simple search in Google on "how to use search operators" and get an idea of what I am doing. I will try to find something in my general niche, but oftentimes find other things along the way as well.
Once I have a list in excel or Word, I will begin using the contact info I found on their site, and if that doesn't work I will use their whois information to contact them. I will then let them know I noticed they haven't posted or updated their site in some time, and that I have an interest in continuing to write for their site, or purchasing it. The reason you want to offer to write for the site is if they don't want to sell it, then at least they might take you up on the offer of writing content for it where you could slip in a link.
Final Thoughts: I know there are a ton of minor details I left out, but if you ask the right questions I will be sure to answer them, and add additional information in my comments that might fill gaps. I could literally write all day about this process, but it simply is just not feasible.
ALWAYS REMEMBER that PR of a site is not the final evaluation of what you need for your network. PR is simply a way to tip you off on what might be a good domain to add into your personal network.
Additionally always check that the domain was not abused by someone else who used it previously for their network. Signs of this would include mass amounts of exact anchor text back links, tons of .ru back links, and lots of links from forum or comment back links. If there are any Google cached pages, make sure to check them to see what content was there.
In my next post I will write about hosting and setting up your network sites. Follow us:
I have had a few requests asking me how I generally build my own network
to feed juice to my money sites. If you have no idea what I am talking
about then you probably want to spend some more time on this site
getting the basics down. If you understand the basic strategy of
building quality links to your site and have been slapped to craps with
the recent Penguin, then you really need to look into building your own
private network for your money sites.
Part 1 - Types of Network sites
1A. Expired domains:
I am not going to go into detail at how to look for these as there are many ways including freshdrop and other services that will help you in part or make purchases for you. These services mostly help you sort through domains. The first thing we want to look at is PR since this is a good indicator of the type of links that are coming into the site we have an interest in adding to our private network. Additionally some services let you sort by quantity of back links and Domain Authority.
Generally the thing you want to look at on these is Domain authority and Page Authority based on SEOmoz. Now keep in mind, There is a HUGE FLAW in this system of SEOmoz gauging the strength of the site, which is that Domain authority and Page Authority can be built with crappy links. What we want to find however is quality links which build this Page Authority and Domain Authority. From here on out I will reference Domain Authority with DA and Page Authority with PA.
In order to make sure that DA and PA are not being inflated we need to manually look at the incoming links. You can use OpenSiteExplorer, Ahrefs and MajesticSEO for this. The way you check for quality incoming links is to verify that the links are still live on the pages providing them. This might involve manually going to the page and looking at the source code to ensure they are live. Additionally you will want to look at the PR of the page it is on as a generic indicator of the quality. This is not always the most important thing though. The age of the link as well as the authority of the site it is on is also important. So for example... If you had a link from a .EDU page that had almost no outbound links and was put live back in 2000 then that's a pretty good link even if the PR might be 2 or 3. Always focus on the quality of the site itself the link is from and the age of the page itself. Many times you can verify how old a page is by going to archive.org and checking it there.
Once you have verified that the links going to your site you are interested in bidding on or purchasing are quality in nature then you will want to check the history of the site in archive.org to ensure it was not used for spamming in the recent past. The reason this is important is because you don't want to get a domain that was used for shady redirects or other purposes that may have gotten the ban hammer from big G. You might think you are helping when in reality this could be damaging to your link building activities.
1B. New Domains:
These are domains that I buy with the intention of giving my money site strength through relevancy. These are domains that are 100% relevant to my money site and on the same subject. Keep in mind that with link building, you need to show authority and relevancy. This side of link building takes care of the relevancy part. Just because these sites don't have existing links like the expired/expiring domains, don't think they don't offer value. They help enormously. You may want to buy and set these domains up before you ever even buy a domain and start your money site. Having all these domains start out with the same registration date might look fishy.
1C. Abandoned Websites:
Usually a few times a week for maybe 30 minutes I will start looking for websites which have been abandoned. This means that the person lost interest in posting to their blog, or they haven't done any updating to their site in months.
The first thing I do is start building a list of sites by using various search operators. I am not going to share the exact ones I use, but you can do a simple search in Google on "how to use search operators" and get an idea of what I am doing. I will try to find something in my general niche, but oftentimes find other things along the way as well.
Once I have a list in excel or Word, I will begin using the contact info I found on their site, and if that doesn't work I will use their whois information to contact them. I will then let them know I noticed they haven't posted or updated their site in some time, and that I have an interest in continuing to write for their site, or purchasing it. The reason you want to offer to write for the site is if they don't want to sell it, then at least they might take you up on the offer of writing content for it where you could slip in a link.
Final Thoughts: I know there are a ton of minor details I left out, but if you ask the right questions I will be sure to answer them, and add additional information in my comments that might fill gaps. I could literally write all day about this process, but it simply is just not feasible.
ALWAYS REMEMBER that PR of a site is not the final evaluation of what you need for your network. PR is simply a way to tip you off on what might be a good domain to add into your personal network.
Additionally always check that the domain was not abused by someone else who used it previously for their network. Signs of this would include mass amounts of exact anchor text back links, tons of .ru back links, and lots of links from forum or comment back links. If there are any Google cached pages, make sure to check them to see what content was there.
In my next post I will write about hosting and setting up your network sites. Follow us:
COMMENTS