In fact, if Google catches you trying to manipulate their algorithm in any way at all they will penalise you for it. Regardless of how you built your links. SEO is risk management plain & simple.
So as with any form of SEO & link building it is important that we approach the planning & execution of our private blog networks in the right way.
It is very easy to leave a footprint behind if you are not careful, so it is critical that you pay attention to every piece of advice and follow every step in this course.
But here are the two worst case scenarios-
#1 - Google Detects The Network
If Google detects your network a few different things can happen. There is no doubt that you will receive a link penalty, either through failing a manual review (I have a great tip to survive manual reviews later) or an algorithm update.If this happens your site will lose rankings & traffic and it is possible your private blog network will be partially or fully deindexed depending on what they detect.
Now that is an absolutely worst case scenario, but it is important that you know what that scenario is.
But remember the hidden benefit of private blog networks is control and we can exercise the control in a couple of different ways.
First of all if we build the network correctly and take care not to leave any kind of footprint, we mitigate the risk of detection.
Secondly if all hell breaks lose and we do get penalised, we are still in full control. It is just a case of removing the links from our network and submitting a reconsideration request.
#2 - Competitor Reports You
The most common way people get penalised when using a private blog network is after going through a manual review that was triggered by a competitor submitting a spam complaint.This is very common and after dealing with SEO clients for a number of years I can tell you that when people see competitors whizzing past them in the SERPS they have 2 responses-
1. How can we do the same?
2. How can we stop them?
Trust me, if you are in the top 10 for a low-medium competition keyword - your competitors are watching closely. What you do with your site and what you do with your backlinks.
So if you start getting an edge on them and they notice that, then they can put a stop to that in a few clicks by filing a spam report and triggering the manual review.
I always advise my clients against reporting networks because what could happen, is the person that you report figures out it was you that reported them.
They now have a penalised network of sites in their control which might just end up pointing at your site, a power you granted them by submitting a spam request. I believe in karma with things like that, so never snitch on your competitors.
However what you will have that your competitors won't have is my tip to hide your private blog networks from your competitors completely, along with the 1 thing your sites need to survive a manual review.
This protects against both your competitors finding the network in the first place and the manual review as well.
