Building a PBN can be both time consuming and expensive – it can take a while to find suitable expired domains and then getting the sites all set up takes even more time. For that reason, I started testing using only web 2.0 links as a sort of PBN.
I did this partially to see if I got similar results to using an expired domain (since it would be cheaper and less time consuming), but also because I was coaching someone who could not afford to build out a PBN of expired domains. It’s been just over six months now I started this little experiment and the results might surprise you.
The Web 2.0 Backlink Experiment
Since I am kinda lazy when it comes to backlinks and PBN, I decided to do my test with just three web 2.0s to backlink a site. At the time, I was paying for a SerpWoo account, so I selected the top web 2.0’s on their list at the time, which were Wix, Weebly and Blogspot. You can actually get this data with a free account – just click on “Global Stats” on the top right of the screen when logged in and then scroll down to the “Today’s Top Sites” section.
Here’s how the experiment started:
What I Started With: Two niche websites with around 10 posts each.
Both sites created in August 2014 but not earning. Site #1 had a few page 2, 3 and 4 rankings, but site #2 had none.
Each site targeting different niches, but similar competition.
So, just a couple of simple sites in low competition niches and no other backlinks.
Within two weeks, the results looked like this:
Test site #1’s rankings (previous reported ranking listed for easy reference):
kw #1 = 19 (23)
kw #2 = 16 (17)
kw #3 = 27 (36)
kw #4 = 19 (21)
kw #5 = NA
kw #6 = 23 (25)
Test site #2’s rankings:
kw #1 = NA
kw #2 = 38
kw #3 = 15
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
Not too bad, eh? And this was late January 2015 by this point in the experiment. Well, it got even better one week later….at least for site #1.
Test site #1’s rankings (previous reported rankings listed for easy reference):
kw #1 = 10 (19) (23)
kw #2 = 9 (16) (17)
kw #3 = 22 (27) (36)
kw #4 = 8 (19) (21)
kw #5 = NA
kw #6 = 10 (23) (25)
Test site #2’s rankings:
kw #1 = NA
kw #2 = 25 (38)
kw #3 = 22 (15)
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
I was curious if I sent some high DA links to the web 2.0’s if that would increase their power, so I tried that out with the ones linking to site #2. I just did a 301 redirect with the domain registrar and not a PBN in-post style link.
And, two weeks later, it looked like this:
Test site #1’s rankings (previous reported rankings listed for easy reference):
kw #1 = 7 (10) (19) (23)
kw #2 = 4 (9) (16) (17)
kw #3 = 9 (22) (27) (36)
kw #4 = 3 (8 ) (19) (21)
kw #5 = NA
kw #6 = 5 (10) (23) (25)
Test site #2’s rankings:
kw #1 = 46 (NA)
kw #2 = 18 (25) (38)
kw #3 = 19 (22) (15)
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
And, three weeks later, the rankings looked like this:
Test site #1’s rankings (previous reported rankings listed for easy reference):
kw #1 = 8 (10) (19) (23)
kw #2 = 4 (9) (16) (17)
kw #3 = 12 (22) (27) (36)
kw #4 = 3 (8 ) (19) (21)
kw #5 = NA
kw #6 = 8 (10) (23) (25)
Test site #2’s rankings:
kw #1 = 53 (NA)
kw #2 = 20 (25) (38)
kw #3 = 20 (22) (15)
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
And, three weeks after that (which made it the first week of April 2015), the rankings looked like this:
Test site #1’s rankings (previous reported rankings listed for easy reference):
kw #1 = 2 (8 ) (10) (19) (23)
kw #2 = 3 (4) (9) (16) (17)
kw #3 = 3 (12) (22) (27) (36)
kw #4 = 1 (3) (8 ) (19) (21)
kw #5 = 79 (NA)
kw #6 = 2 (8 ) (10) (23) (25)
Test site #2’s rankings:
kw #1 = 59 (53) (NA)
kw #2 = 15 (20) (25) (38)
kw #3 = 16 (20) (22) (15)
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
I think it’s important to note a few things about this experiment now. First, I did not add any content to the two sites during this experiment. In fact, I still haven’t added any new content to them. Neither site seems to have attracted any backlinks from other sites or social media, so it’s still just the links that I’ve created for this experiment. But probably the most important thing to know is that site #1 began earning in February 2015 and is averaging around $65 for the past three months.
And, fast forward to today and here are the rankings…
Test site #1’s rankings as of July 2015:
kw #1 = 2 (2) (8 ) (10) (19) (23)
kw #2 = 1 (3) (4) (9) (16) (17)
kw #3 = 2 (3) (12) (22) (27) (36)
kw #4 = 1 (1) (3) (8 ) (19) (21)
kw #5 = 86 (79) (NA)
kw #6 = 1 (2) (8 ) (10) (23) (25)
Test site #2’s rankings as of July 2015:
kw #1 = 90 (59) (53) (NA)
kw #2 = 21 (15) (20) (25) (38)
kw #3 = 18 (16) (20) (22) (15)
kw #4 = NA
kw #5 = NA
What I find most interesting about this experiment is that juicing site #2’s web 2.0s with some high DA redirects did not really give it all that much of a boost. I honestly expected it to rank better and faster than site #1, but it appears to be the exact opposite. Of course, I have not checked the competition lately, so it is very possible that the keywords site #2 is targeting have gotten more competitive in the past six months.
Next, I plan on removing the redirects of the three high DA sites and instead making them proper PBN sites with a link out to the actual website. Surely I’ll see some positive outcome from that….although those domain are obviously not indexed…so maybe not.
Hey, I’m Shawna. I make a living working from my laptop in places like London, Sydney, Dubai, Rome, Oslo, Bangkok, Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. I share how I do some of that on this website.
wow….. positive results.
But could you please tell us what tips you follow to get such positive result ?
and please share you every week work with us so that we can also do the same. !!!
When you say “I was curious if I sent some high DA links to the web 2.0’s if that would increase their power, so I tried that out with the ones linking to site #2. What type of “high DA” links were these, perhaps wikis and web 2.0 properties?? Thanks
PBN sites
Holly Cow!! So you ended up with several #1’s and #2’s positions (for the first site) with only x3 high DA Web 2.0 sites??
That’s so awesome.
May I ask you:
1) Did these web 2.0s where brand new??
2) Did you only put 1 piece on content on each web 2.0 or more than one article?
3) Did you use 100% money anchor texts or any of those link where brand anchor texts?
Thank you!
I’m pretty lazy with my web 2.0s – so just a single post on each of them with somewhere around 500 words in length. I use newly registered web 2.0s and I do two links out to my sites: one is keyword rich and the other is branded. I’m testing this process in a very competitive niche right now, but I think it will take 3 posts per web 2.0 for similar results (at least that is my early conclusion). Good luck!
Hey shawna,
i hope you’ll be fine
How many blogs (no. of blogs) are enough to rank a medium competitive keyword.?
It really depends on the KW and the competition.
Hey Shawna, great case study! Thanks for posting.
I’m surprised that juicing the web 2.0 pointing to site #2 with a high DA redirect didn’t seem to make a difference. Then again, I’ve been in this game long enough to know that I shouldn’t be surprised by anything.
After analyzing several sites strictly with web 2.0 backlinks that rank for competitive, high search volume KWs, I found that the “magic” was the quality of the tier 2 links pointing to the web 2.0’s. But interestingly, it doesn’t seem like you needed any tier 2 links for your web 2.0 pointing to site #1. Go figure.
Well, I’m finding that for low competition, no tier 2 links are needed for the web 2.0s. A few weeks ago I sent about 40,000 GSA links as a tier 2 for some web 2.0s that are pointing at a site targeting med-high competition KWs. Saw some positive movement on that front as well. I tried this with a test site that was on page 8 for the KW and it moved it up to page 2.
Very cool. How long did it take for your site to move from page 8 to 2?
About 10 days.
Thanks for these responses. One last question – were the web 2’s linking to your main sites before or after you sent the GSA links to the web 2’s?
before. I made the web 2.0s and immediately ordered a GSA blast to them. I think the order was done in 3 days.
Thank you! I’m following your roadmap and may have a few more questions down the line, if you don’t mind! Appreciate all your help.
No problem! Good luck 🙂
What kind of GSA links did you order, if you could be more specific?
Does this method (web2.0) still work as of mid-July 2016?
Thanks!
I most recently juiced some web 2.0s a few months ago and the boost for the niche site was still working then. This is the gig that I use for GSA – Source Market GSA gig – it’s $21 as of the last time I used it a few months back. I typically send it to 5 web 2.0s for my sites. Good luck!
Hey Shawna,
Another fantastic post. I actually wrote a free little tool (no catches, sign up) to find expired Tumblrs I think you/readers would be interested in it. You just enter your niche keywords and it does the rest, also checks to see if you can actually register them too!
http://www.supagrowth.com/Expired-Tumblr-Hunter
Happy hunting! 🙂
Thanks for the tip, Jamie. Though I’ve had terrible results with expired tumblrs in the testing I’ve done. Hopefully others have better luck!
Hi Shawna,
We do similar link building with branded web2.0s for clients, and with gives positive results 🙂
I have a few clean domains that have been indexed with a default twenty seventeen theme. They were never built out and have DA 2 PA 1. I also have whole list of registered, builtout and indexed web 2.0’s ready for links. Sounds like I might need to test this out for 2019.
Hey Shawna,
This blog post is more than 3 years old! Do web 2.0 backlinks still work in 2018?
Are they worth investing in?
Kindly share your opinions.
Basit
No idea! It’s not something that I think has a high ROI right now, so I haven’t tested it 🙂
Will it works in 2022? Please reply mam, I’m really curious to know that. I’m a big fan of you.
Don’t know, haven’t tested it.