{"id":826,"date":"2025-12-08T17:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/domainhuntergatherer.com\/guides\/?p=826"},"modified":"2025-12-08T17:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:00:24","slug":"avoid-pbn-footprints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/domainhuntergatherer.com\/guides\/avoid-pbn-footprints\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid PBN Footprints"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Intro<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Even the best expired domains<\/a> can flop if you register and set them up in the wrong way. Today we\u2019ll do this the right way from choosing the right domain registrar and hosting to setting it all up and filling it with powerful content, in the right place in the right way, that will leave no footprints and ensure your domains are indexed and begin ranking quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A PBN can thrive or fail based on it\u2019s setup, and this is really important to get right from the beginning. So, read on to see how I go about this process and get dozens of pages indexed within a few days of registering an expired domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udca1 Free Resource Alert:<\/strong> Download my free Domain Registrar & DNS Standard Operating Procedures<\/a><\/strong> document to ensure you are hitting all the major areas of diversity, which is key to a robust PBN.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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\"Find<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

Diversity is key: Reduce Footprints and Patterns<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Diversity really is key when setting up your PBN. You want every website to be registered at a different registrar, to have different DNS settings and records, a different host and different content.<\/p>\n\n\n

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When it comes to registering your domain, you should look to have a breakdown of 3-5 domain registrars that you are comfortable with and rotate between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DNS settings may be something you are unfamiliar with but you need to change these settings up for every domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For hosting there are more choices than you can shake a stick at, luckily this means there is always a company offering cheap deals for the first year of hosting. Make use of these deals if it fits in your plan (more on this later)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, possibly most importantly, vary up the content of the website itself. There are so many ways to do this these days, it\u2019s really unforgiveable to set up a PBN with the same cookie cutter design or layout and doom yourself from the start. We cover this in great detail later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Register your PBN domains correctly from the start<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Registering Domains The Right Way<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

One common flaw that scuppered a lot of the early PBNs was using the same registrar to register domains on a single registrar, this must be avoided at all costs. With pricing so similar across registrars it makes little sense to have allegiance to one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to vary it up if you don\u2019t know who to use? Google <\/a>is your friend, use it. There are many reliable registrars and whois privacy is almost a given these days so just search for whoever has deals on and try not to use the same registrar twice until you have your first handful of domains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When setting up a domain for use in a PBN, you will want to use different names and addresses. Giving incorrect details would be against ICANN <\/a>ToS so I cannot suggest that you do this\u2026 Whois privacy should shield this data from the search engines but try to vary it up as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use a different email address for your domains, you can always redirect all emails to a central address for convenience but the outwardly visible email address should be unique. Register your domains<\/a> periodically, never on the same day. If you\u2019re registering hundreds of domains, obviously you may have some registered on the same day but try to spread registrations out through the year to keep the footprint low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Web Hosting for a PBN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Web Hosting for your PBN<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When selecting hosting, you have several options, each with their own set of pros and cons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosting Type<\/strong><\/td>Pros<\/strong><\/td>Cons<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Cheap Shared Hosting<\/strong><\/td>Very cheap, often easy setup.<\/td>Slow, single IP shared with many users (reputation risk).<\/td><\/tr>
Cloud\/Droplet Hosting<\/strong><\/td>Dedicated IP possible, cheap for small sites, scalable.<\/td>Can create its own footprint if all sites use the same platform\/interface.<\/td><\/tr>
VPS\/Dedicated Servers<\/strong><\/td>Cheap only if hosting many sites; high control, fast.<\/td>Expensive when starting out, high footprint risk if not managed carefully, requires expertise. (Avoid when starting)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Dedicated PBN Hosting<\/strong><\/td>Ideal for PBNs, reduced footprints, high manageability, single admin panel.<\/td>Best value after about 5 domains hosted.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While some argue that the risk of being linked to potentially irreputable websites on shared hosting isn’t worth the cost savings, shared hosts do have their place. Search engines are sophisticated enough to know that many legitimate websites use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hosting specifically for PBNs is probably the best for hosting PBN websites. Shocker!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our Recommendation: Dedicated PBN Hosting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most convenient and price-competitive option, especially as your network grows, is a dedicated PBN host<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n