Sauber has unveiled the new logo for its Formula One team, which will race as Stake for the next two seasons.
The post Sauber relaunches as Stake F1, unveils new logo appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.
Cleary.ai | Berlin, Germany (on-site) | Full-time | Founding Engineer
We’re hiring our founding engineers. We are looking for Fullstack JS & Backend/ML Python Engineers (on-site in Berlin) and offer real equity far above market standards.
You need to be excited about our vision to use AI to make regulatory approval for medical innovation 10x easier. We accelerate the process of bringing crucial treatments to the patients who need them the most.
You can find some more info under https://cleary.ai
If this is interesting to you or someone you know, I’d love to hear from you!!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-scherer-26769884/ E-Mail: florian.scherer@cleary.ai
Location: Europe Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Possibly Technologies: Java (Spring, Swing, etc.), JavaScript (Node, React, D3, etc.), Python, GraphQL, SQL, Git, AWS, Vercel, etc. Résumé/CV: https://gtanev.github.io/cv/2023.pdf Email: georgejazzt@gmail.com I’m a multifaceted software engineer with a master’s degree in computer science and research published by IEEE, OEIS, and Springer. I have 13 years of experience … Continue reading New comment by george87 in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (October 2023)"
Location: NYC
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: JavaScript, React, EJS, Express, Node.js, MongoDB, SQL
Personal: www.williampasternak.com
Résumé/CV: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pwkv4fUDqfdg1ntwFrnMuwGgTXwBoh6n
Email: william@williampasternak.com
Looking For: FE or BE engineering roles. I have a decade plus background in hospitality so restaurant, food, beverage, or hospitality-adjacent companies would be a plus.
The post Josh Hawley, Meet Lina Khan's FTC appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.
Third Eye Health is a national healthcare company providing high quality remote and bedside medical care to acute, post-acute, and senior care organizations.
We are looking for an individual with at least 2 years of C# / SQL experience for our .NET Core 6 web application.
100% remote but needs to be in the general Boston area as we meet up from time to time.
Do you ever feel like trying to get credit for your business is like playing a game, but you don’t know the rules? Imagine trying to play football but having no clue how the game works. From kick off, you would be doomed to lose. The same is true with business credit. If you don’t know what rules credit providers are playing by, you may feel like it’s a losing game from the beginning. The best way to kick off business credit is with Tier 1 business credit vendors.
As with any great football program, you need great players and a great coach if you are going to win. Credit Suite offers great coaching through the7 steps in the Business Credit Builder. Then, once you work your way through the first couple of steps, you will have no problem recruiting a winning team of Tier 1 business credit vendors in step 3.
Of course, It does you no good to have a team if you don’t have a score board or even a field to play on. So, you have to complete the first two steps to start. Step 1 is to build a fundable foundation. This is how credit providers will see that your business is legitimate and separate from you as the owner.
Here is a quick summary some of the things included in a fundable foundation:
After that, you have to establish your business credit reports, which includes getting a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet and making sure you are listed with the other business credit reporting agencies. Obviously, you cannot have a business credit score without a business credit report for vendors to report payments to. Establishing this “scoreboard” is Step 2.
This is the step where you actually start building your business credit. To win the game, you have to choose the right vendors for your team. Without established business credit, it is going to be hard to recruit. You have to go after the right ones for this stage. These are vendors in tier 1, also known as starter vendors.
These vendors lay the groundwork for building a business credit score. They can provide initial accounts that report so that you can get a business credit score on the board. Just like a winning team is a powerful recruiting tool in football, an initial business credit score opens the possibility of approval for advanced vendor credit accounts.
These are usually companies that do not specialize in extending credit. Rather, they are retail businesses that may extend net terms on invoices to their customers as a courtesy. Usually they offer either 30, 60, 90 days or however many days the net terms state, to pay in full.
It’s different from a credit card because it is not revolving credit, and there is no card. They extend this type of credit to customers without depending as heavily on creditworthiness as other vendors do. That’s not to say they just give net terms to anyone. They will just take factors other than business credit into account when determining creditworthiness.
With many of them, if you complete step one and build a strong fundable foundation, you are likely to get approval.
These vary from vendor to vendor, but some examples include:
Vendors that extend net terms without relying solely on business credit reports are hard enough to find. However, to be a true tier 1 business credit vendor, they also have to report positive payment history to the business credit reporting agencies.
Many vendors will report negative payment experiences, but they will not report on-time payments. Unfortunately, this is the case with more than nine out of every ten vendors. As you can imagine, this is a huge problem when it comes to building business credit. You need credit to get credit, and starter vendors that report are the only way to break the cycle. Yet, they are almost impossible to find on your own.
It’s not totally impossible. But, vendors do not make it easy to figure out how heavily they rely on business credit reports or whether they report payments. That only leaves you with a couple of options if you want to do it on your own.
You can apply for accounts with the vendors you already use. Since they already work with you, they may be willing to offer credit based on your relationship rather than credit history. You can also just apply for vendor accounts and hope for the best. If you monitor your business credit reports, you will be able to see if they are reporting.
Obviously this trial-and-error method has some glaring holes in it. First, there is no telling how long it will take to get approval for just one account. Then, you will not know if they are reporting until you see or don’t see it on your business credit report. You need at least 3 accounts reporting to establish a business credit score. This method takes a lot of time and causes a lot of frustration. Not only that, you may never get where you need to be before the lack of ability to get funding shuts you down for good.
Working with someone who has an inside track on which creditors will extend net credit without a credit check, and report on-time payments, saves time and frustration. You can know you are eligible for approval before you apply. Then, as you get approval and start using the credit, you will know your business credit score is growing because you know the vendor reports.
Many times a business credit specialist can help you find less costly ways to monitor your business credit reports as well.
While there are several such vendors in Tier 1 of the Business Credit Builder, seeing examples can help you get an idea of what’s available. Here are a few to get you started, but remember it takes more than one account reporting to move on to tier 2 vendors.
This vendor sells hardware, power tools, pumps and more. They report to Dun and Bradstreet, and if a business doesn’t have established credit they will want to see other information like accounts payable, income statement, balance sheets, etc.
They offer net 30, 45, 60, or 90 terms, and qualification requirements include:
Uline sells shipping, packing and industrial supplies. They report to both Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. Before you can get approval for net terms, you MUST create an account with them. They offer net 30 terms.
Qualification requirements include:
The credit department may require a few prepaid orders before extending net terms.
As part of the Home Depot family, they offer facility maintenance supplies. This vendor will not accept virtual addresses. They report to Experian, and offer net 20 terms.
Qualification requirements include:
Consider the following example:
A business ships items to customers on a daily basis. In fact, shipping expenses make up a significant portion of business costs. A vendor account with Uline can allow you to stock up on shipping and packing supplies now, before prices get any higher due to continuing inflation. Then, you will be able to avoid raising shipping costs for your customers for a longer period of time.
In addition, it’s no secret that supply chain problems are plaguing most everyone right now. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Vendor credit will allow you to place orders for things now, in anticipation of the fact that it may take a bit for them to come in.
Once you have a number of tier 1 business credit vendors reporting, you will be able to move on to more advanced vendors. This will allow your business to always have access to the funds it needs to grow. That’s definitely worthy of major points.
The post How to Build an All Star Team of Tier 1 Business Credit Vendors to Kick Off Business Credit appeared first on Credit Suite.
If you still think Facebook and Twitter are the be-all and end-all of social media marketing tools, think again.
Say “Hi” to your business’s new best friend: business Pinterest accounts.
Eighty percent of Pinterest pins are repins, which means this is a platform that values sharable content. The average lifespan of a pin is three months which is much longer than Facebook which averages five to six hours, and Twitter which averages at 15-20 minutes..
Since Facebook purchased Instagram, Pinterest has become the hot ticket item for business marketing.
That’s for good reason. If an increase of 30% in Pinterest accounts over the last year isn’t an indication that your business should be joining over 250 million monthly active users, I don’t know what would be.
Aside from feeding obsessions with exotic destiny vacations and gourmet food, the real strength of Pinterest is the integrated features of its business accounts. Join the businesses with Pinterest for Business accounts, and you’ll get added marketing features to promote your brand on one of the fastest growing and insanely popular social media platforms.
If you don’t have an account already, or if your account is personal, you’re going to need to sign up for an official Pinterest for Business account to tap into the full potential of Pinterest’s marketing potency. With your business account, you get:
The terms of service are a little bit different for a business, so be sure to read through them. The difference comes from the fact that you are using the account commercially.
You’ve still got the same Acceptable Use Policy and Pin Etiquette Policy, but there are a few guidelines for commercial use:
Pinterest doesn’t just give you the platform, they create educational marketing materials to teach you how to maximize its effectiveness for marketing your business.
They offer:
You can also check out the Pinterest Blog to stay updated on when these materials will be out and get some basic tips.
Pinterest Analytics is one of the newest and most awesome features of a Pinterest for Business account. When you verify your account, you get access to important tracking information. You’ll be able to see which strategies and content work so you can constantly improve your marketing.
There are five different types of Rich Pins, all loaded with more information than your average pin for serious sales power. They include real-time price and stock updates, direct links to your site, and interactive map locations. There will be more details on Rich Pin strategy later.
Pinterest has promised some new tools exclusively to business accounts in the future. As of right now, that includes buyable pins for e-commerce, Promoted Pins, the Pin It Button, and the Widget Builder. As new tools are being added, you can stay updated by joining the Pinterest newsletter.
You get to use your business name instead of the typical First + Last Name formula. This means your Pinterest account won’t have an automatic link to your Facebook account, so you should add a Facebook tab to your Pinterest home page.
Your pins can get engagement for your business if you execute them right.
Pinterest has been described by the Social Media Examiner as a visual search engine. Just like when you are writing your blog articles or posting on your business Instagram account, you want your content to be searchable.
If it’s not searchable, then it won’t be found or seen.
Therefore, before you grab that mouse to start pinning, you have to understand the Pinterest culture, AKA what your followers search for, and learn how to create popular pins.
If you know what the most popular Pinterest categories are, then you’ll have a better idea of which boards will work for your business.
Most of Pinterest users, 71.1 percent to be exact, are female. Males users only account for 14.9 percent of the audience. Pinterest posts are categorized, so if your business doesn’t have anything to do with DIY crafts, then don’t have a board dedicated to the art of glue-gunning. Pick the most relevant popular ones!
One quick perusal of Pinterest and it’s clear how visual a site it is. With such an emphasis on visual impact, your images are the cornerstone of any pin you share.
What makes the top Pinterest pins so popular?
All pins have the same width, with an unlimited length. A good size to shoot for is 736×1102 pixels for a typical pin. It’s not too big, and not too small. Canva’s Pinterest template is this size and makes sizing your images a lot easier.
Sometimes it’s good to take advantage of the longer length allotment. The term “instructographic” was coined by Pinterest and it is another name for infographics. These are popular because of their DIY, how-to nature, which we know is popular on Pinterest.
It’s one thing to create a fantastic pin, but it’s a whole other game to get it seen and shared. No one is going to find your pin if you don’t optimize for engagement.
The best times to pin depend on your target audience’s habits, so you should always test for your specific optimal posting times. On average, the best times to post are 2 PM – 4 PM EST and 8 PM – 1 AM EST; and, research by HubSpot says Saturday morning is THE best time to post.
Add a hovering Pin It button to any image on any of your sites or your phone app through Pinterest directly. If you use WordPress, there’s a Pinterest Pin It Hover button plugin.
These simple-to-integrate buttons direct your site visitors to either check out your Pinterest account or actually pin your site’s content on their own accounts. If you don’t have these buttons, there is little chance your site will bring ANY interaction with your Pinterest account.
You don’t want to have to start over with followers when you create a new social media account. It’s super easy to connect your Instagram, Youtube and Etsy accounts to your Pinterest for Business account.
This will help you get more followers by tapping into the ones you already have on other platforms. It also will help spread your content across platforms so more eyeballs see it. It will add relevant buttons to your Pinterest account.
To connect your social media accounts:
Take the difficulty out of getting people to find your pins by sending the pins straight to them! Your newsletter is the perfect place to throw in a couple of your latest pins and direct subscribers to your Pinterest account. Try this:
“Our most popular pins from this week. Head on over to our Pinterest for even more!”
You have to use some SEO strategy to get your pins discovered by the eyes of your target audience. Don’t worry, it doesn’t take much to optimize your pins in regard to Pinterest searches. Just follow these steps:
As with any SEO you use, make sure not to sound too “keywordy.” Don’t go too crazy and add three keywords to your title and descriptions like a robot would. Optimize and still sound human by simply adding a strong keyword within the right context.
In the same way you use a call-to-action in your ad copy, a call-to-pin will significantly increase the engagement of your pins. In your pin’s description, add a little something like:
“Repin to your own inspiration board.”
Now that you know what kinds of pins are popular and how to get your pins seen, the next step in Pinterest marketing is to use your pins to build relationships with followers and influencers that will grow your reach.
As we all know, more reach = more success.
Knowing what users look for when following other accounts will allow you to give them what they want and, in turn, grow your following. A little mind-reading never hurt anyone.
The University of Minnesota’s Pinterest study found that the three main factors that Pinterest users take into consideration in the should-I-follow-or-not decision-making process are:
To be on top of those factors and build relationships to grow your reach, you need to:
To get more Pinterest followers, you should post between 5-30 new pins every day. Make sure you are not just repinning the content of others, but also pinning your own unique pins with your own content.
Warning! Avoid a major Pinterest faux pas: don’t pin all 30 new pins within 5 minutes. Spread your pinning throughout the day.
Tip! You can schedule pins with a business account.
Just like you respond to tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram comments, engage with your followers directly by answering their questions and responding to their comments. Go the extra mile and address them directly, using their names to really take your customer service to the next level.
Engagement is a two-way street. You need to reach out to your followers’ boards as well. Leave comments on their pins so they’ll feel some love. Their followers will see your brand, too!
The best way to see a successful Pinterest strategy in action is to follow and engage with popular boards. You can learn a lot from the big dogs. See what kinds of pins they pin, what kinds of boards they have, and how much engaging they do. Your goal is to get on that level!
If you are commenting on these popular pins, your brand name will be seen by the huge number of people who follow those boards.
Tip! It’s a good idea to follow popular boards because they are relevant to your industry and business as opposed to “just because” they are the most popular. If your business has literally nothing to do with wedding fashion, you can do yourself a favor and follow the boards that have a following closer to yours. Those are the people you want to connect with anyway.
Another cool board feature for marketing is the Open Board, which allows users to contribute their own pins. All you have to do is give them pinning access by adding their name or email. You, as the creator, of course, have full veto power, and your contributors aren’t able to change the board name or description.
This feature is great for marketing because you get your community involved in a personal way.
Invite your followers and get big authority brownie points if you can get industry experts and leaders to contribute to your boards!
Women’s Health Magazine created an open board called “Vision 21” where their followers pin their goals and visions. It promotes fan interaction and the brand at the same time! Talk about win-win.
Reach a wider audience and gain more followers by reaching out to influencers in your field.
Start by following their boards, repinning their pins, and leaving engaging comments on their pins. Once you’ve dropped your name that way, you can initiate a bigger collaboration.
Ask if they will post on a board of yours, or offer to contribute to one of their boards. Offer ideas for their boards and show that you are familiar with their content when initiating collaboration, and you’ll be closer to that “yes” you’re looking for.
Mejuri set themselves up for some great collaboration with their board dedicated to their community with the #thefinecrew. The Fine Crew board showcases their products worn by their community. Small influencers and brand partners are featured in Mejuri’s Instagram and Pinterest making it a great opportunity for cross-promotion.
You know that when you create a new account with Instagram or another social media platform, they ask if you want to “Find Friends” using your phone’s contacts or Facebook friends.
Well, to save time and get a solid starting foundation of followers, Pinterest allows you to search for existing accounts.
My friends, I would like to introduce you to Rich Pins. Trust me, they have earned their name.You’ll see the big brands like Target and Wal-Mart taking advantage of Rich Pins,and, you should, too!
I’m not guaranteeing that you will be rolling in a pile of Benjamins with just a couple of Rich Pins, but there is a reason they are called “Rich Pins.” They are full of valuable, traffic-generating information; and, right now, they are the best direct strategy for growing your sales in the Pinterest sphere.
Rich Pins come in 3 different flavors: recipe, article, and product, all fully loaded with their own set of valuable features that will boost your engagement and direct traffic to your site.
When you apply for Rich Pins, you’ll get real-time information automatically updated on your pins and more ways to direct people to your site because your site will be linked to your Rich Pins. No hassle, no fuss. Just leads.
This example, from Urban Outfitters, shows the features of a “product” pin at work. You’ve got an official link to the store’s site, as well as updated live price and stock availability information.
“Article” pins are also valuable in that they can promote your blog posts and direct Pinterest users to your blog. Article pins come with a larger title with your brand’s logo, a description, and a call-to-action at the bottom with a direct link to your original site.
For any of your Rich Pins to have even the potential to direct traffic to your site, you need to get them validated on the Pinterest site itself. (If you aren’t the most tech-savvy, you’ll probably want some help from your web developer…it involves meta tags.)Here’s how to do it:
Once your Rich Pins are approved by Pinterest, they will be out there for the entire Pinterest world to see, to repin, and to be directed to your site.
I’m not telling you that you should think about using Rich Pins because it would help your business. I’m telling you that you NEED Rich Pins if you want to keep up in the crazy social media marketing world.
The Fortune 500 companies are all using Rich Pins. Follow the big boys, and you’ll have the potential for some serious growth.
The rule for all social media is to mix up your content. You will lose the interest of your followers and lose your chances of gaining any new ones if your content is static and not diverse enough.
Please, whatever you do, don’t just post product photos. Do you remember that study done by The University of Minnesota? Well, the diversity of pins was the 8th most important factor when users were deciding whether to follow an account. Throw in some other boards that give your followers added value to avoid coming off as overly salesy.
The official Benefit Cosmetics Pinterest does a great job of mixing up their content without stepping outside their niche. They have boards dedicated to their latest and hottest products, like “POREfessional Fam” and “Hoola Fam,” but also have a board just for “Behind-the-scenes at Benefit.”
All of these boards relate to their cosmetic products; but, by giving “A PINK me-up for you!,” they aren’t just saying “buy our makeup,” but “see how our makeup can help you.”
Not all of your pins are going to make sense as Rich Pins. (Product photos, events, and articles benefit from the added information provided with Rich Pins, but not all of your content will.)
It’s all about context.
When you are pinning images to your “brand inspiration” board, you don’t need Rich Pins. Relevant quotes to your business definitely wouldn’t call for a Rich Pin.
There is one piece of information that comes with Rich Pins that your other “simpler” pins need, too: a direct link to your site.
Even your inspirational pins need a link to your site because if one quote you posted last Tuesday changed one of your followers’ lives, they likely will want to check out your brand. If you have a link to take them to your site, they don’t have to go searching for information, and you increase the chances of them finding your site.
Simply include the link in your pin description, and you’re good to go.
Over time, you’ll be able to see which boards are more popular and get more engagement. Put your best foot forward and move these boards to the top of your page so when users come to your page, they will see your best material.
Another way to keep your content fresh is to piggyback off of holidays, seasons, and events. Like the Benefit Cosmetics’ss “Holiday Glam: LEAF x Benefit,” the more specific boards add more relevancy and catch attention because they make those products even more specific and create a sense of urgency. Take advantage of that!
Grab all those article Rich Pins you have, and organize them into their very own board! You’ll want to put this board at the top of your page so your followers will see it first thing. This will help draw traffic to your site and make it easier for users to find your content since it’s all in one easy-to-find-board. They will thank you.
One of the newest features on Pinterest for Business is the super helpful Pinterest Analytics. This feature is only for business accounts and allows you to see:
Why are these statistics important to you?
Because they will help your account and your reach grow.
The information gained from your Pinterest Analytics shows you which strategies work and which ones don’t. Knowing this, you will be able to build your future Pinterest strategy based on hard facts. The strategies that work are proven because you proved them.
To get access to your Pinterest Analytics, you’re going to need to verify your website first.
There is another reason verifying your account is a good idea. It will help you gain authority and build trust. When Pinterest users see that little globe icon with a checkmark next to your website, they know you’re legit.
You can verify your website in the settings section by adding a meta tag. This will give you a verification badge, and you’ll be official. If you choose not to verify your site, you can still include a link to your site on your page, but you won’t be able to use Pinterest Analytics.
Don’t miss out on the crucial information Pinterest Analytics will give you. Verify your account!
I just threw a lot of information at you, I know. Don’t feel overwhelmed. The aspects of this guide are all totally necessary and can be broken down easily.
Just to quickly recap…
Your Pinterest for Business account comes with a ton of marketing power that’s completely different from a personal account. To tap into that power, you need to:
If you follow the strategies here and learn from the engagement you get, your Pinterest for Business account will continue to develop for the better, attract more of your target audience, and direct people to your site.
Happy Pinning!
A business account on Pinterest is an account that gives users special access to features like analytics, pin scheduling, and business resources.
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Social media marketing is crucial to building brand awareness and steady relationships with customers. Pinterest is one channel that can help you do the same thing for your business. As a visual platform, it stands out because it acts like a visual search engine tailored to user interests. With the right strategy, Pinterest can improve your SEO, your customer outreach and help your business gain new fans.
How will you use a Pinterest business account to amplify your marketing?
A Virginia school board is suing two mothers, arguing that documents “inadvertently and mistakenly” released through a Freedom of Information Act request and shared online included confidential information.
Private Blog Networks (PBNs) claim to work because they generate backlinks – and that much is true.
What about their other claims, though?
We know backlinks work to improve SEO and therefore visibility in the SERPs, but do PBNs work?
And if so, do they work well?
How do they even work?
Well, let’s answer those questions.
Luckily, private blog networks are actually quite simple to understand.
At some point in the era of SEO, someone figured out how to build a massive amount of backlinks from high-domain authority websites without much effort.
They did it by purchasing expired domain names that had already established domain authority.
Then, after collecting quite a large portion of these domains, they posted basic content to each website and included a backlink to their primary website in all of the content.
And voilá! They immediately generated loads of backlinks from high-domain authority websites.
At that moment, private blog networks were born.
Think of PBNs like a database of websites that, when you pay, all give your website backlinks.
It ends up looking something like this.
And with all of those backlinks your website’s domain authority, SEO, and rankings all benefit.
It sounds great, right?
Why wouldn’t you want to pay a little bit of money to increase your rankings and generate passive traffic to your website?
That’s the dream of most SEO experts, after all.
Well, not so fast.
To help you determine whether you should leverage PBNs, we’re going to first talk about the benefits that they have to offer. Then, we’ll discuss why they are a bit risky.
With that knowledge, you’ll be better prepared to make an informed decision for yourself.
While you might have heard that PBNs are scams that won’t help your SEO, that claim is only partly true.
PBNs offer legitimate benefits.
But before I get much further, let me mention a quick disclaimer:
I’ve never used a PBN for my own website and I don’t recommend using them for your website either.
I’ll explain why a little bit later, but I wanted to get that out in the open, so you know where I stand.
For now, though, let’s discuss why PBNs entice many marketers.
As I already mentioned, backlinks fuel the success of private blog networks.
And what exactly is a backlink?
A backlink is a hyperlink that leads from an external website to your own website. And these little beauties massively help your SEO.
Backlinks communicate to search engines that the linking website trusts your website enough to associate itself with your domain.
That means that the search engines will trust your website as well.
It’s kind of the same thing as playing with the cool kids on the playground.
When you’re hanging with the cool kids, that makes you cool.
Similarly, to figure out which websites are worth trusting, search engines look at which websites are linking to each other.
For that reason, link building is the top factor contributing to the rankings of a website.
PBNs can be so effective at building these backlinks that one company experienced this difference in its rankings after working with a private blog network.
So, can PBNs increase your SEO?
Yes, of course, they can.
That’s why so many marketers use them at some point. It’s why they have stuck around for so long, and it’s the reason that certain SEO firms make loads of money.
But what’s the dark side?
After all, everything that goes up must come down. Everything that sounds too good to be true is too good to be true.
Here are the cons you need to be aware of.
PBNs sound great.
That is until you find out about the risks involved with using them.
Yes, they can increase your SEO and help generate passive traffic and leads to your website.
However, that entire marketing strategy can quickly become a disaster if Google catches you.
So, in case you’re wondering, yes: Google hates PBNs and intentionally tries to penalize people who use them.
However, I understand the appeal.
I get it. SEO takes a long time to start impacting your blog rankings.
The quick fix that PBNs offer is just too enticing for some marketers. You get fast rankings, brand awareness, and, hopefully, revenue.
At least, that’s what the PBNs promise.
But if all of that benefit can fade in a single moment of vulnerability, is it really worth it?
PBNs aren’t technically a blackhat SEO strategy.
But they aren’t white hat either.
They’re a hack. They amount to a get-rich-quick scheme. And as with most similar tactics, they involve some serious risks.
If Google finds out, then they will penalize your website, and you’ll struggle to gain any significant ground in SEO.
But how? How does Google penalize websites that use PBNs to boost their SEO?
How would they know what you’re doing?
Well, if all of the websites that you’ve received backlinks from are websites with very little activity, few updates, and almost no internal linking, then Google gets suspicious.
Unfortunately, PBN websites usually have all of those specific qualities.
That makes it easy for most search engines to spot them.
In the end, if you decide to use PBNs, know that you run the risk of hurting your website’s SEO.
Legitimate pros exist, but only under a cloud of potential penalization by search engines.
You might generate some quick domain authority with PBNs. While traditional strategies take longer, they aren’t nearly as risky.
But if you want to rise through the rankings the right way, then here are five risk-proof strategies you can use instead.
Guest blogging gives you an opportunity to provide value for someone else’s website while also getting a backlink.
If you do it right, this strategy will be a win for the website you write for and a win for your own website as well.
For that reason, SEO agencies and experts alike use guest blogging as one of their link-building strategies.
You can do the same thing.
Just find blogs within your industry and pitch the editors an article over email. If they accept your pitch, you can run off to write and include a backlink to your own website.
But before you do, make sure that you ask the editor what their policy is regarding backlinks.
They might not want you to include a backlink to your website within the article itself, but they’ll let you put it in your bio.
Either way, you win a backlink, and they win a valuable piece of content for their audience.
Now, you might be nervous that editors won’t respond to your emails.
But we’ve created this handy guide for guest blogging proposals to help you get started.
Remember: don’t quit early just because you don’t get a response.
Pitch enough places with high-quality ideas, and you’re sure to receive a reply.
Just give it some time.
And keep this in mind as well. The ideal word count for ranking articles sits right around 2,400 words.
Ultimately, follow the guidelines of the blog you’re writing for. But when it doubt, try to write an article that will rank well on Google.
Then, the website will be more likely to accept your pitch, outline, and final draft.
While guest blogging is one of the most popular strategies for generating backlinks, you might not have the time.
If you don’t, then writing testimonials for other websites might be a more appealing approach.
Even if you do write a guest blog post, writing testimonials with a backlink to your website is a strategy worth your time.
It’s simple and powerful.
All you have to do is provide a testimonial for websites that you partner with.
Then, most of the websites will include a friendly backlink to your URL.
Just make sure that your testimonial provides genuine value. Write something like this, for instance.
Or give them something like this.
And here’s one more example.
Always include these two specific things in your testimonial.
With that start, you’ll be off and writing testimonials for your partners in no time, generating backlinks with every reference.
If you don’t create content worth sharing, then you can probably guess what will happen: No one will share it.
Your goal when you write that blog post or film that video or design that infographic is to generate attention for your brand.
You want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and use the content to generate leads.
You even want to generate social backlinks to your website.
But, of course, you can’t do that if you create bad content.
If you’re going to create the content anyway, then take the time to make it great. Make it share-worthy.
But how do you do that?
Well, you need to make people who share your content look good.
People share things on social media and through email because they want to look good to their friends.
That might sound egotistical, but it’s the human condition.
Ask yourself: What reason do people have to share this with their friends? Will it make them seem funny, smart, kind, cool, or rich?
To get shares, you need to target at least one of those motivations.
After all, those are among the top reasons why people share content in the first place.
And when it comes to which type of content to produce, infographics and lists win.
Another strategy that works is spying on your competitors to understand what’s performing best on social media. Here’s an easy way to do so:
Step #1: Visit Ubersuggest, Type Your Keyword and Click “Search”
Step #2: Click “Content Ideas” in the Left Sidebar
Step #3: Analyze the Results
What you end up with is a long list of top-performing content related to your keyword.
For example, the top listing, “Marketing Legend Seth Godin on the Future of Branded Content,” has been shared 16,805 times on Facebook and nearly 100 times on Pinterest. That gives you a pretty good idea that the content is share-worthy. Now, you can craft your content in a similar manner, with the goal of achieving the same results.
However you do it, take the time to create amazing, share-worthy content. You’ll generate far more social backlinks, drive more traffic, and build better brand awareness.
You’re creating the content, so do the best that you can with it.
Social signals play a massive part in SEO.
Websites that stay active on their social media accounts, update their information, and generate more content shares tend to rank better than websites that don’t.
In fact, just on Facebook, that correlation is apparent.
But why is that the case?
Why does Google rank websites that have an active and updated social media presence better than those that don’t?
The short answer is that search engines want to know your website is active and relevant.
If you’re generating lots of shares and social signals, then that tells Google to rank you better.
This means that just staying active on your social media accounts can help your SEO. It really is that simple.
And the more engagement you get on your social media pages, the better.
A 2016 experiment tried to discover the impact that social media can have on your website’s SEO.
In the study, one website with an increase in social shares experienced a 14.64% increase in rankings, and another website received a 6.9% SEO boost.
But if that’s not enough motivation for you to stay active on your social media accounts, just consider the additional traffic you’ll drive to your website with each post.
You won’t only win social backlinks. You’ll also generate traffic, leads, and even conversions.
You’ve stuck with me this far.
But now you’re wondering, “How does building a loyal audience help your SEO?”
And that’s a great question.
Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as direct as you might like.
But it does exist.
Just consider, for example, that active blogs draw 6.9 times more organic search traffic.
This means that just posting on your website’s blog regularly will benefit your SEO.
After all, the more people who search for your website and the more popular you become, the higher your domain authority will surge.
In other words, with a loyal audience comes a better ranking.
And, in turn, that’s good for growing your audience.
You see, it’s kind of like a self-sustaining, perpetual cycle.
With a larger audience comes better SEO, and with better SEO comes a larger audience. And with a larger audience comes better SEO, and on it goes. You get the point.
Plus, the bigger your audience, the more shares you’ll generate on social media, further helping your link-building strategy.
Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you won’t build your audience overnight.
Building a loyal group of followers is a process of posting consistent content over a long period of time.
You’ll cross times of discouragement and tribulation.
Sometimes, you’ll want to give up.
When you do, though, just keep in mind that acquiring new customers is five to seven times more expensive than retaining old ones.
In other words, all of that time and energy you dedicate to pleasing your existing audience will pay off when you’re trying to market to them.
Plus, you’ll generate more attention and better SEO from a loyal customer base than you will from new and fleeting customers.
Yes, you can be penalized for doing this.
Google considers them scammy.
Look for sites with high authority and links that you can buy – but this strategy is not recommended.
They aren’t considered black hat, but they are penalized by Google.
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So, should you use private blog networks?
As I explained, they can help your SEO, and they can do it fast. But the entire time you use them, you run the unfortunate risk of destroying your website’s ranking potential in one fell swoop.
Is the risk worth it?
I hope that you’ll answer that question with a “no.”
SEO is good. But SEO spoiled by spammy tactics is not.
The better option is to build your backlinks over time by guest blogging, writing testimonials, creating share-worthy content, leveraging your social platforms, and building a loyal audience.
Even though it might feel like it takes a long time to rise through the rankings using those strategies, that’s time well spent.
You’ll have peace of mind knowing that no one can penalize you for shady methods.
Private blog networks aren’t black hat. But they certainly aren’t white hat, either.
They are gray hat. And that’s a hat you shouldn’t be willing to wear.
Do you think private blog networks are a penalty waiting to happen or a great SEO hack?