Building your own PBN from scratch runs $500–$5,000+ depending on how many domains you acquire and their quality. Expired domains with decent backlink profiles cost $50–$500 each at auction, sometimes more for aged domains with clean histories. You'll need separate hosting for each domain to avoid footprints—figure $3–$10/month per site using different providers or a specialized PBN host charging $15–$25/month for better isolation. Then factor in content: $20–$100 per article if outsourced, plus basic WordPress themes and minimal plugins. Renting placements on someone else's PBN is simpler but ongoing. Expect $50–$150 per post on lower-tier networks, $150–$300+ for networks claiming higher domain authority or cleaner link profiles. Some providers charge monthly retainers ($500–$2,000) for a set number of links. You're paying for convenience but have zero control over the network's longevity or practices. The real cost is risk. Google explicitly penalizes PBNs when detected, and Canadian businesses relying on local search or CRA-regulated industries face reputational damage if a manual action tanks their rankings. De-indexation can happen suddenly—one algorithmic update or a competitor's spam report can wipe out your investment overnight. Hosting footprints, duplicate content across the network, or obvious commercial anchor text patterns all increase detection risk. At Ottawa SEO, we don't build or recommend PBNs for clients. The cost-benefit doesn't hold when you compare it to earning editorial links through digital PR, journalist outreach, or creating link-worthy resources. A single well-placed link from a CBC, Globe and Mail, or niche industry publication often outperforms a dozen PBN links and carries zero penalty risk. If you're spending $2,000 on a PBN, that same budget funds outreach campaigns, infographics, or original research that attract natural links indefinitely. PBNs might show short-term ranking lifts, but they're a depreciating asset in an environment where Google's link spam detection improves quarterly.