Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), more commonly abbreviated as VPN, can improve your SEO strategy by securing your data and giving you access to search engine results pages. Organic search results (SERPs) from around the world.
Suppose you are wondering how the VPN can impact your natural referencing. In that case, we explain everything in this article, with the bonus of a top 3 of the best VPNs on the market (advantages and disadvantages).
The VPN for SEO: Protection for your backlinking strategy
Benchmarking is an inseparable practice of any SEO strategy. What could be more normal than to go around competing websites to draw inspiration from their On Page optimizations, their keyword and internal linking strategies, the size of their texts, etc.?
As practical as it is, “naked” benchmarking does have a downside: your competitors may notice your IP address if you visit their website too often and then follow up on your trail. In this case, they can find your website, spy on you, and take inspiration from what you are doing, which can be problematic.
But your competitors are not the only points of vigilance. Google can also trace your trace and detect your digital fingerprint or “Footprint.” Result: “Prohibited” activities, such as bulk buying of backlinks and “PBN” private site network strategies, can be detected very quickly and expose you to penalties, sending your site (or your client’s site) into the depths of the SERPs. You know what they say: there is no better hiding place for a corpse than the 2nd page of Google!
With a VPN with strong encryption, you can work on your SEO strategy with sufficient protection not to expose yourself to penalties.
The VPN for a good “international” SEO
Have you considered positioning your site on Google Italy, USA, Australia, or India? So yes, not all sites are affected. But if you manage an e-commerce site that aims to export everywhere, it may be interesting to work on your SEO for the countries from which your targets come. Seeing your sales page as if you were “native” of the target country is a significant asset. The VPN allows you to experiment and track the positioning of your page as it would appear on a user’s SERPs abroad.
VPN avoids reCAPTCHAs from Google query
While not a particularly serious issue from an SEO perspective, it can get annoying if you often use Google search queries to find new keywords or consistently check “the quality” of the keywords used.
Indeed, if you perform too many searches simultaneously, you risk the famous message “unusual traffic coming from your computer network.” When this happens, you will be redirected to a reCAPTCHA that you need to solve…with its share of frustration.
Luckily, since a VPN lets you change your IP address at will, you won’t have to deal with reCAPTCHAs anymore. Just switch from one VPN server to another to remedy this setback.
VPN for SEO: What are the best VPNs?
In this section, we present a comparison between three VPN solutions that will allow you to take advantage of the abovementioned advantages.
#1 NorthVPN
If, in addition to wanting to improve your SEO, you are very concerned about your security, Nord VPN is the VPN for you!
First, the company is headquartered in Panama, an offshore area known for its privacy-friendly legislation (none of your information can be disclosed)…even if the Panama Papers precedent blemishes that reputation somewhat! Second, the solution offers its subscribers unbreakable “AES 256” encryption, which allows them to connect securely.
By registering, you can choose between a server network that covers 60 countries and thousands of shared IP addresses from 5,800 servers. You can even get a dedicated IP address to secure your banking data access.
But the feature that makes us a fan of Nord VPN remains… it’s a double VPN! Indeed, once you activate it, your traffic goes through a first VPN server, then through a second one before reaching your online destination. This results in double data encryption, privacy and security of your IP address, and therefore greater security.
The only drawback of Nord VPN remains, in our opinion, at the level of purchases on iTunes and Apple’s App Store. In the event of errors, refunds must be requested directly from iTunes/App Store customer support. Also, payments made by prepaid cards or gift cards cannot be refunded.
#2 PureVPN
PureVPN has 2,000 servers and over 300,000 IP addresses in over 140 countries! This is great for your SEO as you won’t have any issues checking local keyword rankings or building quality backlinks.
Security-wise, PureVPN may not be on the same level of performance as Nord VPN. However, it offers 256-bit A-key encryption and gives you a choice of OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, and SSTP protocols. Always to protect you, the service provides additional security features such as Kill Switch, port forwarding, ad blocking, etc. Subscription plans vary from 1 month to two years, and you have 31 days to cancel your subscription and get a refund (30 days for Nord VPN).
Nevertheless, despite this wide range of options, PureVPN subscribers deplore the download speed, which they sometimes find restricted… even very restricted! The quality of customer service is also one of the elements to be improved, according to many users. So if you’re not a bit technically resourceful, go your way.
#3 ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is registered in the Virgin Islands. So again, you won’t have to worry about protecting your data. Along with this near-military-grade security, ExpressVPN boasts blazing connection speeds even when trying to get through the most “remote” servers on the planet. There are 3,000 servers in 94 countries to choose from, and for all your questions, there is 24/7 customer support dedicated to you.
All these advantages have a price! And we say that ExpressVPN is far from the cheapest VPN solution. This is the only reason it is in the third position on our list.
If you still want to take advantage of it, we advise you to opt for an annual formula that will save you 35%. Note that all pricing plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.