We’ve compiled a ranking of the best VPN services, personally testing each of them. Note that we excluded quite a few low-quality VPNs that show overly intrusive full-screen ads on mobile devices, have poor speed performance, or receive overwhelmingly negative reviews.
A VPN allows you to connect to the internet through a secure tunnel, meaning your online activity is hidden from other users, and most importantly, it opens access to websites that are inaccessible. All paid VPNs also provide a certain level of data protection and promise confidentiality, though it cannot be considered 100% guaranteed.
What is a VPN and How Does This Technology Work
VPN (English: Virtual Private Network) is an encrypted connection between two networks or between a single user and a network. The principle of this technology is based on redirecting the user’s traffic through a secure server. A VPN’s server network consists of thousands of servers located in different countries around the world.
Private networks are used to protect user web traffic from third-party interference.
Advantages of VPN:
- Maintaining anonymity
- Free access to the internet from various points around the world
- Secure connection to public Wi-Fi networks
- Bypassing content and geographical restrictions on websites
- Protecting messages, calls, and other online activities
A VPN hides your IP address by displaying a false one to other providers. In other words, this technology allows you to bypass internet censorship while maintaining your privacy—like an invisibility cloak. However, it’s not all that simple: the ability to be “invisible” does not mean you leave no trace.
Who Uses VPN and for What Purposes
Originally, VPN technologies were designed so that company employees working from home could connect to corporate local networks. This became especially relevant with the rise in popularity of remote work.
While some companies still use VPNs to work with their corporate servers, most users connect to virtual private networks to hide their internet activity from outsiders and bypass blocks.
Let’s consider everyday situations where a VPN can come in handy:
- When you’ve entered a café and decided to make a few online purchases. Any unencrypted information you send through a public network (passwords, bank card data, etc.) can end up in the hands of a malicious individual also connected to that network. But keep in mind that if you make financial transactions using a VPN, your bank may block you.
- If you want to save money on purchasing airline tickets or booking hotel rooms. By placing your IP address in another country, you may get a better rate. You should browse websites in Incognito mode and clear your cookies after each visit.By connecting to a VPN server, you can “mask” your location. This makes it harder for your internet provider to track what you do online.
- By connecting to a VPN server, you can “mask” your location. This makes it harder for your internet provider to track what you do online.
Additionally, a VPN is a useful tool for internet marketers and SEO specialists. It helps you get the data you need to do your job and can even grant you certain advantages over competitors.
VPN for SEO Specialists: When and Why It’s Worth Using
- Testing new strategies. One of the most important advantages of a VPN network for SEO professionals is the ability to view organic rankings at the international level. With the increase in geo-restricted content, page trackers, and cookies, it has become more difficult for specialists to see search results exactly the way users do.
- Seeing real SERPs for a specific location. A VPN lets you see search results for a particular location. Rankings for the same keyword can differ depending on the source of the search. For example, if you change your IP address to one in a different country, the search engine will display results according to that location and will redirect you to the localized version of the site. For instance, while in Ukraine, you can view results in Germany.
- Studying the specifics of local promotion in the segment you need. By using a VPN to connect to a server located in a specific country, you can conduct market research as if you were a local resident. By performing local searches, you can learn about the needs of the local audience based on the queries they use. You can also see local competitor ads and learn how they interact with their audience.
- Avoiding inaccuracies in Google Ads Preview. The Google Ads preview tool is important for planning and monitoring pay-per-click campaigns. But it can mix paid results with regular ads, causing confusion. To avoid this, use a VPN. It will allow you to correctly check both organic and paid results.
- Working safely and avoiding cyberattacks. Cyberattacks are one of the issues many companies face. Using unsecured networks anywhere is a risk of “giving away” your personal data to strangers. When you connect through a virtual private network that provides you with a temporary IP address, your data is stored in encrypted form. This means your browsing information is protected from hackers, and sharing important files and folders with clients and colleagues is secure. Sometimes even a small hack can ruin months of work.
- Maintaining confidentiality in a competitive environment. SEO is a competitive market. Competitors are always looking for opportunities to outrun you. This means you should conceal your actions when visiting their sites. Especially if you are adopting their strategy. Your IP could lead them back to your site, which in turn allows them to copy your tactics.
Important note. For internet marketing agencies, the range of server locations and the encryption process are crucial. By choosing a VPN with a large number of locations, you can see SERP rankings in other countries. Having many locations also helps you more effectively target your PPC campaigns in more destinations.
Disadvantages of VPN
Like any technology, VPN has its nuances and vulnerabilities:
- Decreased website loading speeds. The distance between you and the site you want to visit increases because all requests are routed through a VPN server in another country.
- The VPN service you choose has access to your browsing history. Therefore, reliability is a key factor when choosing a service.
- Many free public VPN services log your activity and store that data. For instance, they might sell your digital profile to advertisers. They will also show you their own ads based on your interests.
- Service quality. There are no standardized protocols for VPN networks yet. And since there are no clear metrics for analysis, you have to rely on professional reviews and word of mouth to learn which services you can trust.
- Even a VPN does not guarantee access to all websites. Some sites are able to detect users “hiding” behind a VPN and block them.
- Risk of IP spoofing. Since the VPN service hides your IP and replaces it with its own, you run the risk of IP spoofing. The fact is, an unknown number of the provider’s clients use the VPN service’s IP address. This address is publicly available, simplifying IP spoofing (a type of hacker attack that uses someone else’s IP address to trick a security system). Another aspect: actions by other VPN users who share the same IP address with you can result in blacklisting (adding that address to a block list). In that case, certain websites become unavailable to you.
Important: If strict confidentiality is crucial for you, you should know about ways to hide your real IP address from the VPN service. This is possible if you connect through the Tor browser. You also need to use anonymous payment methods. Of course, you will have to sacrifice connection speed for that.
Looking for a free and good VPN service? Check out our post “9 Free VPN Extensions and Services” and choose the one you like.
Differences Between VPN and Proxy
The purpose of VPN and proxies is similar, but there are differences in how they work. If a VPN is a connection through a virtual network, then a proxy is an intermediate server between your computer and a web resource. The location and IP address are replaced by the data of the proxy server. You get an individual proxy IP address, not the network’s IP, as is the case with a VPN.
Here are some other differences between VPN and proxies:
- Connection. Connecting to a VPN involves using special software, extensions, or apps. You can connect via a proxy in the operating system settings, through a program, or a browser.
- Cross-platform compatibility. Proxies typically do not provide the cross-platform compatibility that VPNs do. This can be a problem if you work remotely and rely on multiple devices. Moreover, many proxy servers do not offer a wide variety of servers, limiting your search options.
- Security. When using a proxy, your connection remains unencrypted and unprotected. A VPN can secure your online connection on top of encrypting your data. Proxy servers provide minimal internet privacy protection.
How VPN Affects Website Visitor Statistics
Users who view a site through a VPN do not significantly affect site analytics. Google Analytics still collects data based on cookies. Users continue using standard browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, or MS Edge). The only thing that changes in the metrics is the location of the server they’re connecting from, due to the VPN’s IP redirect.
Anonymous browsing is more complicated. To achieve anonymity, users must install and use third-party software like TOR, I2P, or Freenet, which creates an extra chain of fully encrypted connections.
This can also be an issue when creating IP filters, as it increases the number of potential IP addresses you need to add to the filter.
Another point: due to encryption and fewer direct data transfer routes, website loading speed decreases. Google also reminds us that site speed is an important ranking factor.
Conclusion
Using a VPN gives you the opportunity to gain virtually unrestricted access to any tool, website, or service, as well as to conduct research. It can boost your productivity and help you achieve better results in implementing an SEO strategy.
- Marketers and SEO specialists use VPNs not only to hide their location and analyze results, but also to test new strategies.
- VPN allows you to check local search results and see how ads displayed to audiences in different regions will look on the site. You can also monitor how geotargeting works in campaigns launched on ad networks.
- If you’re considering choosing a free VPN, make sure to read the privacy policy and terms of service. Some of these free apps provide your data and information to third parties.
- Even if you use a paid VPN or a proxy, the search results you see and those that a resident of another country sees may differ slightly.
- Achieving absolute anonymity on the internet is impossible. You can do everything to protect your privacy, but given how vast and vulnerable the web is, there is still no completely safe way to use it.
- You won’t be able to “catch” users who hide behind altered IP addresses: analytics will only report information that the VPN forwards (geographical location, IP address, etc.).
- If you plan to set up a VPN, it’s recommended to choose a known service with a high security rating, one that doesn’t log your internet activity and puts your privacy first.