Recently Google did a major PageRank update where a lot of
sites were downgraded. Many experts believe this PageRank
update was Google's response to link selling - sites which
sell links lost points in their PageRank.
Google measures all web pages on a scale of importance from
0 to 10, which is shown in a small green pixel bar on
browsers carrying the Google Toolbar. PageRank is
"supposedly" measured by the number of backlinks to your
site.
Online democracy in action, a link is a vote for your site.
The more votes you have the higher your site is ranked. At
least that's how it was supposed to work until a lot of
high PR sites started selling links and put a monkey wrench
into the whole system.
The latest update may be a smart move on Google's part to
curtail this practice; who's going to buy a link from a PR2
or even a PR4 site? Besides this could be more than a
warning that your site will go down even further if you
continue to sell links.
Now this is more of a cosmetic change in PageRank than a
real change in your true rankings in Google. Just because
your PR goes down doesn't mean your keyword rankings or
traffic from Google also goes down.
I saw some of my sites go up, some stayed the same, but my
major site took a big hit - falling from PR6 to PR4. This
was more of a devastating blow than I expected mainly for
psychological reasons than actual consequences. After years
of building the best content you can muster and constantly
getting quality one-way links, to see that PageRank drop
was very disappointing and hits to the core of your online
work.
I have been around for a while so I have experienced many
Google Updates - anyone remember the Florida Update? I also
keep my ears peeled to discussions of the latest updates in
Webmasterworld and Stompernet, and I even read Matt Cutts
when I get real nervous... so I knew not to panic just
because of the sudden drop in PageRank.
I also knew what most of the SEO experts were saying was
true because my major keywords stayed the same and my
Google traffic actually went up. But that's little comfort
when you're talking about Google; you immediately go into
overdrive and try to figure out where you went wrong. What
caused the drop - because whether PageRank is meaningless
or not, you're still going in the wrong direction.
I saw many of my competitors drop too, but many stayed the
same and even a few increased in PageRank. What are they
doing right; what am I doing wrong? I don't sell links but
does Google think I am selling links was my main concern? I
even moved one external link from my main page to another
part of my site, just in case Google is mistaking that as a
paid link.
Welcome to webmaster's paranoid hell!
For SEO reasons I have very few external links on my main
page. Can't see why Google downgraded my main site. I have
been at PR6 for years.
Herein lies my main beef, with Google you never really know
where you stand; you are constantly walking on eggshells.
No matter how good your content or your site is - one
misstep and you could be in the doghouse. All your hard
work can be taken away in a heartbeat.
It wouldn't matter so much if it was one of the other two
major search engines downgrading your site but this is
Google.
Free organic traffic from Google is vital to any online
site or business. I would take traffic from Google over any
other source of traffic on the web, except for traffic
coming from my articles on other sites, and even that
traffic probably originated from a search in Google.
Google and Google PageRank have always been important to me
- that's one of the reasons a sudden large drop causes so
much concern. There's another important reason Google
PageRank is important to me.
Most SEO experts mistakenly believe PageRank is meaningless
because Google is not giving us the true ranking of any
site or revealing all the backlinks, which is supposedly
one of the major factors in how Google ranks sites. While
this fact is obviously true, it has caused many to jump to
another conclusion.
Because Google is not giving us the real ranking, many
webmasters have dismissed PageRank as a vital element in
their sites. Don't make the same mistake.
Google PageRank is extremely important if you're doing
business on the web. The higher PR you have, the better.
But it has nothing to do with keyword rankings or first
page SERPs.
What many SEO experts fail to realize (not really their
business) is the whole "perceived" value of PageRank.
Google, hate it or love it, has become the most respected
company on the web in the eyes of the majority of the web's
users. It carries enormous weight and prestige. The
"perceived" value of a high PR7 or PR8 is extremely
valuable.
We are not talking about link selling; we are talking about
how a perspective business partner or customer will treat
your site or business.
Say you have two identical sites you want to do business
with online and you discover one is a Google PR2 site and
the other is a Google PR8 site - which one would you choose
to do business with? Honestly?
From first-hand experience, I know any online company or
marketer will get more business offers and be offered more
partnerships/joint ventures if you have a high Google PR
site than a low one. It will make a difference to your
bottom line.
PageRank is important. PageRank has meaning. Even if it has
little bearing on your SERPs rankings or Google traffic,
PageRank can greatly influence the success of your online
site or venture. Don't ignore or dismiss PageRank as a
meaningless relic that didn't quite work out as Google had
planned for it in the first place.
High PageRank will always be valuable.
The day Google gives its own site a PageRank of PR1 or PR2
instead of the current PR10 - that's the day you can
dismiss PageRank as truly meaningless.
----------------------------------------------------
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous
websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For
the latest web marketing tools try:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com
For the latest Internet Marketing Strategies Go here:
http://www.marketingtoolguide.com
2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed
if this resource box stays attached.
No comments:
Post a Comment