The Google PageRank Toolbar has again been updated. Do I care how my blog and websites ranked? Nope! I gave up worrying about Pagerank a long time ago. It was right around the time Google took its stand on paid links.
It’s hard to believe that I use to be a person that made such a fuss about Pagerank.
High Google PageRank does not guarantee good search engine placement. Pagerank is not used by Google to determine your rankings for keywords.
Therefore, PR should not be the focus of your optimization efforts.
Your best course of action is to focus on your keywords and writing for your audience and less on PR.
This blog ranks well in SERP’s (search engine result pages) for several keywords. My main referrer of traffic is Google.
It may be an old cliche saying, but content is king.
What about advertising?
Well, from an advertising stand point, advertiser no longer look at just Pagerank. Advertisers in the past have approached me with an interest in advertising on one of my sites not for it’s ranking, but for the traffic the website generates.
What’s Google take on Pagerank? Quoting from the Google FAQ page:
“Don’t worry. In fact, don’t bother thinking about it.”
“Pagerank is just one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked.”
So if you’re one of those bloggers who got bent all out of shape because your PR declined, don’t worry. In fact, don’t bother thinking about it.
Rose DesRochersRose wears many hats. She's a wife, mother, respite worker, proud shih-tzu owner, blogger, published poet, freelance writer, as well as the owner and administrator of Today's Writing Community and Blogger Talk Blog Community. Feel free to contact her with any questions you may have.Rose DesRochers has 1224 post(s) at Rose DesRochers – World Outside My Window
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25 responses so far ↓
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 1:05 am
How do I find out my page rank? Never even looked.
Gordie´s last blog ..Look, Mom! My Blog’s Sprouting Pubes!
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Gordie, you can use http://www.selfseo.com/check_google_pagerank.php
We share the same PR.
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 2:09 am
I hadn’t seen the “google take on page rank” before.
Interesting. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve never paid attention to it other than an interesting curiosity.
Mike Goad´s last blog ..The weather is….
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 4:01 am
I stop bothering about page rank long ago. Now my only goal is to keep a daily update on both my blogs, and to enjoy blogging.
scheng1´s last blog ..How to generate traffic to website without spending money
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 6:39 am
My GOODNESS, you’ve been proficient lately. FIVE posts since I last checked your blog, and I come by every couple of days, at least.
(Actually, I USUALLY come by when your info has changed on my page, but I’ve been busy.)
Anyway, to the point, I don’t care anymore either. There are some things I know I could do to better promote my blog, but I have a wife and a daughter and church and work and, generally, a life. I get the writing to fit, generally, but the rest is catch as catch can.
Roger Green´s last blog ..Battle Cry: Save the Y!
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 8:02 am
Thanks heaps Rose, you’ve put my mind at ease.
Wonder if you can give us your understanding about the relevance of SEO, and what kind of role it may play in designing a new blog, or nay ?
pcd2k´s last blog ..Anima Machines: Biomorphic Robotic Kinetica
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Sure, I could write a post on that. I don’t consider myself to be an SEO expert, but I can give my opinion based on my knowledge.
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 10:25 am
Let me guess.. your PR fell from 4 to 3?
iWoodpecker´s last blog ..Getting Website Traffic in 2010
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
iWoodpecker, you wouldn’t be insinuating that I made this post, because I had a decline in PR, because actually one of my sites went from a 3 to a 4. This blog also increased from a 2 to 3. This blog is a sub domain of my main domain, therefore that plays a big factor in PR. Thanks for coming out!
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 1:28 pm
“High Google PageRank does not guarantee good search engine placement. ”
All I can say is…. THANK YOU!
End of subject. “-)
Chuck´s last blog ..Podcast: Social Networking – A Means To A Greater End
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
My pleasure Chuck!
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Thanks for the links Rose.
If you really take a look at what Google is saying it doesn’t make any sense “can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked”
Did they just say “ranked”?
It’s very clear to me that Google is trying to make people run around in circles. That’s why they have so many tools to research keywords
Wonder Wheel
Google Insights
Adwords Keyword tool
Seems like the only “relevant” people doing these searches are bloggers and site owners looking for keywords to use on their sites. I guess we all have to play the Google game if we want to “rank” but just for the record, I don’t like it.
Ileane @Blogging´s last blog ..Google Page Rank on a WordPress.com Blog
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 3:11 pm
@Ileane
All the tools are extremely useful. However, not all the tools need to be used, it depends on what you are doing. If you are an affiliate marketer, you need detail information.
If you are involved in a highly competitive market, you need all the info you can get. For the average blogger, the tools that I show in the videos work well enough. Different strokes for different folks. “-)
Chuck´s last blog ..Podcast: Social Networking – A Means To A Greater End
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@Rose DesRochers:
Thanks Rose for the quotes from Google. I totally agree that page rank is not important.
I have a question, do you know if there is any where on the Webmaster Tools that Google provides more insight into the 199 other metrics it considers (besides the obvious) for rank. I’ve heard that they don’t make the information public, is that true?
Ileane @Blogging´s last blog ..Google Page Rank on a WordPress.com Blog
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Quoting from Google they say “If you’re looking for metrics, we’d encourage you to check out Analytics, think about conversion rates, ROI (return on investment), relevancy.”
Google analytics does reveal a wealth of information about your blog.
I haven’t found anywhere in Webmaster tools that they list the metrics it considers.
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Ah! I just noticed that Google gave all my pages rank. Can I add them all together and call it a page rank of 6? Lol
Chuck´s last blog ..Podcast: Social Networking – A Means To A Greater End
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
If that’s the case Chuck then I have a ten.
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Pagerank is pagerank Rose. It’s not Google-Value or Google-Traffic. It’s just simply Google-Pagerank.
I say it’s like a cosmetic / make up for young girls. You can say to them that make up only affects outer beauty, which is shallow, and not inner beauty and inner quality. They’ll still use it anyway, they like it.
Would it make us better to rob those girls out of their joy? Doubt it. But if a girl is depressed because of her poor make up, then it’s the time we need to remind her that it doesn’t really matter.
Isaac | GoBlogger´s last blog ..How to Increase Pagerank
Wrote: Jan 3, 2010 at 11:55 pm
@Rose DesRochers:
Thanks, Rose. I’m PR3 whatever that means. Lol!
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 12:11 am
PR is based on the number of links Google has found pointing to a certain web page. If I were to link to your blog, Google would count that as a vote of support. Google assigns a numeric weighting from 0-10 for each webpage on the net. 0 means no or few incoming links and 10 means the highest number of incoming links. Understand?
Wrote: Jan 4, 2010 at 11:44 am
Lots of posts on PageRank at the top of BlogEngage today. I’m with you. Probably because I got knocked down from a PR4 to a PR0 2 years ago over using PayPerPost. I took all of their links off my blog and figured out I could resubmit for consideration, did that 2 weeks ago. I wouldn’t stress about it, but half the things I would like to do with my blog won’t even consider me because of my PR. Drives me crazy. Great post!
Heather´s last blog ..It’s Quiet Here
Wrote: Jan 4, 2010 at 12:56 pm
It’s nice to say you have a good PR but you are totally right, it should never be the main focus of your website’s development.
It was easy to spot that PR was going to be devalued by Google way back when people started advertising links for sale ‘on my Page Rank 6′ website.
Great post Rose,
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..Happy New Year And Welcome To 2010
Wrote: Jan 4, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Well I won’t say that it is not important. But certainly not the be all and end all of a site.
The main purpose of PageRank is authority. It is a voting system. I like your site, I link to it. It is a vote of confidence.
But because we have crooks amongst us, they use all sorts of tactics to manipulate PR. But Google is getting wise to it.
Saying that PR is of no use is also like say that the Technorati ranking of blogs is of no use. It has it’s uses in letting us know the popularity of a site or blog.
Another immediate affect that PR can have is actually in SERP’s. But because no one knows how Google calculates PR or how it ranks SERP many times its just a guess. But here’s a logical take on the matter.
Say a users searches for “Google Pagerank- Little Value” and there are 5 posts that are very similar. Similar in keyword phrases, similar in subject matter. How would Google then Identify which post is better and which one to list higher than the other. Well it relys on PR, the vote of the internet public to decide which is better. Therefore the higher PR post will have a higher SERP Ranking
PR can also show towards Authority. The higher the PR the greater the possibility that you have mature, authoritative site. Not always seeing that PR can be manipulated in some ways. But as I said, Google is on top of that.
A site that is in business only a few months is hardly going to have a high PR. Unless there are loads of back links from authoritative sites.
Having said all that, the best approach as you say is not to fret about it. Let the system take care of itself. Do what comes natural. Link naturally, get natural organic inbound links. Write relevant quality traffic, and PR will take care of itself.
One more thing, PR is just one small part of a overall ranking system. Then it is just a guide.
Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Web Developers – January 11, 2010
Rose DesRochers Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Let it be first said……”Pr has nothing to do with SERP.”
Robert, you bring up some good points and not for the sake or argument though it may turn into a debate- you are not completely right on “Therefore the higher PR post will have a higher SERP Ranking.” I rank for certain keywords above those with a higher PR.
Wrote: Jan 5, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Content IS king but don’t you think you will rank better if your PR is high and your content is strong?