Google, PageRank and links to Software

I just woke up and suddenly realised why this site has ZREO PageRank since about 2 weeks ago (it dropped from PR3).

Oh yes, I couldn't just lie in bed - I just felt compelled to remove the offending item, and now that I'm wide awake, I might as well let you all know about this.

Well, when I first got this blog, I changed the template amongst other things. I also added a little panel with an ad. The ad was for a 'SEO Program' that would work with your keywords (generate lists, analyze competitors AdWords, etc) - it was an affiliate link. This was all about a year ago.

Anyway, a while back, about 6 months ago, I noticed that this software's own website had stopped showing Google AdSense. 'Strange...' I thought, '...must have upset Google'. I guess if you looked at the program, then you could find things it did that Google wouldn't have liked. Seeing as the commissions on this product was high, I didn't really worry about it and left the link in.

Then suddenly, about 2 weeks ago BHAM! PageRank ZERO! What on earth? I of course didn't have a clue why that might have happened, and therefore didn't change a thing.

Today I woke up and immediately thought: it is by pointing to a product that upsets Google (remember I said that their AdSense stopped working), that I have put my blog in the Google firing line. Of course you won't get any warnings - you'd better be able to think for yourself about 'things good' and more importantly 'things bad'.

In conclusion, if Google traffic and Google PageRank are important to your website, then you really ought to keep your nose (read 'website') clean - as Google would see 'clean' that is.

Now that I've removed the (what I believe) offending article, I'll hope to get the PageRank back. In a couple of months? Hope so - though sooner would be good.

Best Back Links

You may have already discovered that the more your back link is in context, the better it is for getting visitors and search engine optimization/results. Also, we're talking about Google and Google PageRank right?

So, generally, the following links strategies might be considered as 'beneficial', and listed in the order below:

• Best Back Link?: A link from another website's home page
• Better Back Link: Content Linking - a page on another site dedicated to your product or service with link(s) pointing back to your site
• Medium Back Link: Link on a ‘non-links’ page (i.e. a link at the bottom of a page NOT dedicated to links)
• Medium Back Link: Links Pages - your link amongst others on a page of RELEVANT links
• Worst Back Link?: Automated Linking Strategies - sometimes you don't have control over how/where your link is displayed.

You may adopt the following attitude and spend effort accordingly: The more difficult a back link is to obtain, the more it is likely to be worth.

What ever you decide, good luck with your back linking, because I'll tell you for nothing: it's not easy to get good back links! I'm not telling you anything new right? You should also keep in mind that Google PageRank does not directly relate to where you appear in the organic results.

Just carry out good back linking for real visitors and the search engines will fall into line!

Google PageRank Update April/May 2008

Google has just danced its dance!

Yep, in the last week, I have noticed that some sites have a revised PageRank. I'm not sure what it is called though - most of these have names, like 'Big Daddy'.

How do I know about the PageRank update? Well, we keep a weekly record of our PageRank, so we were please to see some of our efforts show through a better PageRank.

But while we are reasonably happy, I see others are wondering what hit them (or rather what didn't)! See: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=824694&page=3. Mostly, I suspect that webmasters will make positive noises.

But what's the big deal anyway? What difference does it make to you? If PageRank was all that mattered, then every result of a search would result in a page 1 full 'PR 10's.

So, what good is Google's PageRank then?

1. It gives you an indication of how well your backlinking is
2. The biggest difference it can make to you is to give you bargainning power

But before you set off, you might want to wait a tiny bit longer as some thing that the update is still in progress. You wouldn't want to undersell (or oversell your pages) is their PageRank suddenly changes.

What ever your PageRank, remember to try to get good links - for 'good links ' read 'the more relevant links the better'.

Roll on another quarter. And another Google PageRank Update.