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PageRank Revisited
December 5, 2007
In an earlier column I discussed the value of pagerank and came to the conclusion that it doesn't seem to make any difference in where your site ranks in the search engines' results. This still seems to hold true for the most part, as it has not affected my websites negatively; at least not yet.
Anyone who has the Google toolbar installed and the pagerank meter turned on, can view the rank assigned by Google to each page of a website. After the last Google update both of my sites took a hit - again. As I began to ponder the possible reasoning behind this, I realized that I had not been following my own advice.
I was not checking my reciprocal backlinks to see if the websites I had traded links with were still linking to me. I also had not checked to see if some of those sites were no longer in existence, or if some of them had completely lost their pagerank.
After taking the time to examine those reciprocal links and their current status, I found that I had to delete over half of their links from my sites. Some of the websites I traded links with were no where to be found, others were no longer carrying a link to my site and still others had dropped into the Google dead zone (PR 0 - no pagerank).
All those factors were causing the bleeding of pagerank from my own website. I simply had not been practicing what I preached in that I was not keeping up with my own site maintenance.
So why is this relevant if it doesn't change how high my sites turn up in the search results. After all, both sites are still in the top 5 (each for two different, popular search terms) in Google, Yahoo and others.
Well, one reason this is relevant is that it just looks bad. Anyone who can view the pagerank can see the relatively low numbers of the home page and other pages of my sites. It would also mean other quality websites would be reluctant to exchange a link with mine since it could possibly contribute to the lowering of their pagerank as well. Pagerank, regardless of it's real worth, is still highly sought after.
Besides, had I not been concerned at all, I believe it would be only a matter of time until all those "bad" links would have started dragging my site down in the search engines' results. Let's face it, one of the most important factors in where a website places in search results is the number of other sites linking to yours.
If you have a bunch of links going out that aren't being reciprocated or are tied to "bad" sites (penalized by Google for one reason or another), your own rankings and ultimately, search results will likely suffer.
So, I guess my views on pagerank have changed somewhat. My sites may never obtain a high pagerank number, but when that number starts dropping it's probably time to start looking for some underlying causes.
December 5, 2007
In an earlier column I discussed the value of pagerank and came to the conclusion that it doesn't seem to make any difference in where your site ranks in the search engines' results. This still seems to hold true for the most part, as it has not affected my websites negatively; at least not yet.
Anyone who has the Google toolbar installed and the pagerank meter turned on, can view the rank assigned by Google to each page of a website. After the last Google update both of my sites took a hit - again. As I began to ponder the possible reasoning behind this, I realized that I had not been following my own advice.
I was not checking my reciprocal backlinks to see if the websites I had traded links with were still linking to me. I also had not checked to see if some of those sites were no longer in existence, or if some of them had completely lost their pagerank.
After taking the time to examine those reciprocal links and their current status, I found that I had to delete over half of their links from my sites. Some of the websites I traded links with were no where to be found, others were no longer carrying a link to my site and still others had dropped into the Google dead zone (PR 0 - no pagerank).
All those factors were causing the bleeding of pagerank from my own website. I simply had not been practicing what I preached in that I was not keeping up with my own site maintenance.
So why is this relevant if it doesn't change how high my sites turn up in the search results. After all, both sites are still in the top 5 (each for two different, popular search terms) in Google, Yahoo and others.
Well, one reason this is relevant is that it just looks bad. Anyone who can view the pagerank can see the relatively low numbers of the home page and other pages of my sites. It would also mean other quality websites would be reluctant to exchange a link with mine since it could possibly contribute to the lowering of their pagerank as well. Pagerank, regardless of it's real worth, is still highly sought after.
Besides, had I not been concerned at all, I believe it would be only a matter of time until all those "bad" links would have started dragging my site down in the search engines' results. Let's face it, one of the most important factors in where a website places in search results is the number of other sites linking to yours.
If you have a bunch of links going out that aren't being reciprocated or are tied to "bad" sites (penalized by Google for one reason or another), your own rankings and ultimately, search results will likely suffer.
So, I guess my views on pagerank have changed somewhat. My sites may never obtain a high pagerank number, but when that number starts dropping it's probably time to start looking for some underlying causes.
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