For those of you not yet aware, Google is currently
updating the PageRank they are displaying in their toolbar. Each update
causes a stir among the SEO community and webmasters trying to get their
websites to the top of the Google Rankings.
What Is PageRank?
Without getting into too much detail, PageRank is essentially a score
out of ten as to the "value" of your site in comparison to other
websites on the Internet. It is based on two primary factors; the number
of links you have pointing to your website and the value of the links
pointing to your website. The value is calculated based on the PageRank
of the page linking to you and debatably the relevancy of the page linking
to you (there is no hard evidence to back up the relevancy factor in regards
to PageRank that I have seen, however it definitely is a factor in your
overall ranking).
If you are interested in more information on PageRank you would do well
to visit the many forums and articles on the topic and also visit Google's
own description on their website at http://www.google.com/technology/
where they give a brief description of the technology.
What's New?
The most current PageRank update will undoubtedly cause a largër
stir than usual in that many sites have shown drops in their visible
PageRank while at the same time showing significant increases in their
backlinks. This fact reveals that one of three things has occurred in
this latest update:
Google has raised the bar on PageRank, making it more difficult to attain
a high level, or
The way they are displaying their backlinks has changed, or
The way they calculate the value of an incoming link has changed.
Any of these are possible and has been noted in the past as something
they are willing to do. Additionally, it is possible for all to occur
at the same time.
As we don't like to use clients as examples, I will use the Beanstalk
site, backlink counts, and PageRank changes as the meter by which the
following conclusions are drawn, however this information was attained
through looking at a number of client websites and their competitors.
Google Raising The Bar To Lower Yours
In the past few PageRank updates it has become quite apparent that Google
is continuously raising the bar on PageRank. In their defense, with
all of the reciprocal link building, link renting, etc. going on this
was a natural reaction to the growing number of high PageRank sites
that attained those ranks simply by building or buying hundreds and
thousands of links.
There is no doubt that this is a factor in the changes in this current
update. If your site has maintained it's PageRank, and the PageRanks
of your second-level pages, then you have done well in holding steady
and, if your competitors have not been as diligent their positions will
slip.
New Backlink Calculations
I mention this one only to bring to light that it is a possibility for
your future consideration during other updates. The Beanstalk website
went from 750 shown backlinks on Google to 864. It should be noted that
Google does not show all backlinks (if you want a more accurate backlink
count go to Yahoo! and enter "link:http://www.yourdomain.com"
(don't forget the http://)).
When the Beanstalk site showed 750 backlinks on Google we were showing
around 12,000 on Yahoo! (about 6.5% showing on Google). The Beanstalk
site is currently showing 864 on Google and 15,500 on Yahoo! (about
5.6%). If anything then, Google is showing less links than before which
negates the possibility that a website's PageRank is dropping due to
a decrease in links but being hidden by an increased number being displayed.
In short, while the backlinks Google chooses to display has certainly
changed over time, it does not appear to be a major factor in this update.
If you see an increase in your sites backlink counts during this update,
you undoubtedly have an increased number of links.
The Value Of Links
Separate from the number of links you have is their value. This appears
to be an area of significant change in this update. Areas that appear
to have reduced value in regards to affecting PageRank are:
Multiple links from the same site or run-of-site links
Intelligent and relevant reciprocal links do not seem to have been penalized,
probably due to the increased relevancy factor. If you reduce the value
of irrelevant links and raise the value of relevant ones, then there
is no need to penalize reciprocal links as, done incorrectly, they will
penalize themselves.
Links with text around them that indicate they are purchased, such
as "Partners", "Advertising", etc.
Google has and is actively trying to reduce the value of paid links.
This appears to have been moderately successful where there is clear
indication that the link is paid for.
Links from sites that hold little relevancy (this factor is based on
educated speculation)
The relevancy factor appears to have become more important. Links from
sites with content related to yours are showing positive results while
sites with largër numbers of less relevant links are showing drops
in PageRank.
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What Does This Mean?
For those of you who have been proactive in your link building, and
focused on relevant sites using the Google Directory, searches or a
tool like PR Prowler it means, "stay the course". Those of
you who have been building or buying links based only on PageRank with
little concern for their location, or how they are presented - you will
need to adjust your link building efforts accordingly.
What Do I Do - My PageRank Dropped?
The first thing not to do is panic. Take a deep breath, PageRank is
one factor of dozens that Google uses to determine the ranking of your
page, it is not the only thing. Visit your main competitors' sites -
there's a good chance you'll see that they too dropped PageRank. The
plus side to these kinds of updates is that they're universal. It's
not as if Google has it in for you specifically and so when they do
an update, the positive and negative impact is felt by all.
If you've noticed that everyone around you has stayed the same or increased
in PageRank try to remember this, there's nothing you can do about where
you're currently positioned in regards to PageRank and it will probably
be another 3 months before Google updates the public PageRank again
so ... start building some good quality (high relevancy, solid PageRank)
links. Work towards an increase in the next update.
Panicking won't help, intelligent reaction will.
What Happens Now?
Traditionally the search engine results will begin to fluctuate based
on the new visible PageRank 3 to 7 days after they are visible. This
does not have to be the case as Google's had these numbers all along
but its worked this way in the majority of cases in recent history.
So monitor your search engine positions over the next week or two and
watch for changes. Try to hold back on making major changes to your
site during this time as often the final positions will differ from
those that can be viewed during the shuffling. In a couple weeks time
evaluate where you stand and tweak your site as necessary but don't
spend too much time on that ... you have a solid link building effort
to undertake.
About The Author
Dave Davies is the owner of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning
