Google Boost

Today Google took a big bite out of paid links on sites. This manual big-brotherism of PageRank is indeed confusing - does it render Googlebot moot?

To illustrate what this did to some website’s PageRanks - list courtesy http://searchengineland.com/071024-093938.php

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/ PR7 to PR5
• http://www.forbes.com/ PR7 to PR5
• http://www.suntimes.com/ PR7 to PR5
• http://www.sfgate.com/ PR7 to PR5
• http://www.statcounter.com/ PR10 to PR6
• http://www.masternewmedia.org/ PR7 to PR4
• http://www.autoblog.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.engadget.com/ PR7 to PR5
• http://www.problogger.net/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.copyblogger.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.joystiq.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.tuaw.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.searchengineguide.com/ PR7 to PR4
• http://www.searchenginejournal.com/ PR7 to PR4
• http://www.johnchow.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://www.quickonlinetips.com/ PR6 to PR3
• http://weblogtoolscollection.com/ PR6 to PR4
• http://andybeard.eu/ PR5 to PR3
• http://www.seroundtable.com/ PR7 to PR4
• http://www.blogherald.com/ PR6 to PR4

What does this imply, that people and businesses that stand to profit are going to manually override the system in their favor? Or does this mean that Google is shutting down one market in order to create a new one? Are irrelevant text links on web pages with high page ranks a thing of the past?

Let’s look at the bigger picture.

This is $675 and 82 cents a share talking - nothing less. Never mind the little guys who were clever enough to goose the system in their favor - they are just an afterthought, an innocent casualty of a larger motive. After all folks - the money’s gotten so big so quickly that you have to question who - or what - is in control.

I see the gradual migration from PageRank to TrustRank taking place. Perhaps Google, in its inevitable march towards creating their own library like Mr. Atoz, is suffering some AI problems that only a human can figure out. Despite the thousands of scripts bouncing between Google’s inexpensive infrastructure - that are feverishly trying to be in essence a Librarian - they can’t do one thing - think for themselves.

OK - you’ve optimized your web page and things are in harmonious balance.

Your on page optimization is rocking.

So, why is it sitting there, not budging at all in its Google ranking? I mean, you’ve got your keywords, your magical combo of ALT tags - what is wrong?!?!

Have you worked on your off page optimization? Have you checked your competitor’s off page optimization? That’d be a good place to start.

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges to SEO is finding the right resources to help you understand just what you’re up against.

I recommend starting with Aaron Wall’s “SEO Handbook” - there is valuable insight and a wealth of experience to learn from.

The general consensus of people I have worked with and talked SEO with is to remember one very critical thing: nobody - aside from the creators and developers who signed non-disclosure agreements to work at Google - knows exactly how Googlebot works. If they did, Google’s value would deflate overnight. Take everything you read and learn with a grain of salt; SEO is based on experience, good old fashioned knowledge and a little bit of luck.

If you are looking for help with SEO please visit my website and learn more about my search engine optimization services.

I have been working diligently on SEO for the past several months and one thing I have learned is that getting yourself listed on Google in 24 hours just isn’t going to happen - unless you have deep pockets and financial resources to rival a Hollywood studio.

To paraphrase some advice I’ve received and learned:

Have you seen an ad for a new movie that just yesterday was invisible to search engines and today it’s ranking at the top of Google? This is achieved by advertising the movie on a network of web sites that have enormously high page ranks (like the homepage of AOL.com or CNN.com for example). This technique of advertising on websites with a high page rank bypasses a slew of filters setup by the search engines (i.e. The Google Sandbox) for new domains and catapults your website to the top of the heap quickly.

Ultimately (and you shouldn’t be surprised) it boils down to cash. Why do you think Google’s stock is $600 a share? Because they are nice guys? Well, maybe that has something to do with it.

I am working with a client whose website needs the rapid advancement of high quality page ranked websites to help boost their organic ranking and relevancy. They are not going to advertise on MSN.com - a page rank eight - but they are going to advertise on a network of page ranked websites that vary from 4 to 7. This strategy in conjunction with TIME and original content generation will help them rise faster through the ranks and selective filters.

Contact me if you have any questions!

Stay tuned for the next post!