SEO Blog

PageRank valuations are fluctuating wildly again nearly three weeks after Google began targeting sites that bought and sold text-links. Earlier today, reports started coming in to SEO writers and blogs tracking PageRank. This time however the trend seems to tend towards terminal as Google has been assigning a bunch of PR0 valuations to several sites, including some that do not buy or sell links.

rustybrick from Search Engine Roundtable points out the latest PageRank discussion thread happening at DigitalPoint forums. This thread is a good read because it is where a bulk of SEOs are discussing, dissecting and hopefully solving the riddles associated with Google’s means of page-trust evaluation.

European SEO writer Andy Beard has a lengthy post, “ZERORANK” outlining the recent five phases of what appears to be wider PageRank update. Andy also reports on several specific cases in which websites with average or above-average PR valuations have dropped to PR0. Part of his post includes the process of filing a “reconsideration request”.

For the past six or seven years, one of the most dominant factors in determining page or document placement has been an evaluation of incoming links. Google pioneered the method, known as Pagerank, in its original algorithm and has refined it ever since. The recent flap over Pagerank revaluations might provide SEOs a broader hint at changes happening behind the scenes at Google and other major search engines. While unintended, Google might be signaling a step away from Pagerank as a primary means of recommendation and valuation.

A shift away from link based scoring methods would be an enormous step for Google to make however, looking at the evolution of the Internet, it is a logical step to make. Information transmitted over the Internet is changing rapidly as are user-habits. While it will continue to be a primarily text based medium, today’s Internet infrastructure allows easier access to a multiplicity of file types and formats, many of which are not conducive to the link-loving Google grew up on.

One last lesson learned from last week’s Pagerank devaluation targeting sites that buy or sell links… WHITE HAT SEO works.

We assumed our clients were going to be safe during the Pagerank update because Metamend does not perform any SEO techniques that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.  We are pleased to confirm that none of Metamend’s clients or websites have seen any fluctuations in Pagerank or in actual search engine placements during the update.

We are watching to see if this is the start of a larger algorithm update. In previous years, Google has introduced significant algorithm updates in late October or early November however at this time we see nothing to indicate bigger changes might be coming down the pipe from the Googleplex.

There are still a number of lessons to be learned from last week’s targeted Pagerank update. To recap, six months or so ago, Google said it would lower the value of the Pagerank assigned to sites that broker in bought and/or sold links. Last Wednesday the search engine followed up on the threat by significantly devaluing the visible Pagerank assigned to such websites. Caught in the ruckus were a large number of websites which had either stopped the practice or had never even participated in it. Google has since restored the visible Pagerank value to many of those sites that would be considered innocent bystanders.

There are a few lessons we in the SEO/SEM industry can and should learn from last week’s October surprise, the least of which is that Google has the right to treat any website reference delivered to its users any way it wishes.

The most important lesson drawn from last week is that of diversification. Putting all of the eggs in one basket is rarely seen as a smart move in any endeavor.
As Debra Mastaler wrote a column in yesterday’s Search Engine Land, “Is it Time to Change Your Linking Attitude?“,