How to Estimate Google PageRank
A recent post on Digital Point prompted me to write this short article on how to estimate the number and strength of links required for a given PageRank:
How can i get better page rank of my website. How should I put links in my website to get better page rank. Kindly suggest?
PageRank is determined by the quantity and quality of the links to your website. As a vaguely general rule each Rank is at least 10x harder to reach (and also 10 more valuable) than the one below.
For example, it generally takes at least 10 PR 3 links to equate to the value of one PR 4, sometimes more. Further, each of those PR 3s is on average worth at least 10 PR 2 links.
Please note that PageRank isn’t the same as the actual search engine rankings. Even a PageRank 10 site such as http://www.adobe.com/ will only rank well for relevant (in Google’s eye’s) phrases.
As such, a high PR alone is no guarantee of a ranking well for any given keyword, the site also has to be optimised for it, and ideally the link’s to it should have relevant keyword in their anchor text.
As a general rule, a pages PageRank is equal to or a level below its top tier of links.
So, for example, a site with say:
5 x PR5 links
22 x PR 4 links
44 x PR 3 links
100 x PR 2 links
350 x PR 1 links
950 x PR 0 links
1000 x unranked links
Would probably be a PR 4 site, bordering on PR 5. Adding a few PR 6 links, plus a few more PR 5s would probably bring the site up to a PR of 5.
On the other hand, it would probably take over a dozen PR 5 links to bring the page up to PR with any from PR 6 pages, but even hundreds of links PR 4 links, or thousands of links from PR 0-3 sites might make no difference.
This is because as per my earlier rule of thumb, all other things being equal, each PR 6 link is worth approximately as much as around 100 PR 4s.
Quick Fix for Broken Google Analytics Tags
As anyone familiar with Google Analytics will know, it’s often quick and easy to install.
Occasionally, however, there’s a problem. As happened to me, yesterday.
On this occasion I’d emailed the code for a new style Analytics tag to our client’s developers who had installed the code in the website footer, as instructed.
A few days later however their reports still contained no analytics data, despite the Google Analytics’ tag status checker reporting that everything was fine!
Unsure of the exact problem, I tried out EpikOne’s free Google Analytics tag checker for the first time, which a few hours later confirmed that the tags we’re not working after all.
Finally, I decided to replace client’s GA tag code with a fresh copy, and lo and behold, when I reran the EpikOne tester, it reported that the tags are now working fine. (Which was quicker feedback, than waiting for the first data to appear in Google Analytics.) Moreover, it also told me that one page still wasn’t registering properly, presumably because it doesn’t use the same footer template as the rest of the site.
I’m not always so impressed by the usefulness of free SEO [and analytics] tools, but on this occasion I have to hand it to EpikOne.
Tags: Analytics, Google, Google Analytics, tags, tracking
. 08 May 08 | Google Analytics | Comments (0)
Keyword Research Mistakes - How Not to do SEO
One search engine optimisation (SEO) firm tried to do their keyword research by the book, but still ended up wasting several months chasing phrases that bought traffic, but didn’t convert into sales.
This expensive mistake could have been avoided by first testing their target phrases in Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.
Don’t let this happen to you!
Read their full story here: How to waste money on SEO
Tags: Google, Google AdWords, keyword research, news, ppc, roi
How to Get Listed in Google in 7 Days
There are many articles out there claiming to tell you how to get your site listed in Google in a day, or three days, or thirty days or whatever, but virtually none of them tell you specifically what to do.
Some, for example, will advise that a link from a PR 5 website should get your site indexed in under a week, and a link from a PR6 website will do the trick in around a day, but that doesn’t help you if you don’t already have access to a PR 6 website; which you probably don’t if you’re reading this article.
What follows is a list of the steps that I have used to get new, unknown domains indexed by Google in under 7 days, without resorting to placing links on established websites already under my control.
First, however, for your safety, I should highlight what not to do.
- Suggest your site to Google using their add your url tool.Well, you can if you want to, it’s harmless, but this approach usually takes weeks, and besides probably won’t work if your site doesn’t already have links from other websites.
- Using the sitemap submit tool in webmaster tools.OK, so step 1 is harmless and submitting sitemaps is really a good thing, but it still isn’t likely to help you get index in under seven days, so let’s move on…
- Buy one of those “website promotion” tools that promises to submit your site to thousands of search engines for a small fee.This is, at best, a waste of time. Google has around a 66% of the UK and US search market share and Yahoo!, MSN and Ask mop up the remaining 33% or so, leaving less that 1% for all of the other search engines combined.Further, if you have to give out your email address to register for the “service” there is every chance that you’ll be spammed to high heaven, and probably be charged for the privilege too.Worse, some of them charge a monthly fee offering to resubmit your site in return. This is to be avoided at all costs, as it is a form of search engine spamming and risks getting your site banned altogether.
- Buy a “Get listed in Google in under 72 hours Guaranteed” package from a far-flung company that randomly sent you a spam email. You may be amused to hear that Google get these too!
You see, SEO isn’t a dark-art any more. Some “experts” may read this and pull their hair out because I’m giving away their “trade secrets”, but they way I see it any SEO company, consultant or marketing agency worth their salt should be able to tell you how they get results.
Besides, you can’t afford to risk having your site banned by Google, due to dodgy “black hat” practices, and how do you know that they’re not if they won’t even tell you?
How to Get in to Google in Under 3 Days
The trick to getting into Google in under three days, does indeed involve linking to your website from high PageRank (PR) websites.
In addition to a high PageRank, there are two criteria that such websites need to meet in order to be of interest to you.
Firstly, they must allow for user generated content i.e. they must allow you to create a blog, personal profile upload an article, submit a press release or tag a favourite site fast, and for free.
Secondly, they must have a high update speed i.e. they have a main page that changes frequently - at least daily – that you can somehow get access to. Thankfully most of the sites meeting the first condition automatically meet this one as well.
Getting in to Google - What to do
- Write a couple of short summaries “elevator pitches” of your site’s main features and benefits and it’s target audience of different lengths - 100 and 300 words - or longer if you actually have something to say.
- Go to a selection of the following websites and create a post, profile, ad, article or whatever and use your nicely polished, pitch as the body copy.
Ensure that your post of tagged and filed appropriately and be sure to include a link to your website using your full url. For example, my SEO Consultancy CV
You may need to vary the tone to suit each site, as a community forum will prefer chatty styles to stuffy press releases, so choose your language accordingly. If in doubt, emulate the style of currently popular posts to prevent yours from being deleting as spam.
“But where do I post it?”, I hear you ask.
To find suitable places all you have to do is Google a few of the leading “free business classified” sites.
These sites have sections specifically designed for advertising your business online, which makes this approach preferable to forum and blog spamming and other parasitic activities.
There are of course other types of suitable sites, many classier than the free classifieds, but I’m not ready to give them all away quite yet. For more upmarket alternatives, you can always try asking me.
If this turns out to be a hit topic, I may revisit it later.
Getting listed in Google in under three days
Now, there are in fact a handful of sites out there so rapidly spidered that they can have new pages indexed in under an hour!
Better still, done the right way, links from them can get your site into Google in less than 72 hours.
Incidentally, if you’re facing a big launch, and are in a hurry and desperately need your site indexed in under three days, I can probably help.
A word of caution
Please note that I am NOT suggesting that you ever set out to spam the aforementioned sites. That is not what this is about and nor will that do you any favours with Google. My aim is for genuine websites with uniquely valuable content to gain some initial exposure and backlinks through professionally written press releases posted to sites open to this kind of promotion.
As such, there can be a massive difference between “budget” agencies that can damage your brand with spam tactics and badly written copy and the same work carried out by a reputable SEO agency. Also, remember that it can be nearly impossible to undo mistakes on the web, so if in doubt hire a professional that will take the time to understand your audience and target your marketing accordingly.
Tags: getting indexed, Google, search engines, seo