define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false ); PR | SEO For The Common Webmaster

Oct 13 2008

Webmaster Stats

Published by under Webmaster Resources

When one creates a blog or website, a key is to find out if the effort is paying off. This can be seen in many aspects. We webmasters often want to see what our site is worth and what we need to work on. How much is your site worth?

This is a complex question. It takes a look at many factors from how many back links you have to your traffic stats. There are a few sites on the Internet that can track some of these stats for you and give a basic idea of where you are and how you are doing with your site. The problem I have run into is that when I want to check different stats, I have to jump all over the place to find different ones.

I recently ran across QPGR.com. They offer an updated set of Page Rank Checker & SEO Tools. This includes many of the standards used to judge a webmaster’s performance. Being located in one place relieves the stress and time of having to search all over the Internet to get all the stats you are looking for.

Their Quick Page Rank Checker gives you up to date rankings so you know what your current PR is. However, they also throw in Alexa traffic rankings, possible link sale value, site, value, back links, and more. The nice thing is, it takes only a few seconds to get the result of all of them with one simple tool.

These standard stats are not the end all to be all for a webmaster; however, it can give a nice sense of how you are doing. If you ranking and stats are super low for a given site, you know that you have a lot of work to do. If they are high, you know that you need to work to keep them there and you are inspired to work that much harder.

Checking your stats on a regular basis will allow you to find problem areas and improve on those to become more successful.

6 responses so far

Jul 25 2008

Matt Cutts Link Baiting

Published by under Google

Google’s own Matt Cutts excited the online world yesterday by adding a bit of link bait to his blog. He announced that the Google Pagerank (PR) will be coming over the next few days. I have seen this linked all over the Internet and there is a buzz. Here is the post address if you care to see for yourself http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-pagerank-update/.

As I have written on this blog before, it is a good way to see how you are doing in creating back links but it is not good for a true measure of how your site is doing. It brings no traffic and it can easily be manipulated.

I do have to hand it to Matt though, link baiting is one of the best ways to build back links and his short little post has stirred up the webmaster world and his link is all over the place. Take an example from him and find hot topics that will create a stir and you too could see the benefit of such posts.

3 responses so far

Jun 02 2008

Buying a Website

Published by under Webmaster Advice

Often times as a webmaster, we do not want to do all the work of starting a site from scratch. To avoid this, we may purchase a website or blog that is already up and running. However, when doing so, one needs to do lots of research to make sure that they know all the details before buying a site.

If the site claims to have loads of traffic, find out where that traffic is coming from. Traffic by the thousands can be generated by using services like Stumble Upon. Though the number of visits increase, the traffic is useless. Ask the seller to provide proof by showing the stats from the website. Most websites have some kind of tracking that shows where the traffic is coming from. If it is mostly from social bookmarking sites, the traffic is useless and lowers the value of the site. Also beware of false traffic from weird sites. Check those out to see what they are.

Another consideration is what is the site earning and from where. If they claim to be making $400 a month from Google Adsense, make sure you see proof. Also find out what they are doing to get that amount of earnings. If they are spending $300 a month on things like Adwords, than the earnings is really $100 a month. This is still decent earnings but it changes the value of the site.

Looking at the domain name is important. Is it something that is easy to market, when does it expire, and how easy it to transfer? You need to know if it has any fees to transfer. Also make sure how the files of the site will be delivered. Ask if the seller will transfer to your host or are you required to do so. Make sure you know how to transfer the whole site prior to buying.

If you are looking for original content that is not just copied from elsewhere, make sure to both ask and check for yourself. It is easy to copy the first paragraph into Google or use Copyscape.com  to check to see if the  content is located elsewhere. Be sure to check several articles to make sure that the original was not just copied from the site you are wanting to buy. To me, a website or blog with original unique articles is worth a lot more than a site loaded with content that belongs to someone else. Be sure to give the owner the chance to explain and not jump to conclusions. However, if they lie about it than it is better not to deal with them.

If Page Rank or Google PR is important to you, make sure the PR stated is not faked. There are many PR checkers that can check for fake PR. You can also check Google by searching for the site URL. If it shows up with a different URL, it most likely is faked.

One last piece of advice is to check the WhoIs information for the domain. this can be check at http://whois.sc. They will tell all information related to age, domain registrar, and owners information along with details about the site.

I would like to think that the majority of webmasters are just honest people who are trying to make an honest living. However, there is always scammers trying to steal your money.  Make sure if you are thinking of buying a website or blog, you follow the above advice and do all the research you can so you avoid being scammed.

One response so far

Apr 30 2008

Google PR April Update

Published by under Google,Search Engine Optimization

It is pretty certain that the next Page Rank update is going on. Many PR tools are buzzing with new numbers to excite the masses of webmaster. All the webmaster forums are pumping threads and threads about the current PR update.

I do not claim to have inside knowledge but I do believe Google has changed a few things in their algorithm again. I do not rely heavily on the PR number but it is a good measure of how well a webmaster has done when it comes to link building. I spent a good bit of energy and money to build links for this site. As of now, we have went from PR0 to PR2. This is much lower than I expected for all the back links that I have acquired. I have other blogs which are higher with a lot less links. I also think my links to this site were higher quality than the ones for the other blogs. This proves one thing, you can not figure out Google because their algorithm remains a secret.

Overall, some of my blogs were up and down. Some regained the lost PR from the last update and some remain the same and one loss ranking. This means nothing in the matter of traffic, my traffic has slowly increased over the last two months and I look forward to a bigger jump in the months.

How did your sites do? How important do you think PR is in the whole scheme of things? Please share you thoughts by leaving a comment.  

2 responses so far

Feb 29 2008

Google PR: Is it Important?

Published by under Google

Well there is a definite changing in the Google data centers when it comes to Page Rank (PR) the last couple of days. As webmasters, many of us, yes including me, look at the holy Google PR update as some sort of sign rather we are doing a good job with our site. I decided it was a good time to analyze  the importance of PR.

First of all PR is simply a calculation of how many backlinks you have and the value of each one. There is a set formula that Google uses but it remains a big company secret what it is. Many will tell you just get a few good PR7-PR9 links and you will have at least a PR5, well in my experience this is not always correct. All PR7-PR9 links are not equal. Some say if the links are related to your sites niche (topic), than it will carry more value for PR. Once again, this has not been my experience. The best way I have found to build your PR is to constantly build back links wherever you can. If they carry PR juice, that is great, if not, someone might see your site and visit it. If you have a choice between a high PR link and a low PR link with all other factors equal, I would take the higher PR.

Now that I explained a little about PR, lets look at the importance of PR. Having many back links are very important to any site. By having high PR, it normally means you built several good back links. Does this equal more traffic? It may, but in most cases, it does not by itself equal more traffic. The main importance of PR is in the value it brings to your ability to sell blog posts, reviews, or links. People buying advertisement will often pay more for a link on a high PR site than on a lower PR site. The other factor of the importance of PR is when you go to sell a website or blog. Higher PR will often times increase what a buyer is willing to pay for a website.

If you do not plan to sell your website or blog and you are not concerned about selling advertising or text links, it is a waste of your time to even bother with rather you have PR or not.

So why do webmasters drool over PR? It simply comes down to the fact that  besides where your site is placed in the search engine results (SERPs), PR is a way that Google gives you some sign that you are doing something right for your site. It is an assigned number. You can see it, share it, advertise you have it, and it feels like a big pat on the back by the Google Gods.

People become webmasters for many reasons. It may be for fun, as a hobby, to make money, to advertise their business, or just for the thrill of sharing their life’s with others. No matter the reason, PR looks good but means nothing at all if you have no traffic to your website or blog. This is why I stressed the need for Quality Content. PR is fun to watch and can be a thrill, however, you should first and foremost create your website or blog for the benefit of your users. Write original material, advertise where you can. and do everything you can to get quality traffic flowing to you site.

In conclusion, PR is of small importance and the Google PR updates are like waiting for Santa at Christmastime; however, in the big scheme of web development, PR is of very little value. Spend your time developing the best website or blog you can and the rest will fall into place if you have patience to wait it out. If you add the best content you can and do the best SEO you can, I assure you that the rest will follow behind it.

One response so far

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