SEO For The Common Webmaster

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.

If you are not familiar with Stumble Upon, it is a social bookmarking site owned by eBay. It works best if you are using the Firefox browser. It is an installed tool bar add on that allows you to thumbs up or thumbs down a site you come across. It puts that site in a cycle where it is sent out to people who are looking for a certain topic.

On Stumble Upon, you can also get friends (up to 200) and have fans of your personal page. When you have friends and fans, you can send pages to them for them to view. When you hit the stumble button, you will also view pages that your friends have sent.

Along with thumbs up and thumbs down, you can give a review of the page rather you liked it or not. This is helpful to other people.

Stumble Upon is fun and you can spend hours just stumbling sites and finding interesting sites to view. However, I just wanted to give a basic overview as an opening to the main point of this article so to find out more, just download . Once you have the browser go to tools and add ons and download the Stumble Upon add on and sign up for an account.

I use Stumble Upon everyday and every time I write a post on any of my blogs I stumble them. At one point I started a blog dedicated to website reviews and stumble exchanges but I was told this is no longer allowed so I changed the site to just website reviews.

Now on to the point of traffic from Stumble Upon. In my experience and the experiences of many webmasters that I converse with everyday, Stumble Upon provides a lot of traffic. The problem with the traffic from Stumble Upon is that it does not convert well. If you are selling something or trying to make money on clicks from ads, this traffic does not turn into money as well as regular search engine traffic.

Many users of Stumble Upon just keep clicking through and do not stay long enough to even read what you have on your site. I would venture to say that less than 1% converts into any ad click or sale. I am not sure what the percentage is that stay on your site and read it but I would say that is low too. There are those who search for your topic and are really interested in your site but like I said before, many just click right on through.

So after reading that, I am sure you have one big question. Why should I use Stumble Upon at all? The answer is clear. It is free and though it may not be the best traffic, it is still traffic. If you get just a few people out of thousands that will really enjoy your site and make you a little money, that is more than you had without Stumble Upon. It is also a great way to get your site seen. If you site get many thumbs up, you can thousands of visitors a day to your site. Many will not return. However, some will and you could end up with a nice loyal reader base.

I love Stumble Upon and find it both fun and a good way to drive traffic to my site. Do not use it as your only source of traffic because you will be disappointed. However, mixed with other sources, it can add visitors to your site and money to your pocket.