The Google Toolbar PageRank Demystified

nywanna writes "SEO is an extremely unpredictable aspect of running an online business. Every month the rules change slightly, and with every rule change we receive new bad information from speculators and those who spew nothing but conjecture. David Harry looks at one of the greatest Google misconceptions and bits of misinformation that exists right now: This brings me to the greatest mythological creature to roam the Google landscape since 'the sandbox'; The Google Toolbar PageRank (TBPR) system. While the jury may still be out on the 'sandbox,' I am here to slay the beast that is the TBPR, right here, right now."

Re:What's SEO?

[truthsearch]

Geeks are expected to inherently know the definition of all technology-related acronyms.

Search Engine Optimization

Basically it means trying to get your web pages listed as highly as possible on search engine result pages (a.k.a. SERPs)

Google PR

[hauntingthunder]

Some people may not know what this is about

Its the Google PR displayed if you have the google tool bar installed

This is old news - the pr that it displays is almost worthless and I bloged about this ages back here [thuk.co.uk] Back in April. We did some tests and created a stand alone page on a brand new domain that we got a displayd PR of 5 in a couple of weeks.

Re:What's SEO?

[Jaffa]

Search Engine Optimisation.

The alchemy-like "science" which believes you can magic traffic to your website, rather than providing content which people want.

Demystified, more like Demoralized

[PhantomRogue]

So here I go into that article thinking that PageRank and its algorithms will be talked about, and all the author does, is go on a rant about how he gets more 'targetted traffic' on a low rank site versus a high rank site...

Was there anything useful in that article?

I think there were more Acronyms used in that article than ive ever seen before. Looks like the Author just wanted to sound like he knew what he was talking about by throwing out every acronym known to his little clique of developers. (im guessing SOE's or whatever)

Now, had he gone into detail about getting 'targetted traffic' and not just spouting off that he knows how to, but just seemed like it was a 2 page rant on why Google isnt as good as it claims to be. Also note the Pro-MSN search tidbit thrown in there too.

Re:What's SEO?

[truthsearch]

That's not exactly true. While many SEOs claim special knowledge which they don't have, a good SEO can tell you how to modify your page containing real content to rank better. Meta tags, bolding keywords, proper titles, etc. can help a page appear higher in search engine results. It's not magic from no content. It's presentation of the same content in a way search engines would prefer.

It's not that simple

[Infonaut]

If you aren't into cheating with cloaked pages and doorway pages, the best way to get targeted traffic is to add value to visitors' experience. They come to your site, find its a good site, and spread the word. The more useful and relevant your site, the more visitors will return. In a nutshell, make a good site. Simple, really. I wouldn't be surprised to find that pagerank was a decoy set up to distract search engine marketers and let google go about its business.

I'm in full agreement that creating useful, relevant content is the cornerstone of website success. But it's not as easy as that. Pagerank is not a decoy - it is what allowed Google to take over as top dog in the search world. The core concept behind PageRank is that if a site is linked to by other sites, this must be for good reason. It is an indirect method of determining relevance. Of course it has been gamed over the years, but PageRank still matters. If it didn't, we'd all still be using AltaVista.

The trickiest part of getting noticed by engines is obtaining useful inbound links. If people can't see your site, they won't be able to evaluate it and (hopefully) link to it. It's the old marketing conundrum. How do I get the word out about this great thing I've created, when I'm just one fish in a giant ocean? Some people go the quick and dirty route, using search engine spamming techniques, which are akin to the scummy marketing tactics of snail mail advertisers (ever received a piece of mail seemingly related to your home mortgage, and found it was actually an ad from a competing lender?).

Just as with traditional offline marketing and advertising, there are legitimate ways to put the word out. They're slower and more labor intensive than fast buck methods, but they can help. Inbound links from well-respected sites, proper use of markup, clearly-written listings in directories, and keyword targeting can help your site gain visibility while helping searchers at the same time. Sites that ignore SEO can succeed, but most that do succeed rely on SEO to at least some degree.

Re:What's SEO?

[gumbo]

Yeah, I think part of the problem with the whole SEO field is that there are several sides. There's the white hat stuff where you make sure you're not limiting the spiders from getting to your content, making sure your titles and markup is all good, etc. Then there's the blacker hat stuff like splogs, spamming, cloaking, etc. If you just say "SEO", some people will automatically assume the latter.

Re:What's SEO?

[meta-monkey]

This doesn't necessarily work for all sites. Some sites are a great benefit to their target audience, but may not return well in search engines because they're flash, or image-heavy, or have a lot of dynamic content that search engines can't find well. For instance, I'm a photographer. I have a lot of good samples of my work on my website, and people searching for a photographer in a particular market or of a particular style would do well to find my site. However, images are not easily categorized by google. Google doesn't necessarily know if an image is of an infant, a commercial project, a wedding, or anything else. Therefore, one must add content specifically targeted at search engines so the people who would benefit from the site can find it in the first place. If you're designing a site, you best know what helps and what hurts you in search engine rankings, so you can incorporate those features.

What you need

[Anonymous Coward]

For instance, I'm a photographer. I have a lot of good samples of my work on my website, and people searching for a photographer in a particular market or of a particular style would do well to find my site. However, images are not easily categorized by google. Google doesn't necessarily know if an image is of an infant, a commercial project, a wedding, or anything else.

Is the alt attribute [w3.org] and possibly the longdesc attribute [w3.org].

Re:I call goofiness!

[StikyPad]

I always throw in the word "review" when looking for product information. As for finding actual prices, it helps if you know the manufacturer model number (which is usually NOT the same as model printed on the front, even if that happens to be a number). If you can find just one site that sells the product, they usually have the MFR Model number, and you can go from there. Also starting points like Amazon or CNet will often have information, as well as links to other information.