Category Archives: Linking Strategy

Google PageRank Penalty: Text Link Ads

Well, it looks like Google is cracking down on paid links, and some people are being hit hard with their rank dropping. The Stanford Daily saw their PageRank drop from an incredible PR 9 to a PR 7.

I have yet to hear one person say that their rank has gone up. This doesn’t mean that people won’t see their rankings rise over the next while, but Google is on the warpath against paid links.

It looks like Text-Link-Ads and similar companies might have a huge issue on their hand, and if nothing else, it can’t be good publicity, since the majority of their pricing is based on Google’s PageRank, and people buy these links in hopes of gaining PageRank to their own sites.

I have yet to experience any negative side effects on any of my blogs, but I am a very lightweight advertising sales person. I think I currently have one text link sold amongst all my blogs.

So far many of the sites owners I have talked to aren’t concerned about their dropping rankings as they continue to focus on bringing good content and an abundance of traffic to their sites, but over time this could become a competitive edge for those willing to forgo selling text links, and monetizing their blogs other ways. These sites that find these alternative revenue builders, could then eventually rank higher in Google, causing those selling links to re-think their lack of concern.

The question I have been getting quite often by people just entering the world of advertising sales is, “how does Google know I am selling text links?” Well, with systems like Text-Link-Ads and other text link sales companies, they have you put code on your site, and that leaves a footprint that Google can then search for, and once identified, and probably checked by a real person, they can adjust your PageRank accordingly.

The whole paid link market has to change, Google is forcing them to. It is a very interesting time to be an Internet marketer.

Originally posted on October 9, 2007 @ 9:13 pm

Technosailor Self Importance Test

I took Aaron Brazell’s Self Importance Test, and I found out that according to him, I am most like Darren Rowse. To me that is a pretty major compliment, even if it is coming from a test that amounts only to link bait.

Here is what the answer said:

You are most like Darren Rowse!

You are like Darren Rowse. You are relatively mild mannered, confident in how you operate and choose not to “rock the boat”. Your ego does not flair often. Instead, you choose to assist other bloggers as much as possible. In some cases, you may find it to be your mission in life. You do not participate in a large amount of social networking and if you do, you’re not particularly aggressive about “friending” people. To you, it is a waste of time that could be used for more productive things.

I enjoyed the little test, and I think it was very smart of Aaron to create it, as I am sure he will receive many links. Matt Mullenweg, of WordPress fame, took the test and got Jason Calacanis, despite being one of the possible results.

Take the test and let me know your results.

Originally posted on September 9, 2007 @ 9:52 pm

Linking Others to Gain Traffic

One of the things I have noticed in this site, and in others I have started is how effective linking other people can be, especially blogs that show track backs. People follow these continuing commentaries to find out what other people’s opinions are, and discover new resources related to their favourite subjects.

You will notice the traffic boost more in a small site just starting out, but nevertheless, there is an increase that can be very worthwhile.

There are so many articles out there warning against outbound links, and how they can drain some of your Google PageRank, but early on, this shouldn’t even cross your mind. Your site will only become successful if people read it, and so you primary concern should be getting traffic. Also, the more you link to other sites, the more likely they will be to link to you.

Originally posted on July 26, 2007 @ 2:04 am

3 Ways to Get the Rest of Your Company To Understand Your SEO Efforts

As a search engine optimizer, it can be a real challenge to explain what your job is and how it benefits the company to people who have very little understanding of the Internet marketing world. What now seems like second nature to you can be an extremely difficult concept for others to understand, let alone buy into in order to give you the resources and support you need to find ultimate success. So if you find yourself in this position—needing to justify your role—here are three things you can try to get the rest of your company to understand what you do.

Show Them Your Progress

Numbers and metrics are a great way to show people how you’ve been able to improve the company. And lucky for digital marketers, a lot of those metrics are automatically tracked by your software. However, simply pulling up the charts and graphs you have won’t do much to explain what you’re doing. Continue reading

Originally posted on May 14, 2016 @ 9:45 pm

5 Ways To Get a Grip on Modern SEO Practices

Search engine optimization is a constantly evolving process, but it’s also absolutely vital that you get it right if you want to compete in the online world for attention, advertising revenue, or just traffic in general.

So, even if you think you have a handle on your own practices, go through the five following tips in order to make sure that none of your knowledge base contradicts some of the contemporary methods that have become the technical norm. Continue reading

Originally posted on December 10, 2015 @ 2:01 am