| The Axandra newsletter archive - 8 June 2004 |
| Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.
This week, we're taking a look at Google's PageRank and its decreasing importance to your web site. In the news: Google users might not by loyal, Yahoo advertises on Google and more. Table of contents:
We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends. Best regards, |
| 1. Facts of the week: The decreasing importance of Google PageRank |
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PageRank is a system that helps Google to organize its search result pages. It used to be the heart of Google's ranking algorithms. Google explains PageRank as follows:
"PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important.' Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. [...]" The PageRank of a web site is displayed in a little green bar in the Google toolbar. The wider the green bar, the higher the PageRank of a web page. Every page of a web site has its own PageRank. Why all the hype? PageRank used to be so important that many webmasters only concentrated on getting a high PageRank without caring about other important aspects of their web site. Even today, many webmasters only want to link to web sites with a high PageRank and some webmasters even accept only links from web sites that have a high PageRank. However, a high PageRank does not mean much to your business. It's basically only a green line in a search engine toolbar that has little effect on your web site rankings. It doesn't mean that you'll get more visitors and it also doesn't mean that your web site is useful to your web site visitors. You can have top 10 Google rankings with a low PageRank To prove this statement, here are some examples of search terms that return web pages with a low PageRank in Google's top 10 results:
Example: The Google results on position 3, 4, 7 and 8 for the search term "buy a new office chair" have a PageRank of 0. The top ranked page for "grill equipment" has a PageRank of 1. (As of 7 June 2004, PageRank values often change) As you can see, it is possible to get a top 10 ranking on Google even if you have a PageRank of 0. In addition, you can see that the search results are not sorted by PageRank. Did Google drop the PageRank concept? Rumor has it that Google does not rely on PageRank anymore because it doesn't own the rights for it. Actually, the PageRank patent is granted to Stanford University. If Google continued to rely on PageRank, Stanford might get a large amount of the profit when Google goes public. For that reason, Google might have dropped the PageRank concept with its IPO plans. This is only speculation but it doesn't sound too incongruous. At least it seems that PageRank is now less important than it has been before. What does this mean to you and your web site? Don't care too much about Google PageRank. A high PageRank is nothing more than a line of green pixels in the Google toolbar. It doesn't mean that you'll get better search engine rankings and it doesn't mean that you'll get more visitors. If you want a successful web site, then build a useful web site for your visitors. While the PageRank number seems to become less important, links to your web site are still an important factor for high Google rankings. Get links from other web sites that are related to your site and provide links to other web sites that are useful to your visitors. That linking strategy will not only bring you targeted visitors from other sites, it will also result in a higher PageRank for your web site if that is important to you. In addition, optimize your web page content so that it makes sense to both your visitors and search engines. As explained in previous issues of our newsletter, optimized web pages get better search engine rankings than unoptimized pages. A web site with useful content, good design and good incoming links will bring you the best results. You'll get high rankings on search engines and - even more important - more customers and more sales. |
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| 2. Search engine news of the week |
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Survey questions Google user loyalty "Nearly two-thirds of Google users are willing to switch to another search engine, according to a new survey. [...] The findings echo a recent study by market researcher Vividence that concluded other search engines compared well with Google. In that study, Web users found the correct answer to sample searches nearly as often at rival search engines as with Google."
"Google continues to gobble market share from Yahoo! and other search competitors, as OneStat found that more than half of global Internet users continue to rely on the dominant engine. [...] Demographically, Hitwise found that Google was the preferred search tool for males, while MSN Search appealed to females. Yahoo! was the more popular engine for 18 to 34 year-old searchers, and MSN Search captured the over 55 crowd."
"Espotting Media, Europe's leading paid listings provider, today announced that the stockholders of both Espotting and FindWhat.com approved the merger between the two companies in their respective shareholders meetings last week. The merger is scheduled to close on July 1, 2004."
"Yahoo! Europe director of country operations, Martina King is to resign after five years with the company. The former UK MD of the portal, King is expected to leave sometime during the summer - Yahoo is looking for a replacement."
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| 3. Articles of the week |
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Wealth awaits Google staff: workers could get distracted, leave "Add 'rich' to the terms used to describe Google's employees, otherwise known for combining a hard work ethic with roller hockey games in the parking lot. Hundreds of them are expected to become paper millionaires after the Mountain View search engine company's initial public offering. But the new wealth could threaten Google's unique culture. If past Silicon Valley companies are any guide, some workers may lose motivation or quit."
"Dr. Gary Flake, Principal Scientist & Head of Yahoo! Research Labs, was kind enough to answer 20 questions for this email interview. This is a 'must read' for those of you interested in web search and online information retrieval."
An interview with Craig Nevill-Manning, Google's senior staff research scientist, he answered questions about using Froogle. |
| 4. Recommended resources |
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"ARELIS is the clear winner in the battle to automate the reciprocal linking process."
ARELIS is the clear winner over Z*** in the battle to automate the reciprocal linking process. [...] ARELIS is also easier to learn and by my experience has much greater functionality than Z***. In this evaluation ARELIS was the clear winner over Z*** and I have no hesitation in continuing to use it or to recommend it to any other web site designer or web site owner who wants to gain reciprocal links."
Derek Patterson, President eGlobalHealth Insurers
You can get US$50 for your pay per click advertising campaigns in the active webmasters directory. |
| 5. Previous articles |
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