PR Update

PR Update I made you look

The SEO landscape is a forever changing one, as search engines tweak this and tweak that, we have to adjust. New updated, "better" algo's and search engines are released and we have to adjust.

As we all know the PR updates are becoming few and far between ... my question is ....

What if Google PR (the public/published one) never gets updated again? How do you think it would affect the Search Engine Optimization and Marketing World? What would SEO'ers use as the next website measuring tool?

 

It shouldn't have any adverse affects on anyone who does SEO for a living.

 

Does SEO constitute a portion(small or big) of your income?

If yes .. do you have other ranking methods, that exclude G's PR and backlink count?

If yes again .. can you share whatever you are willing to share?

 

Already, with the shortcomings of the Google backlinks measurement, people are starting to use the yahoo tool. If there were no PR updates, I am sure that there would start to be either another competing search engine tool, or we would use the likes of back links measurement as an approximation/feel of the value of a link.

For example, there is the Alexa ranking - with all its shortcomings.

Most times before doing recip links, I disregard PR, and just make sure that pages have been cached by Google. I have faith that if the linking site is getting new links, that their PR will increase in the future.

 

I just publish results of keyword tracking to my client. I let him know what position he is in Google with the keywords he wished for...

 

The SEO that I do for companies other than my own isn't done in the traditional way. (paying for backlinks) I manage every aspect of the site's marketing (affiliate programs, search engine marketing, product exchanges, etc.) and charge a percentage of the profit, rather than just monthly fees for linking.

Obviously Backlinks and PR are a gauge of the success for a websites optimization (in a small way) but a better report is being able to show them simply their search placement. You should be able to show improvements within 2 - 4 weeks to any client, for just about any word, and they can track the SERPs w/ any number of tools (preferably shawn's keyword tracker.)

Showing allinanchor: , inanchor: , link: , linkdomain: (on yahoo), site:, and related commands are not really a strong model to show a client anyway; results in the SERPs speak volumes though.

PR not updating on the toolbar does not mean it won't update internally, so a report from the toolbar doesn't play a large role in the overall optimization process (im sure most anyone will agree.) It is good for selling links with, but doesn't matter as much as the volume of links.

 

Yep are agree the only results for SEO work are SERP's.

Right now, everyone just gets backlinks and more backlinks ... and of course the higher the PR the better. I'm sure almost everyone with gladly exchange links with a PR 8,9 or10 site.

With G not updating the public PR it getting harder and harder to judge the worth of the backlink. And so far what we have listed in the thread is ...
a Y backlink search and Alexa rankings (which I don't like) ... I would also like to add that I think a Y directory listing and a DMOZ (as much as I don't like it) listing. DMOZ just because its so widely replicated, that a listing there will get replicated to potential 100's of other websites.

anymore??

 

The only thing that matters... Results.

 

I agree ... what matters is results ... results are influenced by your optimization .. and one of the biggest off-page factor is backlinks ... good quality backlinks .. and one of the factors to judge this is PR .. and the one's we've listed previously.

So what whatelse do you use to evaluate the worth(or potential worth) of a backlink?
And really what other off-page optimization are there besides backlinks with prefered anchor text?

 

I may have wandered a bit off topic. (Perhaps because I tend to look at the whole picture, instead of just the SEO of a site.)

When I commented that results were how I measure the success of a site, that is truly what I look at. Is the site doing well in the search engines for terms that people are searching for? Are people visiting and staying on the site? Are people making a purchase? For my clients it comes down to one thing, a financially successful website.

I realize now you were asking how to measure the SEO results of a site, but darn it... I think my answer is still the same.

When it comes to links, my methods may not be the most popular, but they have been effective for me. I link to sites that I feel are quality resources for my visitors. I request links from sites that I feel my sites would be a good resource for their visitors. Those links are not necessarily reciprocal. I also try to provide quality content that will receive a nice amount of natural linking.

 

In other words natural link building, your probably the best insulated here against an algo change.