Gimzoo

Google PageRank and backlink displays

I welcome search engine optimization (SEO) questions from my readers.

I write numerous idepth articles on various search engine optimzation topics at SEO Chat, a forum and information site on SEO.

I also contribute many posts to various internet discussion groups and message boards on SEO topics.

Search engine optimization forms a large proportion of my daily posts on Blog Business World.

I have started to receive search engine optimization questions, in my daily e-mail, from my readers.

Gordon Smith, of the University of Wisconsin Law School, who writes the highly informative Venturpreneur blog wrote me with a couple of questions.

He wanted to know why, on his Google search engine results pages (SERPs) standings for his displayed keywords, his number of displayed incoming links never changes.

Gordon Smith reports no change, in the number of incoming links, even though he knows he has far more links to his blog than Google is showing.

That is a very frequent question on every SEO discussion forum. The mysteries, of how the dominant search engine Google displays its backlinks, leaves many people puzzled.

First of all, let's clear up some search engine terminolgy.

The position of your blog, in the search engine results for your blog's keywords, is called "search engine results pages" or "SERPs) for short.

Your blog's ranking in the SERPs will change up or down based on your content, your number and quality of incoming links, your blog's title tags, and almost 100 other variables. The SERPs for any keyword (or search term), entered into the search box, is measured by a highly complex computer program.

The computer calculation program, that determines your blog's position in the SERPs, is called the search engine's algoriithm. Every search engine uses a slightly different one. None of the search engines will reveal its secret mathematical formula either.

We are all left to educated guesses.

That doesn't mean we are left to chance, however. There are many tried and proven methods for developing strong placements in the SERPs for your keywords. While the search engines keep tweaking their secret formulas, fresh keyword rich content provided by blogs, will always get good results.

Another term to consider is Google PageRank. Note that PageRank is one word, and refers to the relative importance of any web page on the internet, as caculated by yet another Google formula.

Google PageRank is also one of the about 100 components of the Google SERPs calculation for keywords.

Are you confused yet?

Google PageRank is NOT the same thing as your blog's ranking for your most important keywords in the SERPs. The two names are often confused.

Google PageRank is shown on a logorithmic scale, ranking from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest, and almost impossible to achieve top of the ladder. Most blogs fit into the moderate to solid range of PR4 to PR7.

I have written an indepth article on Google PageRank for SEO Chat called "Google PageRank Primer".

Your Google PageRank can be seen as a level indicator of green on the Google Toolbar. You can download the Google Toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com/.

As a matter of interest, the Google Toolbar also functions as a pop-up ad blocker.

Now, after that lengthy digression, back to Gordon Smith's initial question.

Why does Google only display a few of the incoming links, even though there are many more links to his Venturpreneur blog.

A quick backlink check of Venturpreneur shows 437 backlinks according to Google.

The links can be checked from the Google Toolbar or by entering link:http://www.venturpreneur.com/weblogs/ into the Google search box. Both methods provide the same result.

Sure enough, 437 is the number of links that Gordon lists on his Venturpreneur home page readout of his SERPs positions.

The links displayed by Google must have at least a Google PageRank of 4 or higher. Lower PageRank links do not appear, but they are all taken into account by Google for both PageRank and SERPs calculation.

Google likely has even more PR4 or higher links for Venturpreneur in its caculations, but often elects to display what it calls a "sampling" of backlinks.

Google uses all incoming links, whether displayed or not, in both its SERPs and PageRank calculations.

They just don't show them all.

As far as Google PageRank is concerned, Venturpreneur enjoys a solid PageRank 5. With a few more quality incoming links, Gordon Smith should see an increase in his PageRank to PR6.

The update of Google backlinks and PageRank usually occurs every three weeks or so. The time table for updates is never precise, to prevent it being predictable.

Watching for when the next major update will occur, is a favourite sport, of many search engine optimization (SEO) professionals.

Even I do it.

The next update should take place next week some time, as the most recent one happened in late April.

At that time, we'll see if the displayed backlinks for Venturpreneur will go up or down.

One way or the other, there will be a Google backlink and PageRank update.

Carnival of the Capitalists sets up again

The very popular business and economics travelling fair, better known as Carnival of the Capitalists has pitched the big top at the insightful political blogger Clay Whittaker.

Clay has done a great job with this week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists, which features amny of the leading business, economics, and legal bloggers on the internet.

The topics range from business ideas and issues, to the economy, to education and health care, to government.

I have an entry in this week's edition as well.

Clay was kind enough to include my post on "Blogs and non-profit organizations".

Next week, the Carnival of the Capitalists moves the tent to Josh Cohen's d-42.com blog.

If you wish to have an entry of one of your own great posts, included in Carnival of the Capitalists, simply e-mail it to: capitalists -at- elhide.com.

That's all that's required.

Except for writing the actual post of course.

But you knew that already!

Blogs and non-profit organizations

Blogs are an ideal addition to any non-profit organization.

Blogs work well, either as a blog section within the site, or as a free standing blog linked to the organizational website.

Non-profit organizations include charities, industry organizations, trade unions, and Chambers of Commerce.

The goal of any non-profit is not to turn a financial profit in the generally accepted sense. Their goal is to put forward the causes and interests of the organization's membership.

For a great example of a non-profit organization's use of a blog is found at Yuma Tech Consortium, a committee of the Yuma, Arizona Chamber of Commerce.

The lead blogger for the Yuma Tech Consortium is my friend, Trudy Schuett of WOLves, Food Basics, and several other blogs.

The value of blogs to any non-profit is almost unlimited.

First of all, a blog provides a powerful informational vehicle for the association. The Board of Directors and association staff can keep the membership up to date with the latest initiatives and activities of the organization.

Because a blog is constantly updated, with fresh content, the organizational leaders can maintain up to the minute contact with the members.

Since one of the major difficulties faced by many non-profit organization is membership recruitment and retention, a blog can display the benefits of membership, in real time. Regular postings of how members benefited tangibly from joining the non-profit, can be a useful and interesting series on the blog.

Blogs help the organization in recruiting volunteers for its many activities, from policy committees to fund raising to membership recruitment drives. Openly posting notices of upcoming association events will attract volunteers from the readership.

A blog serves avaluable public relations function for both local and regional news media. Even the national media may pick up stories from a non-profit organization's blog.

Journalists are known to read many blogs on a daily basis, searching for newsworthy article ideas. By posting the policy positions on the blog, as well as distributing them by way of traditional press releases, the story has a greater chance of coverage in the media.

Constant updates about activities and initiatives, on the blog, can go far to helping journalists write about your organization.

Often, non-profit organizations fall victim to some bad press coverage. A blog can get the organization's message out to the media in a hurry. A rapid response, to real or perceived problems, will go far in enhancing the association's image and reputation in the community.

Fund raising can gain a boost from the blog as well.

By regularly highlighting how the money raised by the organization, has helped real people overcome their challenges, the blog will make raising donation levels much easier. Fund raising volunteers will be another result of the charity's success stories.

Chambers of Commerce, attempting to gain public support for business, will do very well with blogs. By showing the general public and their elected representatives, how a strong vibrant business community benefits everyone with more jobs and a stronger local tax base, support for business will grow.

Many businesses already maintain blogs, and will happily link to the Chamber's blog. Small businesses, in particular, will benefit from being part of the Chamber of Commerce reciprocal links from its blog. Association with other businesses, and the networking opportunities afforded through working together, can form another frequent posting idea for the organization.

As you can see, blogs have much to offer to non-profit organizations.

The benefits of a blog to association leaders and managers are endless.

It's time your non-profit organization added a blog to its program.

Blogs and themed links

Themed links. What are they?

A themed link is an incoming link to your blog that is on the same topic or "theme" as your own blog.

For example, you write a car blog. If you trade links with another automobile or car related blog, that is a "car themed" link.

There is some thought, in search engine optimization (SEO) circles, that Google in particular is not giving full credit for non-themed links. Some experts go more extreme in their thinking and even say Google penalizes link exchanges and non-themed links.

I disagree with that thinking of Google penalizing links, at least for blogs. After all, Google's algorithm for calculating search engine results is based heavily on links and link anchor text. Google PageRank is link based entirely.

Let's consider the more likely possibility, that Google gives more value to theme related links. That seems much more likely.

How can blogs gain theme benefits from their incoming links?

Theme your blog to include that incoming link.

We'll return to our car blog example. The car blog has a link from a travel company in Florida. It is not especially on topic.

Theme it.

Write a post about taking a car trip to visit Florida. Discuss driving as an alternative to flying on the major airlines or taking the train or bus. Suddenly, your car blog now has an additional travel related theme.

You can do that, with any incoming links, that are not especially closely related to your blog's subject matter.

You can easily include a post on that topic on your blog. Finding a topic to write about, is one of the most commonly heard problems, faced by bloggers. Theming your links solves that major difficulty as well.

Theming your incoming links can also give you a boost, on all of the major search engines, because your blog now includes some brand new searchable keyword phrases.

You get a double bonus.

Links are worth more in the search engines, due to being on topic, and by giving you more search keywords.

You also get some additional topics to write about in your daily blog posts.

There should be no concern, among bloggers, about whether or not your incoming links are themed to your blog topic.

You simply make them so by blogging about them.

Anchor text and linking

Anchor text has nothing to do with boats.

Ensuring you have good anchor text, will raise the tide for your blog, on the major search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL Search, and Teoma.

What is anchor text?

Anchor text, which is also often called link text, is what appears on your incoming links from other blogs and static websites.

It is also something over which you have limited control. After all, when I put up a link to your blog, I'll usually place the name of your blog in the little text space.

What you can do, and it is especially helpful when you are making a mutual link exchange, is to request how your link anchor text should read. While many people will not use your requested text choice, many will.

Another option is to write out the html code yourself, and send it prewritten. ready to load in the template. Again, not everyone will use your prefab coding, but some bloggers will happily honour your request.

Other bloggers who you know really well, will often be very happy to change your anchor text, to the keyword search terms you are targeting. It doesn't hurt to ask. Perhaps they would welcome the idea of you changing their anchor text as well.

One place where you can control what is written in the anchor text is in your forum signature file. Instead of simply using your blog name, or worse your blog's URL, use your main keywords instead. It may give your blog a little bit of a link text pop.

Why does anchor text matter anyway?

The anchor text should highlight the main keywords that people use to find your blog.

If your blog is called ABC Blog and your main blogging topic is about tiddlywinks, you will score much higher rankings on the various search engines with "tiddlywinks blog" than "ABC Blog" in the anchor text.

The search engines consider the anchor text, especially on another site, to be an endorsement of your blog's main theme. You get even more benefit from that anchor text if the linking blog is also about tiddlywinks, but theming is a discussion for another day.

Suffice it to say that a link from a blog on the same topic on the same topic as yours (in this case tiddlywinks), has more value from one on say, whales or gardening.

Think of getting your anchor text, on other people's blogs, to include your main keywords.

Having strong link anchor text, on the incoming links to your blog, strengthens the power of your links many times over.

As you already know, more links from good solid blogs and websites will help boost your blog in the search engine rankings. Good anchor text multiplies that boosting energy.

As with all search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, it will take them at least two weeks to a month or more to show up in the search results. In the meantime, keep adding more incoming links to your blog.

Don't let your blog leave the harbour without good link text.

Your blog will rise higher, on the search engine seas, if you carefully weigh anchor.