Thursday, November 22, 2007
Why I'm a lame blogger, reason #78 - I don't "get" Page Rank
Recently there has been some brouhaha over Google demoting the Page Rank of sites it considers to be art of link farms. (TechCrunch has covered this a few times...more generally here and then more specifically about Iza (nee Pay Per Post) here.
I will now confess to you: I don't know what Page Rank really is; I don't know any of my blogs' Page Ranks; I've never tracked my Page Rank.
And further: since Page Rank is something calculated mysteriously and controlled by company over which one has no control, it really seems more like a mythological creature, rather than a quantitative metric I should care about.
Now, I'm not all up in the "Google is evil" camp. I like Google just fine. I use Google. I generally find their search results reliable and authoritative, so I would totally agree that they have the credibility to rank how relevant certain sites or individual hyperlinks are to a given search query.
But the concept of an overall page rank for a site that somehow people attach great meaning to without context seeming to matter? I really don't get it. And I mean that literally - is that even what Page Rank is supposed to represent?
You may ask, what do I track? No, I'm not one of those bloggers who says I blog only for myself and don't really care who or how many read me. I track my traffic. I track if anything if I've written spurs someone else to write something. I track if any post seems to generate a lot of interest and comments. I care about these things, truly.
So, am I missing the boat. Is Page Rank one more thing I should obsess over? Or is it just looking for some mysterious pat on the head from an Internet father figure holding us all at arm's length?
Inquiring minds kinda want to know, but will probably never do anything different about it, because I'm already a lame blogger for 77 other reasons, and caring about Page Rank probably won't save me.
I will now confess to you: I don't know what Page Rank really is; I don't know any of my blogs' Page Ranks; I've never tracked my Page Rank.
And further: since Page Rank is something calculated mysteriously and controlled by company over which one has no control, it really seems more like a mythological creature, rather than a quantitative metric I should care about.
Now, I'm not all up in the "Google is evil" camp. I like Google just fine. I use Google. I generally find their search results reliable and authoritative, so I would totally agree that they have the credibility to rank how relevant certain sites or individual hyperlinks are to a given search query.
But the concept of an overall page rank for a site that somehow people attach great meaning to without context seeming to matter? I really don't get it. And I mean that literally - is that even what Page Rank is supposed to represent?
You may ask, what do I track? No, I'm not one of those bloggers who says I blog only for myself and don't really care who or how many read me. I track my traffic. I track if anything if I've written spurs someone else to write something. I track if any post seems to generate a lot of interest and comments. I care about these things, truly.
So, am I missing the boat. Is Page Rank one more thing I should obsess over? Or is it just looking for some mysterious pat on the head from an Internet father figure holding us all at arm's length?
Inquiring minds kinda want to know, but will probably never do anything different about it, because I'm already a lame blogger for 77 other reasons, and caring about Page Rank probably won't save me.
Labels: Google, Page Rank, TechCrunch
// posted by ElisaC @ 8:16 AM 
Comments:
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I "get" Page Rank in theory, but putting it into practice looks like a lot of hard, time-consuming work in finding the right inbound links for your web site.
I've heard of a search engine ranking software called Nemeas that ranks domains and URLs so you can choose those that may be the most effective links on your web site. Have you heard of this software?
I've heard of a search engine ranking software called Nemeas that ranks domains and URLs so you can choose those that may be the most effective links on your web site. Have you heard of this software?
# posted by 
: 12/04/2007 4:14 PM
: 12/04/2007 4:14 PM
Haven't heard of it. It all sounds so calculated and NON-organic. And while I support people as they try to professionalize their blogging, somehow I still have this dream that you can do that, grow your business, make money...and still maintain your authenticity. Some of this stuff sounds liek you'd spend a lot of time trying to "game" some system...time that could be spent on developing great content and great online relationships.
Finally, I've found a human being on the Internet, one who's not afraid to admit to a lack.
I can relate to you well; I don't a thing about the Internet. Luckily, I have enough to get myself profesional help. I got James Brausch.
I can relate to you well; I don't a thing about the Internet. Luckily, I have enough to get myself profesional help. I got James Brausch.
Pagerank not really a matter, some website with low pagerank can list 1st at search engine. It good to raise your pagerank but not worthy to use all your effort to get high pagerank. Just my opinion
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# posted by : 5/07/2008 11:23 PM
: 5/07/2008 11:23 PM << Home
