This is part three of my "Search Engine Optimization Demystified" article! If you missed out on Part 1 and 2 of the series then you should read it here and here before reading the following article!
SEO Myth#6 – There is no point in commenting on a blog post that has no PR: If you don’t post nice comments on this blog post simply because this particular page has got no pagerank, I pity you! No child becomes a hero right out of his mother's womb; he needs to be nurtured and educated for that. In the same way, no new page gains a high pagerank overnight! I need to build a lot of backlinks for THIS page as well as give some to Google to do its "math" before it gains pagerank.
As a commenter however, you have nothing to worry. When you post on my blog, you will get the benefit of my DOMAIN's pagerank, rather than the pagerank of this particular page or for that matter any other page here!
[Of course you need to post 3 nice comments o get a linkback but that rule applies only to my blog! ;)]
So that is how stuff works really. Ask Darren of Problogger if you don’t believe me; he is 100 times more experienced in blogging and SEO than I am, but I dare say that he still cannot build a high PR page overnight! The PR of his domain is the indicator of the hard work Darren has done over the years!
I don’t know from where and how he gained backlinks; I am not sure whether he did it by writing good content, building links artificially or doing both! But the fact remains that no matter how high his domain's PR is, he still cannot have high pagerank on a newly made post/page within a few hours or even a few days! After all, Google needs time to calculate whether this newly created page is even worthy of pagerank at all! :D
Just so you know, I don’t hold any personal grouse against Darren. After all, he is generous enough to freely share so many "blogging secrets" with us "lesser bloggers"! :D
How to prove me wrong: Self explanatory. Take ACTION! :D Why not actually go through Angela's backlink packets and find some high pagerank blogs to comment on? It would then be easier for you to check if I am wrong or right! You may post your results below! ;)
Of course you can find high pagerank blogs in other ways too, but it would take some time before you figure out whether they are dofollow or nofollow, or whether they allow commenting at all! :)
BTW, if I were wrong, don't you think Darren would jump in here to prove the same? ;) (kidding)
SEO Myth#7 – If there are a lot of spammy links pointing to my website, I would lose my search engine rankings: The fact remains that you are responsible for your own karma (actions), not that of someone else's. This Universal Law of Nature is something even the Google team believes in! Google's SEO experts know fully well that you have no control over your incoming links! On the other hand, you can certainly control the links YOU are pointing to, that is, your outgoing links!
Therefore:
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Nuttie Guru Says:
a) If 1000 spammy websites linkback to you, you would NOT lose your SERPs; far from it, you may actually end up gaining a little pagerank!
b) If YOU linkback to those 1000 spammy websites, Google may assume that you are a part of the "bad neighborhood" and as a result, you may lose your SERPs!
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I am saying "may" because personally I never had the "good fortune" of having 1000 spammy links for my website, incoming or outgoing. This is something I gathered by reading Google's webmaster's guidelines as well as talking to experienced people (NOT those self-styled SEO gurus). I also know that if indeed it were so easy to influence the SERP of a website just by pointing some "bad" links to it, it would have been so easy to shoot down any competitor's at a moment's notice! In any case, if you think I am wrong, there is a good way to prove that.
If you hate me for any reason whatsoever, there is a good way to take your revenge! ;) Point 1000 spammy links to any of my websites! Again, make sure that none of these backlink sites are "clean" or "white hat"! They can be anything including spammy sites, porn sites, "blackhat" sites, gambling sites, warez sites, sites banned by Google, etc.
Two things may happen as an offshoot of your backlink building campaign: either I would lose or gain search engine rankings; in case the former happens, you would be the winner but if the latter happens, I would have the last laugh!
As always, you may post your results below!
Well there are many more myths I have got to debunk in the subsequent parts of the "Search Engine Optimization Demystified" series! However, if you want me to write all the remaining parts, you MUST post a nice comment below! :D (only kidding)
You can post your comments below!
To be continued…
RANT:The other day someone else commented on my blog that my "how to prove me wrong" strategy is almost redundant because not many people are going to prove me wrong! Well I guess such people would not go anywhere in life. Some facts: many of the myths I have been SEO discussing here are born out of and believed by lazy and ignorant people.
Lazy people tend to shirk from their responsibilities while the ignorant people believe that they cannot do this or that. In turn they tend to harbor certain baseless misconceptions (either self-made or passed on by gurus) and pass them on to posterity! These are also the same people who readily fall for the guru who makes the biggest promise to them!
Ignorance certainly has cure, but laziness is almost incurable! How do I know? Well I have been both ignorant and lazy, and while I have become more knowledgeable over the years, a little bit of "laziness" still remains within me! :P The only way to cure laziness is to go out and take action! Once you do that, you will discover a whole new world that is very much different from your beliefs!
Since people need "incentives" to get out of their "laziness" and take action, I give them the incentive of "proving me wrong"! Whether you are able to prove me right or wrong doesn't matter; what actually matters is that in the process of proving me wrong you took the action required to become successful!
Thanks once again Arindam. Your first 2 SEO posts came in handy at the right time and now this ‘blog’ article comes just 2 or so weeks after I have started my first blog (The World’s eVent). I was wondering just today why I get no comments (VERY few visitors so far) and now you have answered that question for me. I will just steadily trudge along and eventually someone will post. Thanks again for all of your information and leadership!
Sincerely,
Robert (sec)
Hi Arindam.
I like your in-your-face style. You are absolutely right about gaining Page Rank. There are lots of cookie-cutter methods, and, some do work, but, the fact remains: It’s takes hard work and time to improve PR!
I have used every method in the book. I began in May 2006 with absolutely no knowledge of the Internet. Since then I have learned and applied what I learned.
I have 20 blogs today. Most are PR 1-2-or-3 from working at it daily.
There is one caveat, however. Having a top ten page rank does not mean high volumes of traffic as some people claim. Page Rank is more a function of getting backlinks, as you say. Backlinks are “votes”, good or bad, that Google counts towards giving you a better or worse page rank. PR does help but it’s not the end-all solution.
I would rather have 1000 targeted visitors a day with a 0 PR.
Keep up your good work!
Jim
It’s not just page rank, Arindam is writing about. It is about gaining Google trust.
I have many sites. Some of them have high PR and still no first page SERPs. I have sites that score high in results with almost no backlinks.
It’s about putting up good websites with lots of good content. It’s about how old your website is. It’s about a slew of factors. Often it’s better to turn your back on PR and just play the PPC game. Not sure yet which is more expensive. :)
Hi Arindam,
I appreciate your informational e-mails. I am in the process of building backlinks to my blog which is more of a hobby at this point than a source of income – I just enjoy the topic – so your SEO blog posts are very helpful.
I realized that an excellent content on the Internet these days means very little if you don’t promote it daily till you see some steady traffic coming to your site.
Thanks again,
Lia
Just wanted to tell you all know how much I appreciate your postings guys.
Found you though google!
Dear Arindam
I subscribed to Angela’s backlinks a month ago, and as I was browsing through the stuff she sent me, I discovered your Nuttiezine and this blog.
All I can say is THANK YOU! I am learning so much from you and in such a short time that my mind is spinning.
My Relax and Rejuvenate website and my blogs are benefitting from your advice and Angela’s backlinks on a daily basis.
I’ll be back!
Hello Again Arindam,
I was just noticing some of the comments here on your blog and I must agree with the ones concerning Angela and her backlinks. I joined up with her service a couple of months ago (at your suggestion) and have noticed considerable site ‘exposure’ and numbers ever since. Thanks to you (and Angela) for all that you do…
Robert (sec)
Hi Robert,
Buy me a beer then! ;)