EzSEO Newsletter # 48

Andy Williams ez SEO

ezseonews.com

Hi again

This week:

1. Google - PR & Backlinks

2. Which Master Class

3. Keyword Tools

4. Keywords in filenames?

5. And finally...

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1. Google - PR & Backlinks
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Here are some observations that I have made recently:

1. On several of my own sites, I have some pages with zero page rank despite having links pointing to them PR 5 pages on the same site. These pages are now 2-3 months old. Shouldn't they have PR by now?

2. Most of these pages rank well despite the apparent PR 0.

3. Doing searches on Google show up a lot of anomalies. Many top ranking pages have PR 0.

For example, go to
http://www.prsearch.net/

This is that great search tool I mentioned last week which gives you the PR and backlinks of the search results. Do a search for Bratz dolls..

Here are the top 10 sites when I search:

#1 PR 6 Backlinks - 151
#2 PR 7 Backlinks - 5
#3 PR 0 Backlinks - 18
#4 PR 4 Backlinks - 2
#5 PR 0 Backlinks - 0
#6 PR 0 Backlinks - 0
#7 PR 0 Backlinks - 0
#8 PR 0 Backlinks - 0
#9 PR 6 Backlinks - 46
#10 PR 0 Backlinks - 11

4. Backlinks at Google don't tally with known backlinks. This has been reported a lot in various publications recently. Google use to only show backlinks from PR 4 or more sites, but it has been reported that backlinks from lower PR sites are showing and backlinks from some higher PR sites seem to be missing.

Reading through these observations, it is clear that something is going on.

It might look at first glance that PR is not being updated since lots of pages which should have PR don't. I don't think this is the case, and I will explain in a moment what I believe is going on. However, before we do that, let's consider some of the other stuff listed above.

Look at those top 10 results again.

How can it be that 6 pages with PR 0 rank in the top 10 for a competitive term?

Also, how can it be that some of those PR 0 pages don't have PR, yet they do have backlinks? Look at position 10. PR 0 yet 11 backlinks reported by Google. Go look at those backlinks and they all have PR 0 as well. So is Google now reporting backlinks from pages that are PR 0?

It all seems very weird, yet I believe the answer to this is very simple. Google has not updated the Google Toolbar for some time, yet in its own database, PR is largely up to date. This means that pages that appear to have a PR 0 may in fact have much higher PR.

From a webmasters point of view, this is a real pain. Imagine putting up a site, adding a page to get some link partners, but not getting any PR on the links page for several months. You contact other webmasters for a link exchange, but the other webmasters ignore your request because you are PR 0!

Could it be that Google have decided to update the Google Toolbar far less frequently, or not at all, so that webmasters cannot find out the true PR of pages in the index?

If so, why would they do this?

Google use to show only backlinks from pages with PR 4 or more, yet now appear to show backlinks from pages with much less PR, even PR 0. Does this mean that Google have changed their policy on which pages they show as backlinks?

Possibly, though doesn't it make more sense that Google still only shows PR 4 pages as backlinks, but since PR on the toolbar has not been updated, we see these backlinks as significantly less PR than they actually are?

For any search engine to return the most relevant results possible, those engines must try to stop webmasters using techniques that get their web pages better rankings. For Google, this includes manipulating PR.

Google state this clearly in their Program Policies for use for Adsense advertising.

Read through the section "Site Content" and look at the last point in the bullet list. Google specifically mentions PR manipulation. If Google is applying these rules to Adsense advertising, does it not make sense that they also apply these rules in their algorithms?

If Google is trying to:

a) prevent reverse engineering of its algorithm, and
b) prevent webmasters from using techniques that might get a webpage ranked higher than it deserves based on its content,

Then surely, not updating the PR on the toolbar is a good thing for Google.

In doing so, it makes it very difficult:

a) for webmasters to find out why top ranking pages rank so well, and
b) for webmasters to get links from other webmasters (which is a way of manipulating PR and increasing rankings).

I know Google want to make their engine the best it possibly can be, and they should be applauded for that. It makes it easier for searchers to find things of relevance. I believe that the whole idea of Pagerank was based on the premise that quality sites would get links from other sites because of their quality, not because of artificial linking like link exchanges. Link exchanges have just gotten out of hand and made a mockery of the Pagerank idea.

So what can you do about it? Well, my suggestion is the same as always. Add quality content to your sites. Other sites will naturally link to yours because your site offers value to THEIR visitors. In addition, write some quality articles and submit them with your own resource box that links back to your site. Submit these to sites that reprint articles, and you will naturally grow your own backlinks and PR through quality content. Your rankings will improve, and Google should love your site for the value it adds to the internet.

For details on how to use Articles for better rankings, why not re-read the report on the subscribers bonus page (listed in the resource box at the end of this newsletter).

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2. Which Master Class?
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This week was a bit unusual. I received three separate e-mails asking me for information on how to use FTP and what software is the best to use. These e-mails made me realise that a lot of people still do not know some of the basic skills involved in keeping your website empire running. Before I ask you your opinion on something, let me just answer one of these FTP questions:

What FTP Software do I use?

Well, the answer is not clear cut. Yo see I do most of my website development in either SEO Website Builder (usually to build skeleton sites which I can then go in and edit in Dreamweaver).

or in Dreamweaver (which you can buy at Amazon). Both of these tools have built in FTP functions which means I don't need to use a dedicated FTP program. However, I do use a dedicated FTP program as well for uploading software, reports etc, and downloading from a lot of shareware sites, product support sites etc. The software I use for that is Cute FTP Pro. This software retails for $59.99 (PC version), but if anyone wants a great FTP program, you can get it at a discount on the following link:

Cute FTP Windows

Cute FTP Mac

There is a demo version at this site, but be aware that if you go back via their normal site to buy the software at a latter date, you will be shown the full price, not the discount price.

OK, that leads me onto the question I have for you. I am thinking about the next course I can run in this newsletter. My initial thoughts were to run a Wordtracker Masterclass where I can take a competitive topic and show you step by step how I research the topic to get hundreds of low competition keywords.

However, since getting these e-mails on FTP, maybe you would prefer a course on using FTP? Let me know what you think, and which you would prefer to see, and I will chose the topic with the most votes..

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3. Keyword Tools
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I still get a lot of e-mails asking me for my opinions on a whole stack of keyword research tools available today. I don't have time to go into detail on them all, but here is a general rule:

If you want to rank high in the free search engines (i.e. not PPC), you are better to stay away from any tool that uses Overture Suggestion Tool for its data. My own research has shown Overture suggestion tool is highly unreliable when reporting the number of times a term is searched for. If you are looking for high demand, low competition keywords, these tools can mislead you. The only tool I 100% endorse is Wordtracker.

Read the Niche within a Niche report at the members bonus page and you will see how I use Wordtracker.

If on the other hand you are more interested in PPC data, the list is a little longer. My favourite tools for this type of research is Goran Nagy's Keyword Analyzer.

Or, Frank Mullen's Niche Database.

The great thing about Frank's tool is that it provides you with PPC tools while still giving you some of the benefits of Wordtracker. The link above takes you to Franks mini-course sign up page where you can get a f.r.e.e. 7 part course on Keyword Research.

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4. Keywords in filenames?
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On my SEO WSB forum, one user posted a question about using keywords in filenames. A month or so ago, Planet Ocean.

published some research suggesting that filenames with keywords separated with dashes may well be penalised.

e.g. my-keyword.html would not do as well as irrelevantname.html

After reading the report, I did some checking, and without going into details, I feel that filenames with keywords separated by dashes are not being penalised. I checked a lot of high competition phrases and found lots with top ranking pages that used this strategy.

I do think that Google has an over-optimization penalty that will reduce a pages rankings if it is too well optimized, and filename is one of many variables used in that calculation.

I also think that in general, homepages rank better than individual pages for given terms, because most links pointing to a site, point to the homepage, not internal pages. It therefore makes sense that there are fewer internal pages ranking as high as homepages for many terms.

Do a search for any competitive term on Google and you will see that most of the top 10 results are homepages, not internal pages.
However, the lack of internal pages (with the keyword in the filename) ranking high for that term is more likely due to the homepages of relevant sites displacing these internal pages from the top results due to their higher PR and link popularity, not because the keyword rich filenames were penalised.

If keyword rich filenames were penalised, do you think that a webpage called "generic-viagra-online.html" could rank #2 in Google for such a highly competitive term as "generic viagra online"?

Have a look at this search and you will see what I am talking about.

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5. And finally...
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Two things.

Firstly, if you don't get a newsletter next week, don't panic. My wife is going into hospital for an induced labour, and I will be there with her most of next weekend. The newsletter will return when things settle down, and I have a new mouth to feed ;o)

If on the other hand you do get a newsletter, don't panic. It does not mean that anything has gone wrong. I may write the newsletter mid-week and schedule its release for next Sunday while I am at the hospital. Aren't autoresponder like Aweber great?

Secondly, the new report "Creating a Niche Site" is available on the subscribers bonus page. Feel free to give this report away as an incentive for people to subscribe to your own newsletter, or maybe as a bonus for one of your own programs.

Have a great week.

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