Google has decided to lower the PageRank associated with barrywheeler.ca from a PR3 to PR2. Should I be concerned that Google has decided my site’s merit is less than before?
For some people new to search they have often been upset that Google has “penalized” their sites with a reduction of page rank. I was there once but quickly realized the PageRank value displayed as part of the Google Toolbar is mostly an “trophy value” allowing them to say “My page is ranked higher than your page.”
Here’s why I am not concerned with the reduction of page rank for my personal blog.
- Traffic from Google is up approximately 15% in the last few months
- Traffic from Bing is up approximately 20% in the last few months
- I’ve done no link building or SEO work on the site in the last year
- Several authority sites from which my links were from have either closed or had a major reduction in page rank
- Other sites I have done no link building and no SEO on in the last year have seen an increase in Page Rank
Had I seen a decrease in traffic across all my sites I would have been alarmed but traffic has risen. This increased traffic has resulted in increased conversion rates from visitors.
Search in the last several months has taken on a whole different direction. Social influence and social media / social influence is affecting ranking as well as traffic.
With many people struggling to adapt their search strategies and social media strategies to the new search algorithms, I’m not the only person to have seen a reduction in page rank.
What the reduction in page rank does provide me is an opportunity to analyze my own SEO efforts, adjust things I see that are no longer effective, provide some insight into what I see happening and share what I learn to the rest of the community.
As part of my personal web rejuvenation and as part of my New Year’s Resolution, I wanted to be more active online. This reduction in page rank is probably the kick in the pants I needed to signify it is now time to start.
What’s your thoughts on this? Send me a tweet @barrywheeler or drop me a note in the box below!
