Now that people's page ranks have dropped for the update in Google's algorithm, the SEO community in general is speculating that PageRank will be no more. Are the rumors true?
Yes, there are a million different examples of "real good sites" that have dropped in SERPs dramatically, but I guess I'm just having more trouble seeing this as a negative thing in the long run. When you are in the business of manipulating the system, it's only a matter of course that eventually, the system will manipulate you. As Elton John sang, "times are changing, now the poor get fat, but the fever's gonna catch you when the [expletive deleted by author] gets back."
Any time there is a shift in what works / doesn't for SEO for any of the major search engines ... well, when you're operating under assumptions and using tactics that don't apply or just don't work anymore, what is the logical reaction? Going back to 2001, you can find complaints about people's pages dropping from SERPs when Google "changes something." The circle of life is as relevant as ever.
When you spend your days researching where to buy the best paid links, and all the knowledge and work in that regard seems to have been blown out like a candle in the wind, how are you going to respond? Time and money, gone. It's extremely frustrating.
Holy Moses I have been removed!
What happened when Bourbon update came out? How about Jagger 1, 2 and 3? Was there more unrest with Big Daddy rollouts?
As a professional involved in marketing, and especially as the mother of a 2-year-old, I know I have to evolve and adapt to changing situations. Quickly. Or I won't make it. I know my future lies beyond the yellow brick road.
This new update doesn't change anything, really. Not the building blocks that matter. The strongest SEO tool we have is still the gray matter between our ears. When Google's algorithms change, our gray matter remains.
It seems since when the Bourbon update was completed, the paid link demotion was inevitable. In addition, when more importance was placed on IBL (Inbound Links) Relevancy - as indicated in Update Jagger in 2005, it only makes sense that Google would indeed continue to "purify" relevant inbound links and make relevant links matter more.
Call me naive, and maybe my rose colored glasses, electric boots and mohair suit are not fashionable at this time, but I think all the work we're doing to follow the well-publicized Google guidelines will continue to payoff.
We have Google's heart in our sights through application of their webmaster tools, and although everything crumbles sooner or later, we have a million different resources at our fingertips to apply our gray matter quickly and effectively.
Just my 2¢ anyway!
© 2007 Jennifer Poyer