by Chris
Sunday, November 08 2009
I realize this may be considered somewhat-stale news, but I figured it was worth posting none-the-less.
On November 2nd, 2009, Google released a web-wide PageRank (PR) update. This only the second update so far this year, and it is likely to be the last, for 2009 anyway.
It is somewhat curious this PR update was released not long after a very interesting response to a question I posted regarding changes to features in WMT, in the Google Webmaster Tools Help Forum, entitled "PageRank Distribution Removed From WMT".
In this thread, a Google employee expressed that PageRank is NOT important and people should forget about it. (Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.)
Mixed messages much? A much much too much.
I could definitely go in to a long-winded diatribe about the irony in that particular thread, but alas, I will not -- at least not today. Perhaps I'll save it for a rainy day. Definitely worth reading through that thread though. Very informative.
As an aside, I would like to note that our company website and our company blog (this one) has gone from PR0 to PR2. Not an spectacular increase, but I'm certainly glad we are "off the floor." And there is nowhere to go but up! 
by Chris
Monday, July 20 2009
With the advent of the relative "nofollow" attribute, it's not difficult to notice the recent shift in blogging policy over the last year or so. Blogs that once let the link-juice flow freely have now slowed it down it a mere trickle, and while I do understand the idea of wanting to control how PageRank (PR) flows within and out of a site, what good can come from applying absolutely no value to out-going links? Personally, I feel it has lead to a perpetual degradation of the web.
Nofollow was originally introduced as a means of stopping PR from flowing to pages that don't provide actual content, such as login pages or contact forms, for example. It has now mutated to become the "PageRank Monster" ... "P is for PageRank, that's good enough for me...num num num num." (If you don't get it, don't ask.)
Now, if you follow the blogging scene, or maybe more specifically the blogging scene of web design, development, or SEO, you probably have noticed a resurgence of interest in combating the hurt that nofollow has dealt. Movements like "U Comment, I Follow" or "CommentLuv" aim to bring back the link-love, but is it enough to revive dofollow? ...Probably not. However, I think that in the near future, we will begin to see a change in how people both view and use the rel="nofollow" attribute.
What do you think?
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