I suspected another toolbar update was on the way yesterday when I started working on the SEO for a new client. I have a few sites to work on so I made a note of the PageRank of each. This morning I noticed the site I am working on jumped from PageRank one to PageRank three.
I’ve checked some of my own sites and haven’t noticed movement in any of the homes pages (apart from one which has gone from one to zero, but still ranks on the first of Google.co.uk (position four) for the main keyword phrase).
I also noticed that a friends DIY tips site has jumped from two, I think, to four. Which is great. What’s funny though is he has never done any SEO work on the site or sought out backlinks, and the site consistently ranks on the first page of Google for DIY tips. I think this reinforces the old “content is king” mantra and how great content that delivers is vitally important in the battle for traffic. If people come across content that’s worth sharing they will link to it without the need to ask.
The toolbar PageRank update isn’t of much importance, but everyone is still excited when it happens, myself included. What matters most is traffic. And traffic that converts in whatever way you want it to – by signing up for a newsletter, downloading an ebook or even just clicking on ads. And an increase in PageRank doesn’t always mean an increase in traffic.
What about you? Up, down or the same?
