PageRank plummeted

[stevetorres]

Hi all,

I was thrilled to have received abundant links for the keyword ‘cowebs’. In fact, I enjoyed the topmost position in Google for a week or so. Somehow my PageRank plummeted and I am 5th in Google. I started adding more links with that anchor but I guess a few sites have more links with the anchor ‘cowebs’. I am really surprised. I am looking for quality advice here. Do you think I went wrong somewhere? Any inputs to help me improve my PageRank? I want my old PR again. How do I get it back? Please help me.

[MikeF421]

First of all, don't worry so much about PR.

I have several sites with a 0 PR showing up on the first page of Google.

Many people get too caught up in PR.

Secondly, there are a lot of variables here.

Is this a new site? If so, it is pretty normal for sites to bounce around the SERP's until Google figures out where the site should be. People call it the Google Dance. I believe there are ways to limit or almost eliminate this, but not everyone may agree with me on that.

Also, this may have nothing to do with what you are doing. It could have to do with what your competitors have done. They may be building more and better backlinks than you are which caused their sites to jump you.

[David Jackson]

I enjoyed the topmost position in Google for a week or so. Somehow my PageRank plummeted and I am 5th in Google.

First of all, it's important to distinguish the difference between "page rank," which Google actually uses to rank your web pages and "toolbar rank," which is the number that appears in Google's toolbar meter. Personally, I don't lose any sleep over toolbar rank, because quite frankly, it really doesn't mean a whole lot. It's a nice vanity tool, but that's about it.

Besides, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to toolbar ranking whatsoever. For example, a couple of years ago when I first started my blog, within two months, I had a toolbar ranking of 3. I figured I was well on my way to a ranking of at least 5 or 6. Now two years later, my blog is much more established, has a lot more content and has many more quality, relevant inbound links. Yet, my toolbar ranking has slipped to 0. With all the good SEO work that I've been doing, how can my toolbar ranking possibly be going backwards? It doesn't make any sense.

Now actual page rank is another matter altogether. Like I said at the top, it's how Google actually ranks your web pages. That being said, it's only one of many metrics that Google uses, with inbound links and age, quality and relevancy of those links being most important. However, I have noticed that page ranking can fluctuate wildly. But since it always seems to reconcile itself (at least with my pages), I don't worry too much about it.

For example, I have dozens of first page rankings for some of my most important keywords. And there are months where my page ranking for those pages remain quite steady. Then one day, I'll check my ranking for a particular page, and it will have fallen out of the top 100 spots. Then, a few days later, it's right back on the first page again.

Again, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Just keep working on getting plenty of quality, relevant, inbound links to your site, and let the chips fall where they may. The rest of it is really out of your control anyway. Besides, in the final analysis, the only thing that really matters are conversions and sales. And thankfully, I'm doing just fine in those two areas.

David Jackson