Google PR-- Grey bar vs. white bar

If a solid grey bar means the page has not been ranked and the white bar means your page has been ranked, then are you screwed if Google has ranked your page and found it to be worth nothing (0/10)?

Thanks,

John

Nothing what a couple of good inbound links can't change (Especially one from DMOZ) :-)

Not always, take a look at one of my articles which explains PR0 in a little more detail:
http://www.darrinward.com/articles/25jan2003.htm

Darrin,

Your article was helpful. Is it the actual page in question that needs the external link or is it the site itself (home page) that needs the external links?

Also, if other websites link directly to a dynamicaly generated page(s) does that count towards an external link?

Thanks,

John

I've seen it written that PRzero is basically Google slapping you for doing something bad... or having no inbound links to you as a secondary reason. but every PRzero I have seen, I've seen some bad ju-ju in the code... and could usually find a doorway or dozen. If there are no inbounds, then the site should get going! If it tried a no-no, then good luck to them... what goes around, comes around.

zen yes:

okay, thanks!

I am hoping there aren't any "no-no's" going on. The truth of the matter is that a reputable SEO firm created what they refered to as "content" pages optimized for each key phrase. With the exception of the key phrases all of the text on these "content" pages is nearly identical.


Thanks,

John

Your homepage (www.sayido.com) has a PR4, yet the internal pages have PR0.

The link you have given us seems as though it is not linked to from any other page. you need to put a link to those pages, or at least the one you mentioned on the homepage.

If I were your SEO (which I ain't), I would advice you to focus more on your navigation and use a lot more text for navigation, particularly on your homepage. I'd also be telling you to use H1 tags!

If you want review of your site from our members, try posting the URL in the reviews forum!

Thanks Darrin,

I removed the link to those pages because I was concerned they may be having a negative affect. I created a new batch of pages though that instantly were ranked at 2 and 3. I will try posting i the reviews forum.

Thanks,

John

Those new page ranks are only estimated though...

-Josh

Hello Forum-Mates,

First a quickie intro ... We are Sharon and Roy Montero and have been lurking here for about the last 3 weeks.

We found this forum when one of our List-Mates, Christine Naugle, (from an SEO eMail Discussion List that we're all on) posted about this forum in passing, when she replied to a post.

We were curious, since she only mentioned the following ...



Since we had never heard of SEOchat before, we figured that we would attempt to locate you, by the URL and since it worked, here we are.

VERY NICE community you all have here by the way!

(Hi Cris!!! You all know her as SpiralCris, and thanks for mentioning this wonderful forum in your post on SEO Success as networking and word of mouth is the best way to learn about other sites on the Net. Plus, you NEVER know whom you may meet because of it. By the way, we love networking and are in the midst of designing a networking site for women in business named the iWomen Online Network.)



OK, now on to our reply to John's questions.



Hello John,

Sorry to say, but there are some "no-no's" going on.



What gave you the idea that they are a reputable SEO firm? We'd be very interested to know this.



"Doorway pages" by any other name would still be against Google TOS.





A quick looks shows that ...

<http://www.sayido.com/oregon-wedding-chapels.html>Oregon Wedding Chapels

... And ...

<http://www.sayido.com/oregon-wedding-dresses.html>Oregon Wedding Dresses

... Are 95.581787521079% SIMILAR to each other.

They can thus be considered DUPLICATE/MIRROR pages, which of course is Spam.

Source: http://www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php



If you want our advice ... REMOVE them NOW!



Hmmm, why not? Because this page was SPECIFICALLY designed for the search engines and NOT for end users, which of course is Spam.



The links lead to duplicate doorway pages.



Unfortunately, you have been taken advantage of by an unethical SEO firm.

ADVICE: Demand your money back and get rid of those "doorway" pages and remove them from Google's datbase.

SEO TIP: Design ONE Webpage and optimize it for ONE PRIMARY 3-Word Phrase. Include a "How To Link To This Page" link in the right hand corner of the top of the Webpage or just above the fold (that leads to a small popup window) and explain to folks just how to link to THAT page (include a few examples that folks can simply copy and paste right to their own Webpages). Include your 3-Word Phrase in the Anchor Tag Text and never use an image/logo as your Backward Link. Then ACTIVELY work on acquiring as many of these TEXT links from related sites as you can. Work on this weekly (if not daily) and continue until you are ranked at #1, then maintain your "Link Reputation" acquisitions as needed.

Nice post Sharon / Ray,

Welcome to the forums, I can see you are full of valuable information and your input is most welcome here!

I got a PR0 last year on one of my sites. It was a PR5 and went to PR0 in one update. It took me a couple months, but what I think what happened is this:

Just before I got my PR0, I had been reading alot about Page Rank and found that google didn't list alot of sites that were linking to my site. So I searched the other Search Engines to find sites that were linking to my site. I then created a links page with links to all the pages I found that linked to my site (to help google realize how popular my site was).
Well, next update PR0. It took me awhile to figure out that this new page might be the problem. I pulled my links to this new "links" page, and still got a PR0. I was baffled. I then realized that I had left this links page on my server. I deleted the page from my server (and deleted all links to it).
Next update, I think google put me at PR4, but I was happy to get rid of the PR0. The PR did go back up to PR5 and update or 2 later (not sure if google still had me in a penalty box or if the sites I linked to had their PR drop because I got the PR0).

Anyways, to make a short story long, I think too many "circular links" to outside websites is something google doesn't like. Site A Links page linking to Site B Links page and vice versa is bad. Site A Links page linking to Site B home page and Site B links page linking to Site A home page is good. Not sure if google likes alot of home page link swaps (home page A to home page B back to Home Page A), but don't think I'll test that right now either.

Anyone else notice google doesn't seem to link "circular links"?

Your on the right track commission king, Take a look at this thread for info on "Cross Linking":
http://www.seochat.com/viewtopic.php?t=32

I think the direct "circular links" ( A2 to B2 to A2) are alot more dangerous than say A2 to B1 to B2 to A1 to A2.

Basically anything you do to try and "cheat" or artificially inflate your PR is likely to get you into trouble sooner or later.

I've had a few people ask me for home page link swaps which at this point I have declined to give since I think that could potentially get me back to a PR0 due to the "circular links" it would create (A1 to B1 to A1).

I do link to my other sites, but I do it from my links page just like any reciprical link. I don't home page link swap amongst my own sites.

On a related subject, I remember reading something somewhere that Google claimed there is no way a competitor can do something to cause you to get a PR0. The webmaster has to do something themselves which would cause the PR0.
Creating circular links (knowingly or unknowingly) is something the webmaster would have to do (ie I can't create circular links to your site and get you a PR0 without your participation).
It would also mean, if I post links to a competitors site in 1000 message boards/guest books, it "shouldn't" result in a PR0 for the site. I imagine it it did, then everyone would be out posting their competitors links in every guestbook they could find.

Do you think google uses feedback from the google toolbar to determine which sites you own and what sites you visit? I wonder if the google toolbar is a sort of spyware that google can use to make webmaster's behave. (could it tell if I posted a link to my site on a message board?)
It seems like they could if they wanted to.