[meteorite-list] 2013 Meteorite Website Pagerank Report

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2013 23:35:20 -0500
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW8JHasdaca7hBp=ejiZ2KRjpLjseF071gQN24gVPFAEAw_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Al and List,

I want to clarify a few things here.

Al, nobody, including me, would ever accuse you of wrong-doing. I
said that a drop to PR-0 is "usually" the result of a penalty by
Google. I explained this at more length in my original report and
perhaps should have been more clear in this last post. It is a fact
that when a website drops to PR-0, there is a reason for it. Google
may be arbitrary at times, but they do not randomly penalize websites.
 In your case Al, your drop to PR-0 is explained by your hiatus from
the web. Taking a website down completely for an extended period of
time can result in a dramatic PR drop. In your case, this must be
what happened. I did not single anybody out and only made a
generalized comment about the most common reasons for a PR penalty.

" efforts by others to look like the knights in shiny armor, why else
would they post?"

I guess this a reference to me. My motivation in publishing these
numbers and my reports is to help webmasters increase their traffic
and their income. I have been heavily involved with webmastering
since the very first days of the internet and I have seen years of
trends involving traffic and conversions. In fact, SEO (search engine
optimization) is closely related to Page Rank and many businesses pay
hefty sums of money to full-time professionals whose sole job is to do
exactly what I just did - analyzing web traffic trends and increasing
traffic and conversions. Go to LinkedIn and search for SEO services -
it's a real profession in high demand.

Do not shoot the messenger. Everyone on this List knows you (Al) are
an honest man and straight shooter. And anyone who Googles your name
will see that. The same cannot be said for some others and people in
the Meteorite Community know who is who. So, if anyone mistakenly
thought my report was an indictment of your website or character, they
are in error. That was certainly not my intent and I am merely
reporting the numbers and providing some general analysis.

FWIW, Al you are far from alone in seeing your PR drop to zero. Norm
Lehrman, Michael Johnson and Erich Haiderer all experienced the same
reduction in PR and everyone knows they are good people as well.
Google PR is not always a fair representation of a website's
informational value and as Paul Harris pointed out - Google PR is far
from being the only determining factor in search engine performance
for a website. And as Jeff Kuyken pointed out, PR can vary depending
on geographical area. Your PR might be zero from my iteration of
Google, but I have no way of determining what the PR is for versions
of Google in Europe, Asia, or elsewhere.

Whether we like it or not, search engines are a significant source of
traffic and new visitors for any website. People will always feel
confident in buying from a source they are familiar with, regardless
of PR. But, brand new visitors who come across your website in the
results of a search engine query may become your next best friend or
most loyal repeat customer. Some of my best clients have found me via
Google or Facebook - the latter is an entirely different game and
story.

Jim W. said -

"If you want true PR and you want to grow your business, then do what
it takes and forget about these silly big boy numbers games. Get out
there and be part of a
larger community, because most of you are not known any better than
the up and coming Moroccan dealers that sooner or later will get their
PR act together
and kick your butt! Living in a 'click' will not grow your business."

Jim, I agree with the spirit of what you said. But, the internet is a
technology game, whether we like it or not. Ignoring things like
Google PR or conversion rates is not a positive thing - it is like
statistics in sports - they often do not tell the whole story, but
much useful information can be gleaned from them. If a website is not
living up to it's potential, then it is doing it's owner a disservice
and if that owner ignores ways to improve their traffic/conversions,
then they are doing their business a disservice.

For those who do not care about the business side of meteorites or the
technology side of the internet, then ignore reports such as these and
continue doing business in the way that best suits your needs.

Best regards and Happy Holidays,

MikeG

PS - some private comments and responses to my post :

"Nice work"

"Thanks for this interesting report."

" I don't know what the "mainstream dealer's" reaction to your report
is. But from my viewpoint as hunter/finder, and buyer/collector, I
think you deserve one helluva major attaboy!"

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------
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On 12/23/13, almitt2 at localnet.com <almitt2 at localnet.com> wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I wanted to address this post and agree with others and their comments
> that they are not concern about this data.
>
> My website went from a 2 to a 0 because I have been preoccupied with
> taking care of a relative and removed the website for the time being,
> over a year (so as not to waste people's time when I was not on). It
> has nothing to do with padding the numbers in my case (I have a
> webmaster that takes care of things and doesn't do that sort of thing)
>
> It also has nothing to do with any wrong doing, virus problems, illegal
> content. While I am not concerned about ranking, when people post these
> type of items here then have to defend my business and good name. I've
> spent too much time doing things right to allow anyone to think this
> numbers game is anything but that and efforts by others to look like
> the knights in shiny armor, why else would they post?
>
> I've got good customers who know me and tend to buy from me with out
> all the website glare. It's why I have been in the business for 25
> years now.
>
> If you have any concerns please email me off list.
>
> --AL Mitterling
> Mitterling Meteorites
> 25 years in the Meteorite business
>
>
> Quoting Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike at gmail.com>:
>
> mitterling.com - 2 (0)
>
> The reasons for a PR-0 are many, but it's usually a punishment handed
> down by Google for sites that are caught cheating the PR system, or
> for sites that are deemed to contain dangerous or illegal content.
> Dangerous content can include viruses, malware, or links to sites
> known for viruses or malware.  Another reason for PR-0 is a website
> being brand new and unknown on the web.  Since none of these websites
> are new, we can only assume their PR was penalized for some reason.
>
> The PR-0 club is not a good place to be.  It knocks your website down
> in the search results and hurts your overall traffic.  But, it's not a
> permanent dungeon and sites can pull themselves out of the PR-0 hole.
>
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Received on Mon 23 Dec 2013 11:35:20 PM PST