Google PageRank update took place on December 6, 2013 and probably, the last PR update for the year. Now, if you have yet to check on your PageRank, you can check your ranking here.
Today, this blog is 5 months and 24 days old. After the Google PageRank update, I received a nice Google’s pat on the back by getting Google PageRank 2.
Thank you Google for that!
It is indeed a long road with all the Google surprises we had encountered during this year especially with Google Hummingbird and Penguin 2.1.
Finally, I truly understand the meaning of “hard work paid off”.
Now, let’s take a look at how my blog did in the past 5 months as of today:
- PageRank 2
- Domain Authority – 45/100
- Page Authority – 52/100
- Root domain links – 357
- Total links – 7,950
The secret recipe to get high PageRank
There are probably thousands of ways to achieve high PageRank and over the course of 5 months, I really tried to think out of the box. I wanted to be different and I ended up creating my SEO blueprint.
For those who had no idea what SEO blueprint is all about, allow me to explain to you in simple words. I created my own SEO strategies and start working out from phrase to phrase. Here are several techniques I did according to orders:
- Build at least 50 quality blog posts on my site
- Practice internal linking among all related articles
- Building reputation and engage in the influence market
- Guest postings on high PR blogs and related niche
If you think I did all that in just under 2 months, you are wrong. I did that for months (every single day). I do skip some days from time to time … hey, I am also human right?
1. Building the right blog content and not applying with guest posting (yet)
For me, content is everything and when I mean everything, it means A to Z.
My ‘A to Z’ means that publishing the right blog content with has high value and quality. Don’t even think of creating evergreen blog posts as I don’t believe in that. What works yesterday might not be useful in tomorrow’s world.
The keyword here are focus, focus and focus. Focus in building a blog full of resources and not only that, focus in building a blog which is outstanding. Why would you want to build a blog which offers the same information with probably a dozen blogs out there?
If you have less than 50 quality posts on your blog, you can (literally) forget about guesting posting. I know hundreds or thousands of bloggers out there who are looking for guest posting but have they ever thought what would happen if they don’t have any quality blog post to share?
For example, you may be able to publish a post on some PR 5 blog but what do you want to backlink to? Linking back to your above average blog post? Hell no!
You want to link back to your crazy and epic blog post, you know … creating the wow factor and start building more readership.
I took the road less taken and decided to focus on quality content over guest posting for starters. Building quality content isn’t easy and I found out that most readers dislike reading articles over 1,000 words.
Wait a minute! My blog posts are usually over 1,500 words and how?
The solution is simple. Creating hype and work from there. Feeling mushy and lost? Here’s an example:
Title: Opps! I Accidentally Increased Google+ Traffic By Over 700% ‘¦ But How?
Content: Make the introduction short and straight to the point. Then, provide images and stats to proof your point.
When I shared this on one of Google+ community, it became (almost) the hottest topic of the day. Readers are responding, sharing and discussing over it. Now, that’s what I call epic blog post.
Out of 100 readers, 50 would probably click on it due to the title itself while 30% will still click on it while believing it is just a scam. This is where quality content and images (stats) close to the introduction paragraph will ‘bribe’ them to continue reading.
Of course, you will have around 20% who wouldn’t even given a damn and not even bother clicking it but guess what? It doesn’t matter because you already have 80% of the reach!
Here are some of my favorite posts that you can dig in:
- What Should You Know About On Page And Off Page SEO?
- 8 (No Brainer) Website Optimization Techniques To Skyrocket Your Blog Ranking
2. Practising proper SEO with internal and external link building techniques
If you are focusing on external link building only, you are definitely missing something really big. You need to focus on internal backlink as well if you want to have a higher PageRank.
Matt Cutts said sharing backlink ranking from one article to another is possible as long as it is legit. So, what I did were on my own blog:
- Find the top 5 blog articles that gain the most organic traffic
- Place 2 to 3 related backlinks (each) on the top 5 posts
- Repeat the process on lower traffic blog posts
With the above, I am able to share my ranking score from highest traffic blog to moderate and low traffic blog posts.
The truth is, I had over 80 blog posts and there is no way I could cover them all. Therefore, choose the right blog posts to ensure that you are making both search engines and visitors happy.
For those who are asking, I focus more on internal link building prior to external link building. This is to ensure that my blog is always prepared in case if I ever get a backlink or trackback from a higher PageRank site.
Here’s a full list of SEO strategies and resources for your reference.
3. Getting involved in the influence market and the effects on blog ranking
I am a huge fan of social media and from the first day of blogging here, I am always focusing on referral traffic.
Before we proceed, do you think that influence market can affects your PageRank?
I didn’t want to be just like the other 164 million blogs out there. I wanted to build my brand … the ‘Reginald Chan’ brand name. So, I started to spend time on several, high profile sites to build my brand name on a daily basis.
Through my experience, building authority and influence could easily be achieved with social media. All you ever need are timing and the right planning. Before you even decide to go into influence marketing, ensure that you know everything about that niche or else, you are going to destroy your reputation.
The biggest misconception about influence marketing is that it is a short term ‘investment’. Building an authority takes time and patience. Personally, I have been doing blog marketing since day one until now. Not even a day rest!
To help you get start with influence marketing, here is one article I recommend you to read; 5 Steps To Become An Influencer In Your Own Niche Like Brian Clark.
4. Guest posting and its effects on Google PageRank
For me, guest posting is a privilege and forever it will be. So, only invest time and effort into guest posting when you have complete the first 3 steps above.
We all know that guest posting is a great way to build backlinks but the biggest question is … how do you do guest posting correctly?
Guest posting works in two ways; Building authority and backlinks. However, that wouldn’t be possible if you do not have quality content to share right? This is where the ‘quality content’ part as said above is very important.
Here’s an example. I noticed many guest bloggers who applied on my site are either submitting spinned articles or low quality ones. For Christ’s sake, please avoid doing so. Instead, submit an article which you had spend hours constructing and are high in quality.
If you are spending 1 hour in writing a blog post for your own site, take 3 hours or more to do a guest post. Guest post must always be more than just good. It has to be epic and it has to be really, really that good.
The truth is that submitting 100 guest posts will not guarantee you a better Google PageRank. Instead, focus in submitting quality guest posts to ensure that each one of them counts.
Bloggers, don’t make the same mistake over and over again. Stop submitting countless guest posts just to build backlinks. Instead, provide quality articles and you would definitely get more than what you ‘asked’ for ~ Self quote.
When it comes to guest posting, this is my guest posting checklist to ensure high chance of approval and building reputation.
What do I think about Google PageRank update?
In a nutshell, Google PageRank is determined by various factors such as the number of backlinks, SEO enrichments and a dozen more factors. It is not advisable to over focus in getting higher PageRank as it will easily cloud your jjudgment
So, how does this recent Google PageRank update affected you? Tell me using the comment form below.
