On 9/20/2007 I posted about an experiment I’d been conducting to boost my search engine ranking for the key words I was aiming for. Freelance Website Design and Website Design… At the time of this post, I am currently #4 on Google for ‘Freelance Website Design’ and #36 on Google for ‘Website Design’. A very unexpected bi product of my experiment was an increase in page rank. This may not be completely unexpected, but I was more than surprised. While I was receiving commendation from Google, others were being punished for things that didn’t seem to be in violation ofGoogle’s Policies.
Even Higher Ranking, and What? A Boost in PR?
I am now a PR4. My website, as it is now, is approximately 6 months old (I’ve had other things up here, but only for private use in the past). Here is an update as to what I’ve been up to in the last two months. Once again, if you have not yet read Part I of this, it probably won’t make much sense. So for the last two months I’ve done nothing. I’ve not had any time to even read blogs let alone post comments in them. I’ve been inundated with work and life. Also, as before, I’ve taken a strict, noSEO policy to my ranking approaches. Surprisingly, despite two months of inactivity, my PR has jumped 3 points and I’ve acquired an even higher position for my sought after key phrase ‘Website Design’.
What Was Expected
Ever since the beginning of this I’ve been wondering whether this would be effective or not for several reasons. The main being that many blogs seem to have no-follow on their comment links / names, and also the fact that people may simply delete my comment regardless of how absolutely not spam it is simply because I use a key word instead of my actual name. So far, here are the results…
Definitely Not Comment Spamming!
Being that my rank is still climbing and holding steady as well as the fact that I’ve gained more PR, I would have to think that blog owners realize how benign people using keywords for names really is. No matter what you think or how you look at it, a spam post is a spam post. No ifs ands or buts. However, simply using a keyword in your name instead of your actual name does not constitute a spam post, as your post is still just as valuable as the person ahead or behind you. Besides,spammers are the cancer of the Internet, and are very easily spotted. Oh hey guys, you want to buy some Cialis ? Viagra perhaps? Seriously, any one who thinks swapping out your name for a keyword on a comment we were already going to leave is the same as spam needs to recheck their spam folders and seriously rethink which is actually harmful and a pain in the arse.
No-Follow, Google, and WordPress
I’ve not looked into how many of the blogs I’ve left comments in are in fact no-follow, nor do I really care. My guess is, with these numbers, that most blogs are either not no-follow, or that Google has been pulling a leg or two with what they’ve stated regarding No-Follow links. My guess, however, is the first. My guess is most people do not care whether their links are no follow or not. Mine aren’t as I do not have a problem with people leaving an insightful comment, and getting a free link back out of the deal. I’m simply thrilled that people stop by and read what I’ve written.
Conclusion
There are still many ways to increase ranking, do SEO, and boost your traffic without spending money. The Blogosphere is a great community that provides numerous opportunities to meet others, share ideas, learn, and now increase your traffic, yes, even without Blog Rush. I for one am happy to be apart of it, regardless of how small my role actually is.
As always, thanks for reading. I’ve been on hiatus lately due to work and such, but I’m going to try to step it up. (For my small handful of subscribers :) )