Google News Archive Forum

<Nick, spend less time looking at that little green bar, and more time developing content. :)>

Heheh.. I'm actually very good at multi-tasking, so I can do both simoultaneously.

But really, the green bar is important. It helps to tell us if what we are doing is right as far as SERPs are concerned.

I understand the need to develop new content, and I spend quite a bit of time coming up with new ideas for things that will attract and keep visitors to my sites. But when I have information, such as how PR works, I'm going to use it to help get those visitors to my site so they enjoy my content.

Your site's position in the SERPs is a better indicator. A measurable increase in sales over time is the best indicator.

>>I'm going to use it to help get those visitors to my site so they enjoy my content

TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will. Quality content will keep them there, effective copy will stimulate them to buy. The time analyzing TB PR can be better spent writing quality sites and asking for links or writing quality copy. No one should need the little green bar to determine for them if a site is a quality site.

<<It helps to tell us if what we are doing is right as far as SERPs are concerned>>

<Your site's position in the SERPs is a better indicator.>

It takes less time to look at the green bar than it does to do actual searches for every keyword where someone may find your site. An actual search will only reveal how you rank in one set of keywords, where the greenbar indicates (but doesn't tell decisively) how you will rank against competitors for keywords.

Also, the greenbar is useful when visiting other sites. When I go to a site that has a TB PR which differs from what I would expect, I try and figure out what they are doing "right."

And, when looking for reciprical links (from sites that are in the same category as my own), I have quite a selection. Using the greenbar, I can focus my efforts on the sites that have a higher TB PR.

<A measurable increase in sales over time is the best indicator.>

This is assuming that a site's sales can be directly correlated to its visitors, or that a site's success is measured by sales.

<<I'm going to use it to help get those visitors to my site so they enjoy my content>>

<TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will.>

I didn't say that; you just took what I wrote out of context so it looks like I said that.

<Quality content will keep them there, effective copy will stimulate them to buy.>

I agree with that.

<The time analyzing TB PR can be better spent writing quality sites and asking for links or writing quality copy.>

I'll admit the first time I installed the toolbar, I had to hover over the PR so the tooltip would tell me what the PR was. But using it over time, I got used to the green portion relative to the white portion.. and now I can know the TB PR of a site within about 0.4 seconds, so it takes very little analyzing.

If I took that 0.4 seconds and applied it to writing content for my sites, I don't think it would have much of an impact.

<No one should need the little green bar to determine for them if a site is a quality site.>

That's not the reason for the greenbar.

<Only SEOs look at the little green bar.>

The green bar does no such thing. The green bar is a measure of popularity, not precision or relevancy, and give very little insight into how a keyphrase will rank at all unless the phrases are in a non-competitive set.

>>When I go to a site that has a TB PR which differs from what I would expect, I try and figure out what they are doing "right."

That analysis takes a nanosecond. The site is acquiring inbound links.

>>Using the greenbar, I can focus my efforts on the sites that have a higher TB PR

When you should be focusing on sites that will drive traffic to your site rather than believing that TB PR is an indication of the success of a site, a metric to determine traffic flow or an indication of how valuable a link is to the surfer.

>>or that a site's success is measured by sales

I only deal with commercial sites, I haven't seen any folks that are willing to fork over any dough to see if their site about Muffy the Fantastic House Pet can achieve higher rankings.

I said- TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will.

You said- I didn't say that; you just took what I wrote out of context so it looks like I said that.

Your previous comment was- But when I have information, such as how PR works, I'm going to use it to help get those visitors to my site so they enjoy my content.

I repeat- TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will. Further, checking position for a limited number of keyphrases in pointless. Check your logs, that is where the useful information is.

>>And all I have to do is find one non-SEO (and I know several) that use the little green bar to make that statement false.

<<where the greenbar indicates (but doesn't tell decisively) how you will rank against competitors for keywords.>>

<The green bar does no such thing. The green bar is a measure of popularity, not precision or relevancy, and give very little insight into how a keyphrase will rank at all unless the phrases are in a non-competitive set.>

It does measure link popularity.. a higher link popularity equates to a higher probability of ranking higher. The green bar gives an indication of this link popularity. I am not implying that the greenbar is the cause of a particular ranking.

<<When I go to a site that has a TB PR which differs from what I would expect, I try and figure out what they are doing "right.">>

<That analysis takes a nanosecond. The site is acquiring inbound links.>

This analysis takes a nanosecond because of the greenbar's existance.

Without the toolbar installed, I would have to go to Google and search on any site I was interested in knowing about their backlinks, and I have no idea which sites I want to bother searching backlinks on. Having the greenbar available means that when I happen to land on a competitor's site and see that they have a high TB PR, I can do a backlink search on them, find who links to them, and see if those sites would be interested in a link trade (these is an easy way to find a large group of relevent sites).

It helps focus efforts.

<<Using the greenbar, I can focus my efforts on the sites that have a higher TB PR>>

<When you should be focusing on sites that will drive traffic to your site rather than believing that TB PR is an indication of the success of a site, a metric to determine traffic flow or an indication of how valuable a link is to the surfer.>

But it *is* a metric to determine traffic flow. Simply from my own experience, a PR6 page that links to be generates more click-throughs than a PR4 page that links to me. Aside from that that link does help me increase my PR which helps increase my position in the SERPs. If you don't believe this is true, then you may want to do a bit more research on the importance of PageRank.

<<or that a site's success is measured by sales>>

<I only deal with commercial sites, I haven't seen any folks that are willing to fork over any dough to see if their site about Muffy the Fantastic House Pet can achieve higher rankings.>

<There are plenty of sites that are willing to pay for promotion, such as sites for political campaigns.

I said- TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will.

You said- I didn't say that; you just took what I wrote out of context so it looks like I said that.

Your previous comment was- But when I have information, such as how PR works, I'm going to use it to help get those visitors to my site so they enjoy my content.

<I repeat- TB PR won't help get visitors to your site, position and a compelling description will. Further, checking position for a limited number of keyphrases in pointless. Check your logs, that is where the useful information is.>