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That's like not buying from a brick & mortar store if there only are few cars in the parking lot.
If you were shopping for a certain item, and found it on a website - but the site had a PR0 or grey bar - would you be hesitant to purchase from this site?
Yes, I would move on. I'm not just speaking hypothetically - I have done this in the past.
When I see a PR0 I just assume that the site has done something to deserve that PR0 like spamming and I don't want to spend my money there. The last thing I want to do is support spammers.
In the case of a grey bar I would assume the site was new and I would rather spend my money at an established site.
Of course, my attitude may change now that my own shopping pages have been PR0'd.
edit: (oops - this is not my user id - forgot to log my roommate out) - posted by aroach
"Representative valid data IS almost impossible to collect, and when it is, it costs HEAPS of money. As soon as alexa data becomes substantially useful they will charge for it - or some of it. Until then, its interesting, but im not going to base my strategy and invested money on it! And i will wont to know also all the figures on where the data is coming from, and full demographics on the toolbars usage (which alexa is collecting of course, but is not telling us!) "
I agree :)
Judging a site based on that is purely ridiculous and in no way would I let some automatic function tell me if a site is worth purchasing from.
So go ahead and miss a good deal just because the toolbar pr can be fluctuating and have its own software errors? I think not.
That's like not buying from a brick & mortar store if there only are few cars in the parking lot.
True - but I would admit to walking by a Restaurant because it was almost empty...
Just my 2 cents. :)
Why would you possibly base your decision on software on Alexa rankings? Just because something is the most popular certainly does not make it the best. Usually, it just means it's the cheapest :)
I look for a physical address, a telephone number and a matching SSL certificate. If they have those 3 things I'm not even worried if the pages "look ugly". Provided I can navigate to the product I want, it is priced competitively, and I can pay for it using a trusted method, they get my money.
I also don't use the toolbar. If it is penalized how did I possibly find it since google is the only way to find sites on the internet. ;)
It depends on many factors.
How did I get there?
Was it a suggested link from a source/person that I trust?
Can I find contact information?
An actual address or just email?
Is the site easy to use?
Am I frustrated after moments?
Can I find the info I am looking for in the first 4 or 5 clicks?
Are there prices listed with out too much hunting?
Are there shipping costs and are they listed?
How is the security?
Do they think Moz is an antiquated browser and want me to upgrade to ie5?
These are a few of the things I think of and I leave if I get the wrong response on any of them but how a site ranks, how ugly it is, it's PR or lack there of have zip, zero, zilch to do with it and well it shouldn't.
What I'm asking is if it is the fact that the company has had its identity validated to get the SSL cert, or is it just for the encryption?
If the SSL certificate shows the company has had its identity validated then that is a big bonus.
If faced with 2+ companies selling the same product at about the same price and all other things being roughly equal between them, then the company who had purchased their own SSL certificate would be my first choice.
I see owning your own verified certificate as advantageous for the simple reason it means you have nothing to hide, are not a fly-by-night, and are prepared to pay about $350/year to show prospects that you have been independently verified.
I personally didn't do the research on how we selected a provider for our SSL certificate, and I'm not sure if all providers are the same. But the certificate provider we use wanted notarized copies of our Articles of Incorporation, Tax ID info, a telephone bill and then they verified it all. It was enough to convince me that anyone displaying a verified certificate was most likely going to be around long enough to ship the goods!
I'm not necessarily saying you can't trust the folks that don't go to the trouble of getting a cert, but most often you don't know any of these companies, the cert gives you a warmer feeling about them.....IMHO.
The ones you can't trust are those that say on their CC processing page, "You are now on a secure server", when plainly you are not. You are most often on a standard frontpage form which is going to send them an unsecured email containing your CC info.! It's amazing how many of them there are.
I'm also pleased to see some merchant service providers / processors are getting more stingent as of lately also. I guess they have been burned enough times now.
How much of the world's economy does Google control or influence?
And, should any organisation with this much power (however so granted) be allowed to self-rule without being goverened by an independent body?
"Quality"
Doesnt matter where it comes from as long as it is what you need. Grey, PR0 or PR10 is completly irrelevant because the domain could be new "Grey or PR0" and therefore passing it by is just dumb. You should help the new emerging companies and not feed the large corporates. It's not as if they need the money either.
