Gone for a while

How do I get higher in Serps

[derekwit]

I have been gone for about a year now. I left the company I worked for and they have just hired me back. I have a PR4 and I am trying to obtain a PR5 can somebody tell me if the techniques I am using are out dated and if so what I should be focusing on. Also what direction I should take for the future. Thanks for all the help in the past and in the future.

[DerekH]

OK - I'll bounce this for you...

Good Content.
Good Page count.
Good inbound links.
Free of spamming techniques...

Now hopefully, someone else will pick this up and run with it.
Or walk quickly....
DerekH

[julinho]

derekwit,
A year ago, PR was the predominant factor in the algo; not anymore, today (search webmasterworld for "Update Florida").
Today, some say PR is still the most important factor in the algo (Google still says "The heart of our software is PageRank"), whereas others say that PR is worthy nothing, and others yet say everything in between.
For better rankings today, go after anchor text (an almost consensus) , PageRank and number of different IPs linking to you (mine and a few others´ opinion).
Also, instead of reading about "PageRank", search the boads for more up to date topics.
And, of course, follow all DerekH´s advices.

[mark1615]

How important do folks think on-topic links are today? We have been proceeding on the basic premise that a link is good, an on-topic link excellent and have focused on such. However, in some areas it is much more difficult than others to get on-topic links. Opinions on this?

[surfgatinho]

Any advice on anchor text.
Do we have to take stemming into account and go for a variety of related terms or just aim for our keywords and stick to them?

[mrclark]

My advice, is to only link out to sites that relate to yours. Google needs to know what your website is about so that they can reward you if a link to you is on topic as opposed to it being off topic.

I think one of their methods of finding out your theme (apart from your sites content) is to see who you are linking out to. I wouldnt have thought they would take into account too much about who is linking to you as that is out of your control.

When you do a back link check, you should see sites at the top that relate closely with you. I reckon that if they are totally off topic, Google is a bit confused as to what your site's theme actually is.

I never really link to sites that are off topic now - ok a PR 7 might persuade me but 99/100 I wouldnt bother.

As a run a website that offers information on a business I think 'Would this person be interested in this guy's website if they do not wish to go any further with what I am offering.'

Steve