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Google Page Rank
Q)Will having a higher Google page rank increase the number of visitors to my site?
Before we can answer that we will have to look at what exactly Google page rank is. Google page rank is a spurious form of measurement for site
popularity that the company introduced fairly recently. It is unknown to everyone, except possibly Google, how exactly it ranks sites. It is
assumed however that its ranks depend upon on a mixture of traffic a site receives, external links pointing towards it and the content it
contains. New websites may not have a page rank for many months. It is also possible to have a very successful website with thousands of visitors
and sales and still not being ranked highly, if at all. This is because Google only ranks pages once every few months, probably around once every
four-five months. So if you start your website and straight off advertise heavily you might receive a high volume of traffic but it may still
take months for Google to look at your site and rank it accordingly. Also, as a sites rank is dependent on more than just traffic! Levels, in
that scenario your site may still be ranked lowly once it is eventually seen.
To see a websites Google page rank you can download the Google toolbar and then once it is installed right click on it and select show page
rank.
So back to the myth – Does having a higher Google page rank mean more visits to your site? Well, yes and no. No, because it alone doesn't
actually have any effect on search placement, and as such won’t increase traffic. Yes, because indirectly it will benefit your site. If you have
a high page rank Google will prioritise your site and check back often to see if anything has changed, such as content, giving you a good chance
to increase your standing with the search engine. Another benefit is that both people and sites are more willing to trust websites that have a
high Google rank. For example, if you are submitting your site to directories you will want to submit it to a high Google rank directory as
Google will check them more regularly and take more notice of them and their content (which will be your link). So indirectly, a high Google rank
should mean more visits for your site.
Buying in Traffic
Q)Is it worth me buying 10000 hits for £££/$$$?
OK, we have all seen the adverts in our email promising thousands of targeted visits for an amazingly cheap cost. And at one point or another we
have all been depressed enough to be tempted by them. But just say no.
The idea is, for say 100 pounds (or 200 dollars), a traffic company will direct ten thousand or so visitors to your site who are actually
interested in your content. It sounds great and some companies will actually provide what they say as far as traffic to your site is concerned.
However I have never found one where the traffic is actually targeted and people even bother to look around my sites. Often it turns out to be a
robot that is obviously not going to look or buy anything from me. If not it may be that thousands of unfortunate people have had a dozen pop up
windows attack them as they bravely try to fight them off. I may be generalising slightly with this, but usually the people that are directed or
redirected to your website will want nothing more than to close it down.
It could possibly work for you if your site instantly captures people and most of your money is made off advertising that these people quickly
click on before closing you down. However do not attempt to use bought traffic whilst using Google Adsense on your site as it is against their
rules and your account might be terminated without warning. Another possible benefit is that some search engines rank sites based on incoming
traffic, thus 10000 more hits by anybody may actually boost your rankings. However, this is unlikely to fool search engines such as Google or
Yahoo!.
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