An ‘Independent Web Advice’ Blog

Oh No!! Lost a ranking point - but why?

Google has updated it’s map of the web one more time and my site has dropped from a PR5 to a PR4. I must admit that I am personally ‘gutted’. But is it Google’s fault or mine. I suspect it is mine.

The truth is that my site does not deserve a PR5 ranking. I have seen much bigger web sites with a PR of 5. Mine has been a PR5 for some months now and that has been reflected in my traffic stats. But since it dropped to a PR4 there has been a noticeable drop in traffic.

Unfortunately it is all my fault! Busy with other projects and to a certain degree disgruntled with this web site, I have failed to write regular new articles, failed to write regular blog posts and failed to promote my own site. Google is actually being very fair not dropping me to a PR3.

So what can I do? Well I am actually toying with the idea of dropping ALL the unneccessary clutter from my site. The repeated links, multiple navigation tabs, plus clearing out all the less than excellent articles. ie all the rubbish. Time for a spring clean.

This time I shall not be considering Google in my design. I shall try to rebuild the site for the user. I shall also try to stick to the one theme of the web site that is the most important. FREE WEB ADVICE. I shall remove all the sales pitches for my services and all the dead links. I shall bring up to date all the articles and organise them in a much more methodical way.

This will take a long time, perhaps six weeks. I will also be going pure - pure ETOMITE and no other third party programmes. I will miss wordpress, perhaps I will make an exception for wordpress, perhaps not.

Google is remarkably accurate. Once again the old chestnut, don’t try to fool Google.

Speak soon,

Paul Drewett

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