Many websites have recently lost their Google PR due to the alleged selling of links or excessive link trades. Google often judges links without the “nofollow” tag as attempts to exploit their link popularity algorithm (even when it isn’t).  As a result, most webmasters who weren’t “no following” their links before, will now be doing so for all links. As a testimonial to the popularity of this choice, several WordPress plugins have been created to make “no follow” automatic for all links.
It’s a logical move when Google changes its rules on a whim and then expects full compliance, even on posts made before the change. Regardless of what type of link they say is safe today, it makes sense to simply use the rel=”nofollow” tag for each and every link. This will, of course, render the algorithm useless as an indicator of website popularity, but Google will have nobody but itself to blame for that. Even now, if all it takes is one suspicious link to completely wipe a site’s PR, no other factors are being considered so PR isn’t an accurate ranking at all. Marketing and Public Relations professionals will be far better served by MOZ page authority if they’re interested in link popularity.
I’m all for eliminating spammy sites from search results so those of us who put effort into our websites can place higher. Google’s dedication to that has been commendable and I don’t begrudge them their right to do so. However, they may want to redirect some of the energy used to catch people it suspects of selling links, to visiting sites to find out who is truly producing premium content. I’ve encountered countless websites with a lower PR/search ranking that provide amazing content, but simply aren’t big on marketing. Searchers don’t care who is best at marketing, they want the best relevant content.
Another problem with ranking websites on link popularity is it is entirely inaccurate for sites in a small niche. Naturally they won’t have a lot of links back to their site, but they may have the best content on the web for that small niche topic.
Perhaps it’s time to retire this algorithm all together.
Will you make all links “no follow” to be on the safe side? Please share your comments below.
——————————————
DISCLOSURE: We may receive compensation for s to products on this website.
COMMENTS ARE MODERATED – Legitimate comments will be published after a short delay. Spam will not be published.
Melody McKinnon is an internet entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in a wide range of online business models, backed by a formal business/marketing education and enhanced by training and mentorship. She has owned or managed both educational and ecommerce websites. Her book, 7 Recession Proof Online Businesses to Start From Home, is available from all major ebook retailers.
Melody has worked with many businesses in a multitude of capacities. She can often be found on CanadianDigitalMedia.com, CanadiansInternet.com, CanadianFamily.net, and AllNaturalPetCare.com, as well as other quality digital publications. Her content has earned reference links from highly-respected websites, magazines and university textbooks.
I think I’m going to start nofollowing everything too, this is ridiculous!!
I agree, they’ve become too obsessed with finding cheaters and waste a lot of time they could be using to find great sites for everyone. There’s so much great info online that nobody ever sees because they write to share their knowledge and not for marketing. I want to find those sites too and mayube even moreso! I use Bing and Yahoo a lot for searching because I need to find everything & Google just won’t cough it up. They’re only interested in listing companies that can pay the big bucks.
I could never figure out what the big deal was about backlinks either. They CAN mean people like the site more but not always. Not even close to always.
It always has been a poor quality indicator and they’v put way too much time and effort into trying to make it work as one. Ditch it and start evaluating sites based on solid content because that’s what people are looking for. Stop playing games, get over yourself and step up.
I’ve been thinking the same thing since hearing about some poor guy who had ONE guest post bio link that Google didn’t like and he lost his pr. They don’t tell you where the link is or anything, you just have to guess what annoyed them. Honestly Google…..ONE link? That’s not for search results, that’s obsessive vengeance. Do you think he’ll ever buy advertising from Google? Or even use it to find something online? Not a chance.
Exactly! What do they accomplish by trying to find a needle in a haystack and then penalizing people for every little thing they SAY is a violation??? They’re so determined to find the sinners they’re missing the saints alltogether. I don’t use google for searching anymore either because the results are crap especially for Canada. They need to look at their own maps because they give me british results half the time!! Focus on proactive google before you’re history!!!