I had writing commitments to work on, but chatting with a friend in the wee hours of the morning got me sidetracked. Not that I’m complaining.
Seriously, chatting with someone who had fresh inputs to contribute is fun, not to mention productive. The end result, not even a dull and boring introductory statement written. (And yes, I’m still not complaining.)
Did I just get penalized?
I noticed that some blog posts in this blog that previously had been awarded PageRank 1 now fell back to N/A. Does that mean I had been Google-penalized? If so, how come? What did I do? Or not do? I only do simple and basic SEO because that’s all I can do. Maybe I’m still doing things the wrong way and need to learn more.
Life, as they say, is a never-ending learning process. And if you’re like me trying to carve a place in this complex Internet universe, whether you like it or not, learning alien things like SEO comes with the package.
The scapegoating, the finger-pointing
I tried searching the Internet for possible reasons. All I got were articles about bloggers complaining about the unfairness of the Google PageRank system.
Well, finding a scapegoat is always the easy way out. And because Google is huge, it’s easy to point fingers at it. Then again, if there’s anything I understand about Google, its algorithms are a mystery and attempting to fully comprehend how they come about might make a crazy blogger out of me.
Bottom line, Google is a business, and it will, at all cost, do what drives money to its coffers and delivers value to its shareholders, even to the extent of penalizing blogs like mine or yours (if you own a blog, that is) that strive to follow the rules.
Google mystery unveiled
And if you’re wondering what Google mystery I am supposed to unveil in this post, you might have already guessed.
As long as Google stays in business to make more money, it will keep changing its algorithms the way it sees fit, when it sees fit and how it sees fit. The only thing left for webmasters to do is react.
Going back to my articles with the N/A ranks, a blogger friend suggested that I update the said articles so they’ll get indexed again. It pays to have friends who know what they’re doing, doesn’t it?
Maybe my blog had been penalized
Now, looking at my statistics, I also noticed that the little traffic I get from search engines have literally become more insignificant. And I thought the new Google update was working in my favor. As far as I am concerned, I am at all times providing quality content. (Or is that just me thinking too highly of myself?)
My posts are unique. I write them myself, except for a few that had been authored by guest bloggers. If you see exact duplicates of some of the posts found in this blog in other sites, let me assure you, those are copies. The originals are mine.
Or maybe not
If you want to know whether or not getting less and less traffic from search engines bugs me, I’ll be honest, yes, it does. But relying solely on Google is not a long-term strategy. Search engine ranking is only good until Google decides to rock the online world again.
And now that I’ve got reason to revisit and update my older blog posts, that’s what I’m going to do. Thank goodness for holidays.
Image courtesy of bejim / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Google really works and moves in mysterious ways.
Right on you are, Y.B. Nice to see you here!
wow what head up, I actually don’t know right now my standing in Google I guess I need to care right thanks for this article
Not a problem, Chris. Thanks for visiting!
What a wonderful and informative post
I hope that you will your PR back soon 
My homepage PR has stayed the same, thank goodness. Thanks for visiting, Jessica!
I haven’t given Google much thought lately. Maybe it’s time I checked on Mr. G and his mind-boggling ways :). But then again, you’re right, it might just make a crazy blogger out of me. What I don’t know won’t hurt me… Does that apply to blogging?
Maybe not, Pepper. I believe for us to become successful bloggers, there are things we really have to know. Then again, those are, of course, dependent on our goals. Thanks for dropping by!
I always care and nosy for my google page rank before, and it wonders me why that even I worked hard for my blog, I got zero or just PR 1 at all. I got tired of it, so come what may to my blog.
Google will do what it has to do. And we’ll do what we have to do as well. Nice one! Thanks for the input!
Though I did get a ratings upgrade, I’m looking more on loyal readers/followers than random search engine hits. Of course, it still helps getting followers from search engine hits. So just enjoy the process of coming out with meaningful content and people will find ways to your blog.
On the loyal readers/followers point, so am I, Franc. So am I. Thanks for the input!
don’t be too hard on yourself, maricel, its just that google have changed its algorithm in PR and it isn’t perfect… thats why they keep on improving it. i , myself, don’t know the exact basis of their rank… so as with alexa… but, just keep on blogging, do original, beneficial and inspiring posts and have as much writing (maybe more than 10 per month), syndicate regularly, comment on other blogs… and just enjoy. for me kasi, my blog is my outlet and my extension… to inform, update and give praise to Him… and that matters most. napahaba ata… hahaha. don’t worry, babalik din yan. Yahweh bless.
You bet I’m not being hard on myself, Ralph. Just trying to piece things together, trying to make a sense of things, which, of course, is difficult because no one can ever figure out Google except Google. But I do appreciate the concern, really. And thanks for dropping by.
Hahaha omg I did not even know that you can get PR ranking per page? Hehe.. Actually I don’t really mind about those SEO thingy, nah but Im still hoping to keep my PR2 blog rank.. Haha. Weird. Anyway as long as I keep on posting what I like and I am happy about it then I’m good.
I used to not care, too. I don’t know whatever got into me that I started to care. It’s probably this SEO thing that I promised myself I’ll learn little by little. Thanks for visiting, Vivs!
Hmm, don’t care much about SEO, I just blogged that’s all.. I earned through these blogs without having to stress myself about SEO or algorithm or whatever..
You’re right, Josie. I was better off when I didn’t know a thing about SEO. Maybe I should go back to not caring at all. Thanks for dropping by!
Let us all just enjoy the chance of being able to write what we want, when we want, and how we want. Google’s ranking process is way too difficult to understand.
Thanks for your input, Teresa! And based on the comments you guys have so graciously left me, I have a feeling I’m presenting this all wrong. The reason I’m trying to learn the technical side of things is because I am planning on seriously becoming an Internet marketer one day and using this blog as a vehicle to realize that. So there, I’ve let the cat out of the bag.
nice post sis!
Thanks, sis!
True.. we just have to do what we have to do! Google will notice for sure! – hopefully! lol!
Hopefully, I think, is the operative word, Gemma, LOL. Thanks for visiting!
I also can’t understand how google compute for our page rank. Hope they will tell us how do they do it haha.
Understanding Google will probably be the biggest challenge of the century.
Thanks for visiting, Levy!
wow this is eductional.. if i removed and decided to put back my page rank will i still receive the same ranking ??// nnot paying attention to ranking recently..
Hi, Dennis, thanks for dropping by!
What I understand is that Google is the one that determines a blog’s PageRank. If for some reason Google finds a blog violating its TOS, the blog gets penalized. But yes, the blog can always go back to its previous ranking, although that may take some time again.
I, too don’t quite comprehend how google
PR works. I started blogging 2008. My only
purpose is to write my personal journal.bur,
I got a PR1 immediately like after few months of
posting articles and some poems. but presently,
stays at PR1. I think, GOOGLE is indeed
mysteriously working and its algorithm as well.
What’s worst of it all, sometimes, we just can’t do anything other than shake our heads in disbelief. Thanks for visiting, Marri!