Google Backlink Updates: No Need for Panic
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Backlink and PageRank Fever strikes many in the search engine optimization community, causing fear that PageRank may drop. Find out more about how and when Google calculates PageRank and backlinks to help allay these fears.
Every three to four weeks, a strange malady afflicts the search engine optimization community. Whether people are new to SEO or old hands with years of search engine savvy and experience, this strange affliction strikes them all. There seem to be very few SEO professionals who have any immunity to this disease. The culprit is the fairly regular, but not ever quite on time, Google backlink and PageRank update.
The symptoms are always the same. The search engine optimization forums begin to fill with pleading, and almost desperate sounding threads. The posters are usually begging, for even the tiniest scraps of information, about the big event. They want to know when and if the update is happening, and how it’s affecting everyone else.
The disease has struck. It’s the Backlink and PageRank Fever.
Other posters respond with messages of hope and sympathy, and often shared anguish and pain. Regardless of the frequency of the illness, there appears to be a need to share the pain and sense of helplessness. A form of group therapy takes place. The pain sometimes goes away, upon the update actually occurring. Many times, it does not.
The Google Backlink and PageRank update update occurs roughly every three weeks, with times varying from about two weeks to a month. It is not unusual for Google to miss an expected update. The staggering of the update schedule, is probably intentional, on the part of Google. The inability to accurately forecast the date is something for which Google probably strives. Of course, Google isn’t confirming or denying that assessment.
The level of uncertainty regarding the date of the update is one cause of the illness. Another cause is the complete unpredictability of whether Google will increase a website’s displayed backlinks. A third cause is the possible gain or loss of a webmaster’s pages of their Google PageRank. The green meter on the Google Toolbar is very hypnotic to many.
Another major symptom of the affliction is frustration. Webmasters are often extremely frustrated and concerned that all of their incoming links are not displayed. Laments are heard that new backlinks have been added, with time frames given that range into months. Concerns are voiced about no visible PageRank changes despite the addition of some high PageRank links. Often, there are nightmarish thoughts of drastic link and PageRank drops for no discernible reason.
The disease is a result of concern and fear of the unknown. A few simple answers, about the nature of the malady, will cause some of those issues disappear. If they don’t go away entirely, at least they can be kept in check.
Let’s fight and conquer the Backlink and PageRank Update Fever together.
Next: Is There Really a Cause for Concern? >>
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