Damn the pagerank

[OtitO]

I know I must wait for months and build links to and from other related sites but I still hate this pagerank since it is totally manipulated. The better your linking the more exposed your site. I wish It was the better your site is the better it is exposed. I agree that some "better" sites gain incoming links naturally without reciprocating but this is a minority only. I emailed many good sites related to poker, and by a way or another, I figure out their visits to the site. But they do not reply.Their links are ready on my resource page. But..
Anuway yesterday I thought of writing an ebook and decided to do so now and I am going to submit it to ebook listing sites and download portals. Many of them have really high PRs. I do not know if this is a good idea.
Any advice on this?
Thanks

[cbp]

was the better your site is the better it is exposed

How might the search engine determine a site was better if it was not by link popularity?

Many of them have really high PRs. I do not know if this is a good idea.
Any advice on this?

It will help if the link is back to your site.

Don't forget that PR is only one smaller part of the ranking formula.

CBP

[iamrussell]

What are the other parts?

[cbp]

What are the other parts?

Basicly:

As I have said before, basically, hypothetically and conceptually:

ranking = importance x relevance +/- quality signals

Importance
Search engines try to rank the more important sites first:
*importance is largely based on link popularity (Google calls it PR) - the more links, especially from higher PR sites, the better --> seen as more important a site --> rank higher
* links from authority/expert sites (ie Hilltop theory) may also be an 'importance' factor

Relevance
Search engines try to rank the most relevant sites higher. To be more relevant to a particular keyword(s) you need:
* Keyword(s) in the title, description, H1 tag and have the highest density on the page, but still keep low as possible and flow natural with the text
* Keywords in the anchor text of incoming links - this is currently the most important relevance factor
* links from other sites on the same theme/topic (ie TopicSensitive Page Rank theory)
* good content (so you ge the reeant links)

Quality signals
Search engine try to rank the better quality sites first, so look for "signals":
eg
* do nothing that gives any hints that you are participating in link exchanges for the purposes of ranking better (ie link for the benefit of the user)
* don't link to a viagra or casino site unless you are a viagra or casino site
* duplicate content issues
* etc

PR is just one part of the big mix

CBP

[OtitO]

CBP, that was an informative post: relevancy,importance, and quality signals.
However what makes me think about the injustice part of ranking the SERPs is the importance part of it. As I said, nobody wants to link to you if you are PR0 especially if they were competitors(same theme).Eventually you will reach what you want but when? After a lifetime.Thanks to free directories(not ffa)and good webmasters.
By the way, I have a suggestion for google: provide us with a high quality directory like DMOZ(you already work with)but without volunteer editors that will drop by your site after 1000 years. Let us do our best to be included(I mean good content etc..).Include the sites you think are of value to surfers. (The world should not be all based on your software and algos,let humans have a say) Then when we google any search term or keyword, give me the most relevant pages of the sites that are listed in your directory first, then results you think are important because of their many relative backlinks.
Or let the surfers choose between alternative methods of searching your index.Personalize it.
Give this option to surfers for example "view orphaned sites"

[OtitO]

By the wat I believe that "view orphaned sites only" or "new site only" can greately enhance the user experience.

[cbp]

I have a suggestion for google: provide us with a high quality directory like DMOZ

DMOZ currently has 4.5 million sites; adds ~2000 sites a day. To get the 4.5 million, probably >10 million were reviewed. As an editor, I spend more time "behind the scenes" than I do adding sites (eg reorganising cats; searching Google for new sites; deleteing 404'd sites; discussing things on internal forums etc). Sites can take up to >30 mins to review (esp looking for the unique valuable content; looking for duplicates; looking for the spammers - ie mirrors, feeder sites, multiple domains etc) - most take less than 10 mins.

I have not bothered to do the maths accurately, but I do not think Google will ever come out with their own Directory.... but 10 million sites at a really conservative 10 mins each = almost 2 million hours of work!!! (that does not take into account all the 'behind the scenes' hours) - that would take 1000 people working full time for a year.... lets double that to include the behind the scenes stuff, plus add on some more to hunt out the spammers...

As I said, nobody wants to link to you if you are PR0

Thats where the content comes into it - if its good enough people will link to you - I do all the time.

CBP