Blogger PR booster?

[subzerohero]

I have a martial arts website (www.grapplearts.com) that has a PR of 5 (and this has been constant for about 5 months).

I introduced a 'tip of the week' feature a couple of months ago, and because google supposedly loves blogger I used blogger to create, and update, this feature (www.grapplearts.com/weblog.htm). Note that this blog is not my home page, but is linked to my home page with a single link.

So now I'm confused: not only has my site PR NOT improved, but the blog page has a PR of zero. Is it simply a question of letting a few more months go by or am I missing something fundamental here? Will google only recognize it if it's my home page?

Any input is appreciated!

[cbp]

google supposedly loves blogger

Where did you get that impression from?

Google owns blogger.com, but that has nothing to do with ranking a site better.

CBP

[subzerohero]

My impression that google ranks blogger blogs high comes from articles and threads like the following:

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=25890&

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=3189&

[cbp]

There is nothing in those threads about Google giving some sort of artifical boost to blogs. Blogs are just a kind of site, that still need relevancy and links to rank well.

Blogs can be used to help sites rank well, but they have to rank well themselves first (ie links to them). The blog you have set up is part of your site and not hosted seperatly.

CBP

[MathsIsFun]

On the question of PR, every new page I have created in the last few months shows a PR of zero, coz Google has not updated the "visible" PR in that time - but the pages ARE showing up on searches (fairly low down, but still showing).

So, I wouldn't worry about it, Google are just not showing us what their current PR is.

[cz]

Hey subzerohero!
Another martial arts guy! Alright, we love mixing Brazilian JJ with our karate for MMA competiton here in Ohio! I like your blog and just added to my favorites for later.

What I use my Blogger "blog" for is posting about my topic and getting links to it from other "blogs". You have to fish for them in "blog" forums and directories. When you get the PR, you should be linked to your site 'grapplearts' and in your posts, if you hit a good keyword/phrase that matches a page on your site, make it a text link right to the 'grapplearts page' it is relevant to.

This is what I have done for a long time and it helps..I have many posts that show up on my main site's backlinks, from my "blog" and from the few link partners I have (I held out for good ones though) so not so many, which is good for PR and good for the amount that is passed to my site. I like this way much better than hosting it on my site. That way if it goes BOOM it doesn't affect my site (which doesn't reciprocate the link).

Best of luck man, and I'll leave other opinions to other more experienced bloggers/marketers/SEOs to comment further!

[cbp]

posting about my topic and getting links to it from other "blogs".

Thats the point I am making. Having blog does not automaticaly boost your site. You need to host it seperate from your site, write good content on it, get links to it, boost it's PR --> then the link(s) from it can be used to boost your site .... but it will not boost your site anymore than an on-topic link from any other page with the same PR.

CBP

[sandis.viksna]

Google bloger are not pasing page rank! that's a fact! the external urls are passed trought redirect scripts and that's it - you can have that PR passed form blog to you :) It's a strategy!

just my 2 cents,
Sandis

[cbp]

Google bloger are not pasing page rank! that's a fact!

Not true.


passed trought redirect scripts

Not on my blog at blogger.com

CBP

[sandis.viksna]

Can't found it yet, but I was dealing with one issue where these things were described as a way to avoid PR cheating!

[GiftsForYouBiz]

Hmmm ... my (Blogger) blog has a PR4. The only links I know of that are pointing to it are the 4 or so blogging directories that I've submitted it to.

I've also heard in a few places that Google likes blogs (not necessarily Blogger blogs, but blogs in general). My 'guess' was that if a blog was kept fresh, it would be liked. I post to mine at least every 4-5 days ... and I won't post just to post (saying that I don't have anything new to post) ;)

It's worked well for me. That PR has been there since about the first month I started it.

http://giftsforyou.biz/info/crystal.php

[apisdesign]

Patience, my son.

Patience.

Getting PageRank takes time. See how you're doing in 6-12 weeks.

[solohelp]

Hi All-
Blogs may not have any affect on PR, but they definately look good to SEs. Having just that backlink from blogger.com helps me. In fact sometimes my blog is rankied 1 or 2 places above my index page.

Also I have noticed that if I get lazy and dont update my blog it very quickly starts moving down in the serps. Search engines seem to love that changing content because as soon as I update my blog it starts going up 1-2 places a day till its back to #2-#5.

Off topic but the same happens with my index page which has a news feed on it.

Back to my blog though. I host my blog on my own server but use blogger.com for the updates.

blogsearchengine.com blogwise.com blogger.com you can submit to those for free.

[ronniethedodger]

Blogs are a strange breed of animal. Very similar to forums in some respects when you have multiple bloggers interlinking "conversations" from each other. An excellent article on the differences (http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000769.html) can be found at Lee Lefever's CommonCraft (http://www.commoncraft.com/) website.

One key to promoting your blog and getting the backlinks is to get found by other bloggers who hold similar interests to yours. Getting your blog listed in some high profile directories such as Technorati, Syndic8, and some others will go a long way to getting found by the other bloggers (who are always on the lookout for something new to read). Look to Robin Good's RSS Top55 Directories (http://www.masternewmedia.org/2004/02/05/rsstop55_best_blog_directory.htm) for one of the best lists I have come across on this matter.

One thing is certain, if you are using your blog for commercial gains -- you will not have too many picking you up and linking to it. This is to say, that your posted articles should not be mini-promo ads of your products. Writing about subject matter that relates to them in a general and unbiased way without the promotion is the answer. You can always have a footer or sidebar link tucked away on the page somewhere.

Blogger is NOT the best method of blogging IMO , especially if it is being hosted at Blogger itself. Generally you are apt not to be taken seriously by other bloggers. I am using Blogger myself, and learning this the hard way.

Blogger does not have Trackback capability, which automatically picks up on other bloggers who "cite" your posts which provides a link back to your blog. Hosting your own software such as MovableType, wordpress, and some others with Trackback hacks integrated into it is the way to go.

If you have Blogger and want Trackback added, then contact their support team (http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=900&query=trackback&topic=&type=f) and request it. If enough people request it, they just may provide it. There is also a service (I have not tried it yet) that is provided by HaloScan (http://www.haloscan.com)

Blogger does not support RSS, they use Atom. You will need to get a conversion on your feed if you want wider syndication. I recommend FeedBurner (http://www.feedburner) for this.

Getting your feed picked up and published on another site is pretty kewl. I have three sites that are running my RSS feeds on their sites now. This will get you more links back to your blog.

Commenting on Blogger requires that they have a Blogger account. Comments are a good way to get people involved in your blog, especially other bloggers. Of course, spammers love it too. ;-) I use an outside service to handle comments which does not require them to sign up to use it. Plus it provides the static link (which gets the people to post). You have to be on your toes though with the comment spammers. I am using BlogBack (http://www.tecknik.net/blogback/), but there are numerous services that will provide this for you (including HaloScan above).

For a list of blogging software (non-services) and their features, look at the Blog Software Breakdown (http://www.asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm) at Asymptomatic. You can test drive most of these at OpenSourceCMS (http://www.opensourcecms.com/).

[GiftsForYouBiz]

Really great info, ronniethedodger. Really great!


If you have Blogger and want Trackback added, then contact their support team (http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=900&query=trackback&topic=&type=f) and request it. If enough people request it, they just may provide it. There is also a service (I have not tried it yet) that is provided by HaloScan (http://www.haloscan.com)
Done. Thanks.


Commenting on Blogger requires that they have a Blogger account. Comments are a good way to get people involved in your blog, especially other bloggers. Of course, spammers love it too. ;-) I use an outside service to handle comments which does not require them to sign up to use it. Plus it provides the static link (which gets the people to post). You have to be on your toes though with the comment spammers. I am using BlogBack (http://www.tecknik.net/blogback/), but there are numerous services that will provide this for you (including HaloScan above).

For comments, I'm using PosterChild; but what happened to them?? The page is gone, and the site says its coming soon. :(

http://www.code9.com/posterchild/

(stranded at the drive-in)

Delving into some of those sites you mentioned provides even more opportunities ... but the two most valuable I've seen tonight are http://www.feedburner.com/ and http://pingomatic.com/

[mrsjordanjr]

I've been getting more unique visitors to my online stores through my blog at tblog.com rather than my blog at blogspot.com. I recently been trying to keep both blogs up-to-date but I'm still not receiving any traffic from blogspot.com.

I still haven't figured out how to find my ranking in Google or Yahoo!. Still learning.

[arpecop]

I think that the pluses for blogspot blogs are:
1st their content are hosted on very fast powerfull machines
2nd they are using css
3rd Accessible by more peopple ... it's just like billions of ants versus a elephant
:)
probably I look fun .. just exkuse my bad english
regards

[jacobwissler]

Could a blog offer the possible benefit of constantly changing content, which might get a site crawled more often?