For bloggers and website owners around the globe, if you’re struggling to get that PR rating from Google, and it still hasn’t happened, there is a reason – competition.

Not your competitor-type competition (though if your “niche” is more an “umbrella” that does effect you), but (especially for bloggers) if you’re participating in “paid to post” programs to pull in some cash for your time and efforts, chances are fairly certain that the powers that be will frown forever upon your efforts. But don’t despair. The ultimate sign of a popular web site or blog is its level of traffic. I’ve seen web sites with PR 6’s and 7’s, that get so little traffic they are truly lost in cyberspace yet acknowledged for what? Content, yes? Purity, most likely.

Anyway, just thought I’d get that off my chest yet again.

And, since it’s Sunday I also wanted to share two web links I’ve run across. One explains not only the “how to” to retweeting, but the why do it in the first place; the second is a warning about scammers using Facebook (yet again) in another unsavory way (both worth reading):

Bloggingbits on How to Retweet

Mashable posts about yet another Facebook phishing scam

We’ve also include additional link outs to topics covered in this post

Hope you’re in the middle of enjoying a wonderful Memorial Day weekend (for those in the U.S.) and a marvelous weekend to those around the world!

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I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Google’s page rank is finally meeting its (long overdue) end.

I don’t know how many pages I’ve visited of late that get decent (or boatloads of) traffic yet have no or very low PRs. In reverse, you’ve got the huge PR website, yet you can easily tell (via add ons, etc.) that no one knows they even exist.

For further proof, head to the Google search itself. Type in anything you want (I typed in “latest news google pr“) then start scanning and researching the leading results. For my particular phrase, front page results reflected posts and web pages posted last month to several years ago. I did check the “pr” and “alexa” for many of them. No surprise to find that front page results included sites without any PR at all – along with some with traffic so minuscule anyone would be shaking their head over “why the front page?” (Maybe our accompanying illustration helps reinforce the head scratching, mind boggling way this is all “determined.”)

It’s fact – while there are popular sites (depending on what you type) like WebMD or Amazon in your search results, you always find within those same front page results websites with no PR and a variety of traffic (low to high).

So I’m going to go further out on that limb to say that I think when it comes to choosing “traffic versus Google PR” that anyone in their right mind would opt for the traffic, right?

Boatloads of traffic!

The Google PR used to be a badge of honor, and many a webmaster or seo expert sweated bullets over this one. Maybe some still do.

However, even the folks at Google cannot or will not tell (or do not know) whether PR really means a hill of beans in the end.

What prompted this post was an inspection this morning of my ezine advertising website.

At one point in its so far 7 year history, it achieved a traffic rank of under 21K and held onto a PR 4 (for this type of niche this was outstanding). Then along came one of those infamous algorithm changes and now… well this morning on my end of the world there is no PR on the site. Zip, zilch, nada.

Now it could be the folks at Google are in some cycle doing updates again. Could be the poor thing just lost out in this latest round of bids for ranking. Be that as it may, thankfully it does sit on the front page for many of the distinct keywords necessary for folks to find it. And that’s what counts.

Google plays with their algorithm so much and so often, you could easily drive yourself insane figuring out your next move. Running around in circles trying to please or appease, you’ll not only get dizzy, but allow much of your competition to race right past you.

What should you be working on? Words. Content. And more importantly, in SEO terms, keyword content. You do have to know the difference between appropriately working those keywords into your content (and which ones are really going to be any use to you in the first place) and cramming them into metas and content like there’s no tomorrow. Do not be short sighted nor mislead by shady tactics.

The time is ripe for the rest of the world to just “do their own thing.” Work your website or blog the way you wish to work it (and start having fun for a change). Go for the gold, go for traffic. Let’s also hope that Google drops this antiquated ranking platform very, very soon.

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Living in Las Vegas, snow is a rare commodity. It gets cold, and snow up on Mt. Charleston, but generally it’s once in a blue moon for it to snow in the Valley and stick. However, as I type we are getting flurries. Who knows, we might be making snowmen in a little bit (they did on the other side of the valley day before yesterday).

And… in my continuing odd post for the day, I read something interesting in the Las Vegas Review Journal. A commentary written by Gail Collins, a columnist for The New York Times.

I’m not going to replicate the entire article, but the section that caught my eye about dogs:

“Folks at the University of Vienna conducted a test in which dogs were asked to shake hands over and over and over again. If you have any experience with dogs, you will not be surprised to hear that they were absolutely delighted. And they didn’t care about being paid! The opportunity to perform the same trick endlessly with a stranger in a white coat was reward enough.

Then the researchers brought in new dogs that were given a piece of bread as a reward for every handshake. The uncompensated dogs watched, lost their innate love of mindless repetition and grew sullen.

“They get so mad that they look at you and just don’t give you the paw anymore,” said Friederike Range, one of the scientists.

So OK. Dogs are secretly obsessed with fairness. (And bread. Who knew?)”

Strangely enough, as I read that portion it reminds me of so many individuals I’ve “met” online. They work their little buns off for nothing, yet some “bigger dog” comes along, steals all the thunder, and gets all the bread.

This might sound familiar to anyone who’s joined an affiliate program, promoted it with real heart, and gotten squat (or peanuts) for their efforts. While the “big dog” made tons of money from your efforts.

But there is hope… and a way around this… Start your own thing!

However, you must be picky! By that we mean, so specifically “niche” picky that you’ve taken a big old umbrella of a website (or blog) down to its finest points.

“Health” is not a niche, it is an umbrella. However, “colon cleansing” is a specific niche under the umbrella of Health.

“Home business” is not a niche. However, joining a specific home business (or starting your own service or product oriented website narrowed to a single product or service) IS a niche.

This particular blog you are reading right now is NOT a niche. It is an umbrella, encompassing all sorts of niche-like features to internet marketing and social media – from monetizing blogs, to social bookmarking, to freelance writing… and so much more (hang out a while and read the archives there’s tons of help and direction in this here blog!).

Get the idea?

Another valuable thing to keep in mind is choosing something you are passionate about. If you sign up for something that just sounds like a money maker, with no real understanding of what it is or how to run it, what’s the point? You’ll merely be out the money it took to join (and maybe maintain) because you lack passion.

So snow, dogs, umbrellas, niche markets, passion… and that wraps up today’s post

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We love comments! So please do!

One of the most valuable, free, and overlooked forms of marketing and advertising is commenting on blogs. We state it over and over at the end of every post we make, and while many take us up on the offer, there are hundreds if not thousands who visit and completely miss the boat.

Below, we’ve inserted a video that will give you complete and meaningful instructions on how to choose the right blogs to comment on, why, and the tools to set this all up to make your life a whole lot easier (and all the tools are free). (more…)

If ever there is a Gold Medal for blogging, Linda Rembowski of Forcedgreen would win hands down!

The August 16th edition of the WebProNews includes a quick (I don’t know what to call it… article? post? tidbit?) of information from their staff writer, David A. Utter. He writes:

The popularity contest of blogging and gaining links and traffic doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and work.

And, of course, he’s not far off the mark. However, today we’ve got the great pleasure of taking our Sunday Fun Day to tell you about the huge success of (more…)