Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

October 29, 2007

Dear Google, I’m the Relationship Blogger

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 10:19 am

Dear Google,
It’s Liz.

I’m a little confused about our relationship. After two years, you dumped me from Page Rank 6 to a Page Rank 3.

I would have thought it was text-links I had — they’re gone now. I’m sorry. The world knows I’m not an SEO whiz, if I was one, I wouldn’t have 40-some categories in my sidebar. At least, that’s what folks tell me.

But you dumped my LizStrauss blog too, and it doesn’t have any ads and never did.

It’s disheartening when I think of how I advocate NOT GAMING the system.

You might remember when I said

Links and relationships are intertwined and inseparable to me. It’s about people and connections that last.

Did you misunderstand the SOB program after all of this time? Not all of these folks have all of the links you might expect, but they will, because they show the key traits of a successful blogger. I know they will because they write good content and they make good relationships.

Is it that I write creative entertainment sometimes? Isn’t that better than just regurgitating someone else’s content?

Everyone knows that a link exchange on this blog is out of the question.

I’m the kind of blogger who wants a relationship not a one link stand.

And then there was my personal stance on link trains and other valueless link posts.

Dear Emperor: A Test for Your Next Link Post

If the recent birthday party invitation to 646 blogs threw you, please know that it lived up to the “Dear Emperor” standard. So will the link posts like this first one that celebrate the links the party guests brought to show their most successful and outstanding experiences — a birthday only happens once a year. You can believe I’m checking them. I do that for you, for me, and for my readers.

So Google, that’s our history. I know you know me better. I’m the person behind the numbers. I don’t link promiscuously.

I’m the relationship blogger. I want folks to respect me in the morning.

Liz's Signature


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61 Comments to “Dear Google, I’m the Relationship Blogger”

  1. October 29th, 2007 at 10:51 am
    Alina Popescu said

    Liz, I think you should stop caring that much about the Google PR. Anyway, from what I heard is the external links that are tricky, not internal links (such as categories).

    Anyway, google PR does not affect your number of readers or comments. And from what I tested today, when you google something, the results are not ordered by PR (I tested it with a SEO tool and then rearranged the results by PR).

    My PR also dropped 2 points and I was upset at first. Then I realized it really does not matter that much. A comment, an email or an instant messenger contact, that actually means more than an increase in PR. Besides, I see you’re doing great on Alexa :P

  2. October 29th, 2007 at 10:57 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Alina!
    I don’t know that I’m upset. I think I just wanted to go on record as letting Google know that sometimes the numbers don’t work to support what they think. I’ve always been the “one in a million” so this sort of situation isn’t really new to me. . . . If I live by different reasoning, I have to expect that the numbers won’t work in my favor. The numbers aren’t the audience I write for as you so well explain in your comment. :)

  3. October 29th, 2007 at 11:34 am
    Joe said

    Hey Liz,
    You always were the nice one! :-)
    I went from a PR5 to a 4 and was a bit upset. I do use TLA in the sidebar, but wrote a post Google Can Go Suck An Egg because I think Google may be gaming their own system because of AdSense.
    I don’t like being negative, that’s why I come by here so often, to get a good dose of nice! ;-)

  4. October 29th, 2007 at 11:40 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Joe!
    It’s not going to make much difference I don’t suppose, especially since we can’t do anything. So why get our knickers twisted over it. :) I just thought they should know that they’re actually pinching someone on their own team. :)

  5. October 29th, 2007 at 11:51 am
    Joanna Young said

    Hi Liz

    Trouble is that it’s kind of hard to have a relationship with such a powerful entity that doesn’t explain how it does things…

    Maybe they will be listening - maybe you’ll help them rethink their strategy (something or another got them to rethink Brian Clark’s position after all)

    But one thing you can be sure of - we’re listening, we’re admiring and learning from your leadership, and we’ll always be respecting you in the morning.

    Joanna

  6. October 29th, 2007 at 11:54 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Joanna!
    Yeah, that’s the thing about respect, isn’t it? It has to go both ways or it’s not worth a whole lot. I respect all of you as well . . . so our relationship works and it will as long as we keep that mutual respect going. :)

  7. October 29th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
    easywriter said

    Success is not measured by PR is it? :o)
    Yes I have one and it’s dropped too. ;0)

  8. October 29th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
    Kelly McCausey said

    It seems like the smarter Google tries to get the farther out of touch with reality they can be when it comes to what constitutes popularity.

    I know it doesn’t really matter and we shouldn’t care… but I’m sorry you took a dip anyways.

  9. October 29th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
    Google PR: The Sh!t or Just Plain Sh!t? | Pajama Professional said

    [...] I was not disappointed. Even the post title gave me a clue as to Liz’s views on the pagerank: Dear Google, I’m a Relationship Blogger. If you asked me to name just one blog that always has quality content, links for the right [...]

  10. October 29th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
    Busy Mom said

    Perhaps Google will call you in the morning after it’s had some space to think things over.

    I got dumped, too.

  11. October 29th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
    Lucia said

    I visit the Postie boards a lot, and I have a general impression of which blogs are constant, uninterrupted paid links blogs, which post paid links rarely, and which post paid links very very rarely (Example: Andy Beard.)

    If the PR hits were to punish paid links, my casual inspection indicates that Google’s method of detecting paid links is rather poor!

  12. October 29th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Easy!
    No success is measure by self-respect most certainly. That’s why I’m following my head and my heart as a guide. :)

  13. October 29th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Kelly!
    Thanks, it seems many of us did. Like I said, mostly I wanted to point what can happen when we follow the numbers blindly. As marketers we do the same thing with numbers about customers all of the time. People are people . . . no matter how we try numbers can reflect what we’re thinking.

  14. October 29th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Busy Mom,
    You made me laugh out loud! You’re right. Sometimes what’s needed is just a little space . . . too funny. :)

  15. October 29th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Lucia!
    Yeah, I suppose that any mathematical algorithm might have that sort of result as well. I’m not after bringing anyone down only calling attention to how numbers can skew what we see. :)

    Thanks Lucia for showing support. :)

  16. October 29th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
    Teresa Boardman said

    Love your blog. I use mine to build relationships too. I never made it to a PR 6, but I did not loose my PR 5. If your content is unique, and you rely on Google to bring you readers, page rank doesn’t matter. . . it really doesn’t. it does matter if you want to sell ads and it matters if you have the same, or similar content as another blog, that blog will come up first on a search. We can’t control Google but can only do what you have been doing which is play by the rules.

  17. October 29th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Teresa!
    Welcome and thank you!
    I understand what you are saying.

    The relationship with the folks who read my blog is what really matters to me. I know that great content is what people search for and what people search for is what drives the ads that Google and other search engines sell. So if we focus entirely on our readers, we’re still doing the search engines right. :)

  18. October 29th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
    SunnySchlenger said

    This business can be so frustrating. I’ve been blogging since the end of June, and I never get comments except from my few blog-savvy friends who know how important it is. But I just keep writing because deep down I love to, and hope that my words might help someone have a better day.
    Please know that you do that for me. :)

  19. October 29th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Sunny,
    I do do it for you. . . . I do it for me too. Just like you I hope someone will be better because of it one day. :)

  20. October 29th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
    SunnySchlenger said

    Thanks for the blog comment!
    That’s what I mean about you — a simple response would have been nice enough, but you went above and beyond.
    I will definitely remember that. :-)

  21. October 29th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Aw Sunny,
    What did it take to spend a moment of time reading more about. It was fun! Thank you for being there to read about! :)

  22. October 29th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
    DaveOlson said

    You know Liz, I’ve been hanging around here for a while. Not as long as some folk but I don’t ever remember anyone by the name of Google showing up. I didn’t see them passing out klondike bars and I’m pretty sure they weren’t sharing anything of value with the rest of us. While they might be nice people, they don’t seem to contribute a lot to the incredible community you’ve built here.

    I’m not sure I’d worry too much about their opinion. I don’t think they are traveling the same road that we are.

    If it’s any consolation. I moved your page rank up on my site. You are now #1. :smile:

  23. October 29th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Oh, Dave,
    What great big smile I have. Yeah!
    I’m just trying to figure out what a Google comment would look like . . . who knows maybe one day we’ll see one. :)

    Until then, we’ll keep talking about Canadian beer!! :)

  24. October 29th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
    HART (1-800-HART) said

    Unfortunately, a lot of people forget .. that for every blog that dropped from a PR6 to a PR3 .. there’s probably a PR5 blog that dropped to a PR2 .. so, it’s all relative in the google-universe.

  25. October 29th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
    ME Strauss said

    HART,
    What does that mean?
    Lots of blogs lost for lots of wrong reasons it seems to me.

  26. October 29th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
    HART (1-800-HART) said

    Being oblivious and ignorant always halps me see the cup being half full. I think a lot of blogs lost their PR because they are just ranked too high in a system that rates the numbers between 0 and 10.

    It’s like with accounting .. the concept of net income is meaningless unless unless it is measured on a consistent basis. It doesn’t matter what that number is, but important how it compared to e.g. last year, using the same methods to calculate it. You can’t keep changing the methods each year to suit your purposes (like cash basis one year, accrual the next, different valuations for inventory the following years).

    As long as other blogs are valued or DEvalued in the same consistent manner as other blogs .. then to me it doesn’t matter - if last week you were PR6 and I was PR5 and this week you are PR3 and this week I am PR2.

    And for that matter - the so-called-people who did NOT get penalized .. why can’t the general population just accept the possibility that - heck! Maybe their site really did get better this google dance time!

  27. October 29th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
    Zakman said

    Liz,

    The new Google PR update is a big fiasco. There’s something terribly wrong in their new algorithm.

    Or else, how can you explain the fact that with a PR4, I’m at par with forbes.com???
    Does it feel good? Not at all.. it’s scary!
    Fear of the unknown.. hehe.

    Google has once again proved it’s the big bad bully of the Internet.

  28. October 29th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
    HART (1-800-HART) said

    (reader’s digest version now)
    apple vs apple and oranges vs oranges
    Size doesn’t matter (or shouldn’t)

  29. October 29th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
    ME Strauss said

    HART,
    I do think that the folks who didn’t fall did get better by default. You have a distinct point there. :)

    You’re right everything is relative.

  30. October 29th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Zakman,
    That sure is the part that doesn’t make sense. I know my words and content aren’t pulling in more than Forbes . . . so how to explain that. It’s a mystery of faith. I suppose. :)

  31. October 29th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
    ME Strauss said

    HART,
    I guess that’s what I get for being a pomegranate. :)

  32. October 29th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
    HART (1-800-HART) said

    Well .. that’s funny, because I was shopping today and saw instructions how to better enjoy a pomegranate…
    1) Cut off the head ..(okay, forget that part)
    2) dip in water … // Yes. in HOT Water. With Bubble bath. ..

    and, that’s all I could remember from the instructional guide.

  33. October 29th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
    ME Strauss said

    HART!
    Cut off the head! too funny.
    That might make my whole life easier.

    A bubble bath . . . not a bad idea. :)

  34. October 29th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
    Rick Cockrum said

    The main downside of the change is in referrals from Google search. While Google still sends the vast majority of searchers, these have been falling over the past few months anyway and other search engine referrals have been increasing.

    I did my own dancing around the lastest update and came to find out I don’t much care. Is what we’ve done more or less useful because of the latest update? No. As my son would say, it’s all good.

  35. October 29th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
    James said

    I think it’s safe to say anyone here thinks your a 10 Liz. You are the model of the ideal blogger.
    Google is not such a great search engine anyways. They show up in 10th place on their own index if you search for “search engine.” That’s the UK Google too.
    Oddly, I just noticed what looks like an AdSense ad for TLA at the bottom of this page.

  36. October 29th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
    Troy Worman said

    John C. wrote something about Google PR a couple of weeks ago. What’s that?

  37. October 30th, 2007 at 5:28 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Rick!
    You just made me realize that I haven’t been paying attention. Maybe that’s why our love affair didn’t last. . . . Perhaps I forgot to send flowers for our last anniversary. :)

  38. October 30th, 2007 at 5:33 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi James,
    Wow! I don’t think I’ve been a 10 before. Thanks!

    Meanwhile, I forgot about that thing where Google doesn’t have to worry about SEO. As you probably know, search engine results are different depending on which city you’re in.

    In Chicago, Google doesn’t even make the first page . . . it comes in at 12th.

    Regarding TLAds, they didn’t lose their Page Rank . . . isn’t that the most interesting thought.

  39. October 30th, 2007 at 5:39 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Troy
    PR, some folks used to say it meant page rank, but if I end up on a par with Forbes that can’t be right. Some folks would say it stands for public relations, but I think you have to talk for that to be so.

    I’m thinking it stand for Purple Rain and I’m putting my music on. :)

  40. October 30th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
    Austin Properties said

    I think that the pr scheme has changed. So what used to be a pr 5 is now a 3 or a 4. It seems more people have gone down than up. So we could just be looking at a different algorithm.

  41. October 30th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
    Halfdeck said

    Liz, your bizrate links can easily be misunderstood by a Google reviewer as paid text links. If you care about your toolbar PageRank (TBPR), you might think about nofollowing them and filing a reconsideration request. If you don’t care about your TBPR (and I don’t see why you should), you don’t need to change a thing.

  42. October 30th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Austin Properties!
    It surely isn’t the way to make folks feel good — say it’s about paid links . . . sell your own . . . and then make it look like it’s about something else. :)

  43. October 30th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey Eric,
    Try typing in some sort of a last name to see whether that will get Askimet to leave you alone. It’s worked for other folks. ;)

  44. October 30th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
    Practical Blogging » Blog Archive » Plenty are fed up with Google said

    [...] of them, I had to go back and add my friends this week. Two are very upset with Google, although Liz seems a bit melancholy about the whole thing and Wendy sounds more on the ‘pissed off’ side of [...]

  45. October 30th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
    Wendy Piersall said

    Yes, you were much nicer than I was in my post. Honest, I tried to be nice. I don’t like rants. I really tried to dig up real resources for my readers to get them to think positively about this whole thing.

    What I got was a load of crap from Google. :’(

    Yes, you were much nicer than I was. ;)

  46. October 30th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Oh Wendy,
    Google can’t get the best of me in something I can’t win on. They took something that was theirs to start with. Only my readers can decide whether that will matter to them.

    My readers are who I care about. They’ll come back and bring their friends. . . . that’s more powerful than a search engine. :)

  47. October 31st, 2007 at 8:09 am
    Nishu said

    @ME Strauss

    Do you really care about Google PR. As title of your blog says you own a successful and outstanding blog. and the number of comments on this blog denotes number of regular reader you were able to link up with. So, what difference does Google PR make anyways. Some how Google totally removed few of the pages on my personal blog from its index. Isn’t it more weired at the part of Google than reducing page rank?

    Anyways a lovely blog to visit .. :).. keep rockin

  48. October 31st, 2007 at 9:29 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Nishu!
    Welcome. Feel free to call me, Liz!

    I understand. That is weird. Who knows what the thinking is behind the curtain? We probably never will.

    Am I highly invested? Probably not. Though I like to say what I think, it keeps me from having on my mind. :)

  49. October 31st, 2007 at 10:53 pm
    AgentSully said

    Nice post Liz!

    What I don’t get is why should I remove TLA for Google? Why can’t I sell advertising space on my site?

    I’m not worried about it right now, so I’m not changing anything at the moment…although if I had more at stake maybe I would. :-)

    Just being honest. :)

  50. October 31st, 2007 at 11:13 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Sully!
    I don’t know. I don’t know why Google ads sell text links either. It’s a mystery of faith. I guess. :)

  51. November 1st, 2007 at 5:26 am
    Meg said

    Hey Liz, really sorry to hear this has happened to you. Seems there have been some well respected casualties. I hope it all gets sorted.

  52. November 1st, 2007 at 5:30 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hey, Meg,
    Thank you for caring. Folks like you are one more reason that I think I’m one of the luckiest folks in the blogosphere.

    It would be a far bigger blow if the minds who meet me here stopped coming to talk . . . what’s a little green bar?

    On the other hand, I sure seem to remember every person I’ve talked to.

  53. November 1st, 2007 at 5:39 am
    Meg said

    Glad you’re being pragmatic about it. As you say, what’s a green bar among friends? Just as long as you know there’s no loss of respect - for you, anyway ;)

  54. November 1st, 2007 at 5:41 am
    ME Strauss said

    Wow!
    Thank you, Meg!

    I guess it all comes to self-respect and respect for all of you.

    Just like we can’t get those customers to behave . . . we can’t get those search engines to behave either. :)

  55. November 5th, 2007 at 7:36 am
    entrepreMusings » The Google Trap said

    [...] Dear Google, I’m the Relationship Blogger by Liz Strauss at Successful Blog. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

  56. April 5th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
    Simona Rusnakova said

    Nicely put, however, I think Google PR is just a number and this is not the most important one. What actually matters, is how many visitors you get and what these visitors actually do at your website…

  57. April 5th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    I agree, Simona!
    I just have this personal relationship thing about Google . . . it dates back to when they 403 forbidden’d me out of my blogspot blog a long time ago. :)

  58. April 8th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
    Peter Lawless said

    OK Liz and what does this personal relationship with google actually do for you and your business - can you put a value on it?

  59. April 8th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Actually, Peter, Google sends me lots of search traffic. I could put a value on that . . . for every reader it’s priceless. :)

  60. July 31st, 2008 at 12:37 am
    Singapore SEO said

    don’t place too much focus on the PR bar, it is just a number game. What i believe you are looking for is good rankings and constant natural traffic flow. Cheerz

  61. January 8th, 2009 at 6:35 am
    kelly said

    I got dumped too but it was temporary as Google couldn’t find my missing blogs. My previous (paid) lousy webhost suspended my acct without even informing me due to “high online activity levels” (which I really doubt).

    When I got my hosting elsewhere and some of my blog entries back (I didn’t have a backup), it took Google roughly a week before my original page rank returned.

    I was thinking it could be that you’re linking to too many blogs with page ranking lower than 2 that your page ranking dropped.

    P.S. In real life, IF someone dumped me, I won’t bother writing a letter. It isn’t recommended. ;)

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