Search engine optimisation is a subject made for cynics and skeptics.

I read a few SEO blogs and sometimes wonder about the motivation behind some posts.

I mean, if someone publishes something really controversial (or even misleading), it’s likely to generate a lot of links and references to it (good and bad), and therefore help the site’s ranking.You need to be careful not to cross the threshold from healthy skepticism to paranoia, but it is a good idea not to believe everything you read about SEO.

It seems Google is just finishing off another much anticipated PageRank (PR)  update.

This time though, they seem to be following through with their threats to penalise sites that have sold links. Naturally, this has effected the sites buying links from them.

It looks like Google have done this by manually reducing the toolbar PR of guilty sites.  Here’s a list.

Directories have been hit as well. Avivadirectory.com, alivedirectory.com and bigweblinks.com have all had their PR dropped from 6 or 7 to 4 and internal pages de-indexed. This must be for buying links rather than selling them, since paying for a ‘review’ is supposed to be OK.

(It’s interesting to note that the PR of phplinkdirectory.com has only dropped from 7 to 6, even though the vast majority of links to it are ‘low quality’ footer links from directories using the script. This indicates a change in Google’s algorithm rather than the hand edit suffered by the directories.)

I run a niche directory that has suffered a little, it’s PR has dropped from 4 to 2. It seems a little unfair to penalise me for investing in my site, but hey… who am I to judge the mighty Google? My directory is still doing OK in the search engine results so I’m not too bothered.

What’s all this mean? Google are destroying PageRank as a measuring of site quality and trust.

The Best of the Web directory has another promotional offer,  15% off all new directory submissions and sponsorship advertising until the end of November.

Even better, if you take up this offer you will also have a chance of winning $10000 in their prize draw.

Just use the promo code:

WIN10K

(Unfortunately, to be eligible for the prize draw you have to be a resident of the US, but I think you still get the 15% off if you live outside the US.)

A little while ago I posted about Google Webmaster Tools and how good it is to get link data straight from the horses mouth.

However, one problem with the tools are that they don’t show the anchor text or PageRank of the links pointing to a site, which is very important information when analysing your backlinks.

This great extension for Firefox by Joost de Valk fixes this flaw. It adds the PR and anchor text to the link information provided by Google Webmaster Tools. You can find it on his blog http://www.joostdevalk.nl/code/greasemonkey/gwt-external-links/.

It requires the Greasmonkey extension.

Marketing and promoting your website can be a complicated and difficult task. There are so many things to consider; link building, keyword research, copy writing and designing a site that converts visitors to customers and leads. Datadial.net (established in 1998) are a UK based web development company that can provide an integrated web marketing solution that includes all these elements.

Many internet marketing websites use language that is too technical or are so over-optimised that they are unreadable. Datadial’s site clearly explains their search engine optimisation services with simple copy presented in an attractive, well-designed site. Obviously, this inspires confidence in the web design and marketing services they offer.

The site also includes a number of detailed case-studies which are a great way of understanding their services, and checking out some of the sites they have worked on. Not all internet marketing and SEO companies will release this type of information.

Perhaps most importantly, Datadial emphasize that their service is results and target based - a very important factor when you are spending a significant sum on a long term internet marketing campaign.