Hi everybody,

PageRank or PR is a grade between 0 and 10 that applies to a website according to its popularity. Each link to a page represents a vote. If page A links to page B, it gives a vote to it which means that page B deserves to be visited. The more a website has relevant incoming links, the greater its PageRank.

Description of PageRank algorithm

PageRank on page B calculates as follows:

PR(B) = (1-d) + d (PR(A1) / N(A1) + … + PR(An) / N(An) )

• PR(B) : PageRank of page B
• PR(An): PageRank of page A
• N(An) : number of links on page A
• d : all the votes are added up and the total is multiplied by the attenuation coefficient d= 0.85
• (1-d) : this formula assures that the PageRank average for all the pages of a website equals 1

PageRank takes into account two factors: the PageRank of the page that is hosting your link and the number of outbound links on that same page. It is better to place a link on a page having few links and a high PageRank.

Through PageRank, Google measures the probability of an Internet user to visit your website. A probability is a figure between 0 and 1. A page with a probability of 0.75 would mean that an Internet user has 3 in 4 chances to visit your website.

Imagine a results page after a search displaying only 5 results. The probability for visiting these pages is 0.20. But this example is utopian because in reality it is very different since Google indexes hundreds of billions of pages.

Maintain a good PageRank

In order to keep a good PageRank, it is important to regularly improve its link building since the greater the number of pages indexed by Google, the more risky it is to be less well classified. As PR is based on a logarithmic scale, having a link from a site with a PageRank of 4 is twice better than a link with a PR of 2.

However, don’t think PageRank alone will bring you good positioning. 200 other factors are taken into consideration for Google SEO. If you want to know more about that, I suggest you to read the article: PageRank is useless!

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Google algorithm is not cast in concrete. Some of you might have had an anxiety attack in April and May. You might have lost a lot of traffic on some of your websites. Panic-stricken, you may have thought that Google had blacklisted your website… Then you met Google MayDay!

What is Google MayDay?

Google MayDay is the name given to the new important modification of Google algorithm. This modification is not a change in the crawling or indexing system; its aim is to better rank websites with relevant content and penalize abusive practice. The modification is said to concern long tail queries. It affects voluminous websites with lots of pages, having few incoming links. These pages have low traffic and may not have unique content, contrary to e-commerce websites.

According to several webmasters, they have felt the effects of this new algorithm as from April, a few days after Google Dance (Read Article: What is Google Dance ?). Between 10% and 15% of traffic has been lost since then.

What are long tail queries?

They are specific queries using several words. They attract few visitors, but once combined, these queries generate the major part of your traffic.

How to optimize a website after this modification?

Choose a few long tail expressions and run a competitor analysis to know who is positioned first. Check why Google gives more relevance to a competitor’s page rather than yours, check your links and anchor texts aiming these websites. Having the keywords of your query on your website is not enough. Instead, you must have relevant content matching the query. As a consequence, use synonyms, write on similar topics, and change the structure of your keywords. Try not to repeat yourself and be relevant.

Here is a video in English explaining Google MayDay:

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What is Google Dance about?

Google Dance is the name given to GoogleBot dance. Let’s explain it. Google Dance is the name given to the period on which robots are crawling websites.

GoogleBot browses on the Web, looking for incoming links to recalculate the PageRank. Remember that PageRank bases on the principle of democracy on the Web. Each incoming link to your website equals 1 vote. We can thus say that Google Dance is the polling day. In order to better understand this calculation, I suggest you to read an article entitled “Explanations on PageRank algorithm” written by my colleague Marielle Chapuis.

What are the impacts of Google Dance and PageRank in 2010

In 2010, PageRank is more a selling tool than a SEO tool. It is just a calculation among 200 other Google algorithms. Thus, it is no longer a useful tool to SEO but it tends to become a selling point and it reinforces credibility. I suggest you to read my article: “PageRank is useless” in order to better understand changes in the indexing algorithm in search engines.

With a high PageRank, reinforcing Link Building or placing an ad on your website will be easier as people look for links that can optimize they web positioning. And a website with a PageRank of  8/10 says a lot on its seriousness compared to a website with a PageRank of 1/10. So, as I told you, PageRank brings credibility to Internet users but doesn’t have much impact on search engines.

How often Google Dance occurs?

Google Dance occurs 3 to 4 times a year. Given the rapid growth of the Web, it occurs every 3 months. Google crawls the web on the first week and results on SEO can be seen from the second or third week of the month. During the last Google Dance in April 2010, Google introduced a few changes in its algorithm. These changes led to serious repercussions on websites’ traffic. We deal with this topic in: “Google MayDay – fatal traffic loss”.

We currently are experiencing Google Dance. It has started on the first week of July 2010 and soon, you might see a change in the PageRank for some of your web pages.

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As you may have seen on an EGOMEDIA tweet, Google is to compete with Apple’s iTunes. Rumours have been confirmed: Google Music is said to have opened negotiations with record labels. Google Music should be available on Google’s android phones via the Simplify Media application.

As you may know, the number 1 search engine doesn’t want to content itself with music industry. It foresees the launch of Google Music simultaneously with Google TV, for next fall. Now it will be possible to listen and record TV shows and web shows through Google TV, using Google’s android OS 2.1 and its Chrome browser. You will be able to plug your TV via Wifi or an Ethernet connexion. Electric current goes through the Ethernet cable thanks to Ethernet technology. Imagine a future in which we would no longer need to call an electrician for adding receptacles in some rooms. We could plug in our TV wherever we want unless we have an Ethernet cable. This is the same for VOIP phones. To implement Google TV, the firm Mountain View has called for Sony, Logitech and Intel.

Here is a video in English introducing Google TV:

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For the moment, iPhone 4.0 is available in The States, The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. Fans were brave enough to queue up for hours in front of iPhone 4.0 distributors to get Apple’s latest release. The company has already sold 1.7 million units in just 3 days. “It is the most successful launch in Apple’s history”, said Job Steves, Apple’s boss.

iPhone 4 features:

• Facetime announces the beginning of videophony on iPhone 4. Now it is possible to chat provided you have a Wifi connexion. iOS 4 is equipped with two cameras, one on the front and one on the back in order to show the person you are talking to what is facing you.
• iPhone 4 has a Retina screen with a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels, which is excellent for such a small device. The quality of the screen is really amazing!
• iOS 4 has a multitasking feature allowing you to switch from an application to another instantaneously, without weakening the battery nor performances.
• iPhone 4 is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera and a LED flash.
• iPhone 4.0 battery lasts longer as well as its life span. The device gets a gyroscope for a better control of movement.

What iPhone 4 first users say…

Hardly has it been released, iOS gets itself talked about and shows its first signs of weakness. First, users have complained about the fact that when you grip the Iphone 4, it loses signal. Steve Jobs’s answer “Avoid holding it this way” caused a huge number of funny videos posted on Youtube on the best way to hold your iPhone 4.

Moreover, there are problems of screen discoloration: yellow stains appear on the Iphone 4 Retina screen. Apple said that the product used to put together the different layers of the screen was still drying and that users had to wait for it to evaporate. Not too reassuring!

A bright future for iPhone 4

Apple stated it would replace all faulty devices without giving any specific date to users as iOS 4 is out of stock. iPhone 4 is likely to have a bright future if fans follow the crowd: 600 000 pre-orders on the opening day!

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iOS 4 comes with 1500 new API and 100 new functionalities. This will undoubtedly satisfy iPhone fans of previous versions.

Apple’s new operating system that equips iPhone OS 4 is not compatible with all products from Apple. If iOS works well with the iPhone 3GS, we can’t say the same for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. Indeed, old devices are not compatible.

What does iOS 4 offer?

During the launch conference for iPhone OS 4, Steve Jobs, Apple’s boss, introduced 7 new features:

1. Multitasking: several applications can be used at the same time without affecting iPhone OS 4’s performances or battery.
2. Folders: they organize applications so that you can find them more easily. Each folder can contain 12 applications, thus making possible the installation of 2000 applications on iPhone 4 versus 180 for former versions.
3. Email: all your email accounts are grouped together. It is now easier to switch from an account to another.
4. iBooks: you can buy books on iPhone OS 4 through iBooks. Moreover, you can keep your reading simultaneously both on your iPhone 4.0 and iPad.
5. Business feature: professionals now have an access to data protection (encrypted emails), VPN support, management of mobile equipment,… You no longer need to plug your iPhone 4 in a computer to install a business application; you can do it via Wifi.
6. Game Center: Steve Jobs thinks of competing with Sony and Nintendo by making 50 000 games available from App Store. The company wants to build a social network for gamers. But today this is just a project under construction for Apple.
7. iAd: Apple wants to broadcast an ad every  3 minutes on some free applications. Think that Apple is likely to reach soon 100 million devices sold (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad), this means 1 billion ads shown per day. Another special feature is that ads are more interactive on iOS 4.

To date, Apple has sold 50 million iPhone and 35 millions iPad, totalizing 85 million mobile devices. Apple’s popularity rating is still growing as iPhone sales show: 1.7 million devices sold over the first 3 days. But when will Applemania stop?

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