Move Over Google Page Rank; Bring on MozRank

If you haven't already heard, Google has finally updated their Pagerank system.  Many of us, or at least most of us who monitor our stats on a regular basis, have been out of luck for many, many months.  I have been blogging for over a year and have only just finally ranked on the Google Pagerank system and it isn't for lack of jumping through all their hoops, Google simply doesn't update on a regular basis and even a semi-regular basis would be a huge stretch.  It seems as though Google doesn't really have a schedule at all and just sort of, flies by the seat of their pants.  A Google employee happens upon it one day months after the last update and thinks to him or herself, "Oh ya, I forgot about that; I guess I should update the GPR system while I'm thinking of it." and that's how it happens.  Are you at the whim of a Google employees memory?  Probably not but it sure seems that way.

Why is GPR on it's way out and MozRank on it's way in?  Well, GPR isn't really on it's way out, it's just unreliable and not because of the algorithms it uses to rank your site (they rank 1-10 like MozRank) but because their system isn't update on a regular enough basis. 

"MozRank is SEOmoz's general, logarithmically scaled 10-point measure of global link authority or popularity. and is very similar in purpose to the measures of link importance used by the search engines (e.g., Google's PageRank)."  If it's so similar to GPR, why bother?  Because MozRank not only is not as judgmental, meaning it doesn't punish your rank for silly rules such as moving from Blogger to WordPress, MozRank updates regularly which is extremely important in the blogging world where stats are everything when building PR relationships. 

Many companies will not consider building a relationship with bloggers who are below a certain GPR.  This is not to punish you as a blogger, it is a safety net for companies.  When marketing budgets are taken into account, companies want to ensure they are maximizing their targeted marketing plan.  What we need to do as bloggers is to educate.  Not only is GPR important but there are so many other statistical factors to take into account when deciding whether a blogger or website is worth building a relationship with, such as the blog or sites Alexa rank, MozRank, size of readership, including pageviews and uniques.  In the exploding world of social media, social media account statistics are important as well (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

I first read about the MozRanking system via Simply Stacie.  My stats aren't nearly as impressive as Stacie's but I'm getting there.  The point is that if a high ranking, high traffic blog such as Simply Stacie is having issues with GPR, and she's not the only one, then possibly the GPR isn't as important as we all once thought it was.

To check your own MozRank stats go to:

1. Website Grader - You will see a bunch of stats and somewhere near the bottom will be your MozRank.  This Lil Piglet ranks at a 3 here.
2. Open Site Explorer - Once you type in your URL, click on the "Full List of Link Metrics" to find your MozRank.  This Lil Piglet ranks at a 3.04 here.
3. Website Analyzer - This one was my favorite because it analyzes every detail of your blog (labels, SEO, backlinks and even a Fake Pagerank Checker).  This Lil Piglet ranks at a 3.04 here.  Website Analyzer also offers a prediction for your GPR.  Currently my GPR is a 2 and is predicted to be a 3 at the next GPR update.  Of course that would depend on at what future date GPR decides to update.

I know for me, I now include my MozRank in my list of stats for my media kit.  Speaking of a media kit, if you don't already have one or need a professional one done for you, email me at stacey (at) thislilpiglet (dot) net and I can  discuss the details of designing one for you.  Also, if you decide to post about the importance of MozRank or would like to link to this post, please let me know and I will post the link to your post here. :)