Web Design

Measuring the authority of web pages

What we know for sure is that there is no single authority metric that Google uses when ranking pages.  From comments and other disclosures by Google staff, we know that there are several currently undisclosed metrics that form the level of authority of a page. Here is what we know:

Google says that the authority of content is calculated on a page-by-page basis. This means that there is no single domain level authority figure that applies to all content under that domain. This would lead to some bad assumptions of individual content, so Google was forced to look at it by the page. For example, it would be difficult to apply it on a per-user basis for sites like YouTube and Tumblr, so every single page has its authority.

There are still site-wide signals that have an effect on the authority of the page. It’s not a blanket application across all pages. One of the initial attempts to fight spam, The Penguin update, applied penalties across the entire site. Now, with Penguin a part of the core algorithm, it applies at the page level. In reality, it is a good thing that penalties and boosts apply at the page level. It is possible that the computational load was too great to do so in the past.

The days when PageRank was all you needed to rank are gone. Now there are something like 200+ ranking signals, of which as many 20 could directly affect authority. Google wants to ensure that if you rank high in its results, that what you are saying is true, and that it belongs there.Save

Reputation Management

The Downsides to a Negative Review on Yelp

Did you know that every blank star on Yelp translates to real dollars and cents lost? According to Harvard’s Business Review, you may be among hundreds of business owners seeing lost revenue thanks to missing stars on Yelp. Here, we look at some of the fallout for poor reputation management.

Fewer Patrons

Fewer people want to visit a business with a negative Yelp rating. Those stars are a major turn off for casual browsers looking for something new. How many people have turned your business down for missing even one star? Yelp reviews also carry some influence on social media, and in Google, so you may be turning off more than just people who visit Yelp’s website.

Less Revenue

Fewer people buying from you means a lot less revenue, says ReputationStars.com. If you have new investments, or plans for the upcoming years, then negative Yelp reviews can be a real problem for you. Lost revenue can kill special projects and expansions.

Less revenue may also mean layoffs, and that can affect you too. If you need to lay off some personnel, and their opinion of you is negative, they may find other ways to defame you. They may spread word on sites like Glassdoor, or leave additional negative reviews posing as a customer.

Final Thoughts

Your best online reputation management strategy is to carefully read Yelp’s terms of service and to be proactive in trying to manage your online reputation. Make sure you read all the reviews on your page, even the negative ones, and see what you can learn from.