This is part one of a short series on our online reputation. This post will go into the disillusions of PageRank and other ranking scores.
I don’t mean to preach or lecture but I think this needs to be said. How many times have you heard others say your Alexa rank doesn’t mean anything? How many people believe our Google PageRank is a useless number that counts very little? The same is said in literally every method of gauging our online reputation; everything from number of comments to our Klout scores, from our Twitter followers to our Facebook likes.
This is our first instalment of the “Your Online Reputation Counts” series (See Part 2 & Part 3).
Why Numbers Count
Table of Contents
The fact is, these numbers count. Don’t let anyone tell you different. It is true; we can take each score individually and discredit them in a number of ways. At the end of the day, we are being judged, like it or not. Can the Alexa rank be manipulated? Of course it can. Does Google PageRank hold less stock in the SERPS than it once did? Absolutely. And Klout, don’t even get me started with that. Seriously, these numbers DO COUNT! They count because people pay attention to them.
I Don’t Believe Any Of It!
Your personal views really have nothing to do with the masses that you want to follow you. You want a large list, right? You want a large following that consider you an authority in your field, right? Personally, I think a page’s Alexa score is a crock. The simple truth of the matter is, many people look up at their toolbar to see that rank before they read a single word on the page. The same goes with PageRank; less so with sites like Klout but they still count. So we can take a stand and say we’re not going to participate in those silly numbers but we do so at our own peril, at least for the time being.
The Real Measure
Do these numbers REALLY measure your real online reputation? Of course not. Our reputation can only be developed by consistently demonstrating our knowledge, leadership and reliability. This is where we need to start, by earning respect in our field.
What Online Reputation Is Not
We don’t build a positive reputation by manipulating scores and cheating the system or spamming everyone we know to beg for votes, likes or +1s. We don’t build our reputation by taking other people’s content and spinning it off as our own or submitting utter garbage for guest posts.
Conclusion – My Advice
I don’t mean to say we have two separate online reputations, we only have one. Combine real integrity with smart business and we succeed in both Worlds: How we prove we are worth following and what the masses initially use to judge us.
We’ve heard for years, there’s only one chance for a first impression. Sadly, that first impression is often gaged by ranking, association and overall aesthetics. Ideally, we can take advantage of those initial, albeit shallow and superficial, judgments and build on that with real dependability, influence and respectability. In other words, we can’t prove ourselves if we’re only talking to ourselves.
Your Turn
How do you gage online reputation? Do you check your toolbar stats… be honest. 🙂 How important is your reputation and what’s the best way to build on it?
This is our first instalment of the “Your Online Reputation Counts” series (See Part 2 & Part 3).
About Brian D. Hawkins
Wow, am I first or are all the other comments in moderation ahead of mine? lol
I’m taking a slightly different take on things while agreeing with you at the same time. That’s how I roll, as you know.
Page rank means absolutely nothing. Google had removed my page rank for about a year. In that time, my traffic wasn’t affected at all. People finding me on Google still found me for the same terms. The only thing that “might” have been affected was if I took advertising on the site, which I didn’t. Otherwise… useless.
Alexa ranking, on the other hand, is something different. Truth be told, even if it’s not perfect it does let people know how their traffic is to a degree, even without the Alexa toolbar. You don’t believe me then take a comparison as to whether you’ll find a blog for a particular search term if it has no Alexa ranking at all, or if it’s ranked around 20 million, or around 100,000. Which number would you prefer?
See, it definitely is an indication of traffic, no matter what anyone says. Now, when you add “online reputation” to the mix, that’s kind of a different animal. It tracks traffic, that’s all. All traffic isn’t equal, and if someone is finding you for things you have no control over, what kind of reputation is that?
I had one post on my blog for a couple of years on the topic of how more female celebrities were showing cleavage these days. That turned out to be a very popular post as far as traffic was concerned but since that’s not what my blog was about, and I guess not quite what people were looking for when they put the search term in, the post averaged less than 20 seconds per visit. My rankings were really high, and I had traffic, but reputation… nope. I finally made that post private so I could see what my real traffic was; I took a hit but at least now people are finding me for what I actually do.
Wow, this is long; I’ll stop here. lol
Well, first of all, Mitch, I’m all for cleavage. lol I’m with you on what the numbers actually indicate, but, as you know, not everyone is looking at it the same way. The numbers count, just not in the manner they were intended.
They can be a curse of sorts as well. I know the lower my Alexa score, the more guest post submissions. The more submissions, the more rejections I have to send. 😉
Just a few days ago I read a post discussing about Alexa ranking and I remember adding in my comment that Alexa ranking shouldn’t even be discussed anymore because truth be told it has no value.
I used to be a believer in numbers too. But recently I’ve seen just too much to know better. And I’ll give some examples.
dulya and 2knowmyself both sites get over one million visitors a month and duly alexa is over 800k and the other is over 50k.
Another example is my elder bros site. He started that site even before I knew what online business was. And he makes good money off the site. So well that he’s resign from a very well paying job. Since we’re on the issue of alexa I just checked his site now and his alexa is over 500k.
Do you still want me to pay attention to numbers especially alexa rank?
Really I think alexa ranking shouldn’t even be discussed anymore. Where does its value lie? To impress? That can only take you so far. If it attracts advertisers when you have no good traffic, it will only last for the first month. If it attracts guest post, they won’t come back when they don’t get any result from it. It’s mostly in make money online niches that we still see some believers in numbers. We believe we need to have thousands of twitter followers to impress, facebook followers etc. We’re so impressed with numbers. We so much want to impress with them. And you know why? Because most of us lack what is really important.
Anyone really getting good traffic will not be bothered about alexa rank. You have your traffic, you have your traffic. Period. It’s what matters. And PR, I won’t even bother going into that.
What matters…
Adding value
Your traffic
Conversion of your traffic
Seriously someone tell me how these numbers really matters and contribute to our overall goal.
I think you’re missing my point entirely Karo. I agree the numbers mean very little, in the form intended, but if they are perceived to be important by the masses, then they are important.
We can’t just wish away the facts. Alexa is one of the top 100 most visited sites on the Planet. I have no idea why, I think the stats are dumb and, overall, it’s not even a great search source. But if you think people aren’t looking at these numbers when they visit your site, then you must understand human nature far better than I do.
I’m just pointing that fact out; what bloggers do with that information is up to them. I didn’t write the post to debate the integrity of the numbers, just the fact that the numbers are watched.
I agree. There is still a strong perceived importance being placed on ranking sites like Alexa. While these things might not offer anything useful from the perspective of someone within the online content creation world, the regular-Joe online viewer is still going to look to some kind of “ranking system” to find sites worth visiting. That’s sort of how our society has become wired. We look for “the top ten…” for everything, then use that to make a decision. Google “top 10”, there are almost 7.2 billion results. Yikes.
I hear you Gited, while I’m not ready to say PageRank is evil, I do agree interaction is very important for bloggers. My point is that those scores can help with the initial interaction; at least until well established.
Oh yes…numbers do count because people believe in them- so it really doesn’t matter whether we do or not – coz they work!
Ah…yes, I do check my Alexea toolbar once a day at least – just to keep an eye if all is well or have I been hit by another animal update! They do fright me as the first one did affect my blog, though now it’s going upwards.
However, I recently read that Alexea and PageRank are there alright, but more important than both of these is the AuthorRank that’s coming up in a big way.
And yes, our online reputation matters a great deal and for me, it’s what I value more than these numbers that are never really reliable as they fluctuate so often. I guess building relationships that last a long time is the key as they always stay with you for years to come – isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Do you check your toolbar when on other people’s blogs Harleena? I wasn’t even thinking about our own ranks. lol
Great point about AuthorRank. With the direction in authorship, AuthorRank may end up being the next big grading system. It’s seems like a portable PageRank that we carry around with us wherever we author.
I do that sometimes – one hardly gets time from work and commenting so as to see other people’s tool bar and stats. 🙂
I do worry about my ranks more because of the Google updates – just in-case one tends to get hit and not know about it.
The only agony with Numbers is…, it then builds a tendency to grow in terms of numbers instead of quality. Creating a Master piece can take years. Quality down the line suffers if one concentrates on getting Numbers.
That’s actually true Ganesh, I agree. We’ve seen it many times before. Just like multi-authors, the numbers tend to improve but it’s pretty tough to keep up the quality.
Also, these numbers are going to increase SPAM further.
I think while most of us believe that page numbers and ranking does not matter, the fact is that most people do take it into account. This make it important for us as we all aim to get more traffic to our site. So basically, you may not care about your scores and ranking, it is essential that you pay attention to it as it could help get more traffic to your blog.
Exactly Kimberly, you understand completely.
For me Online reputation is as much important as offline one.But the important thing is which matters for you the most and how effective your reputation is.
Having an online reputation is not that much of easy task as retaining it for long.
Yep, reputation is reputation Aditya. Thanks 🙂
Yes,Yes!
Have a open mind to make all is well or will good.
I have analyzed that my reputation is going good and my strategies are straight forward which is fit to set at well position.
It is all to make my Online Reputation good which are necessary.
I do check the toolbar stats, but they are not my priority. I judge the content before checking the stats. I think the best way to go about building an online reputation is to simply not think about building one. If one loves to write, to interact socially, it’ll come about spontaneously. Materially, page rank, Alexa rank and the likes do matter, but morally it’s what we do, and how we do it is what matters.
I must admit I do check the toolbar stats to determine the online reputation. I trust Google more than my own instincts. There were a couple of blogs I found appealing in spite of their low ratings. In such cases I try and help them grow. Page Rank and Alexa Rank are the main parameters through which most bloggers judge other blogs in their niche, regardless of the content. Though somewhere down there I feel this needs to change, but then there’s no perfect system for such things.
Hey Brian,
Your article is written with awesome credibility and I do see it all over.
I completely agree. I tend to fall into the trend of checking out all of those “big” rankings such as Alexa, page rank, etc…
But, this won’t tell you everything about that blog or site, and the level of engagement.
Great article!
Thanks Samuel, I’m not suggesting we watch other blogger’s rank, just be aware of our own. And we certainly shouldn’t but a bunch of energy into worrying about these numbers. I’m just saying bloggers need to be aware that others are looking at those numbers.
Thank you, Brian, for telling it like it really is. I usually catch grief from social media pundits and purists as soon as I start talking about Klout or Alexa or TwitterGrader, etc. It’s true, as many people here have pointed out, that a low score in those areas doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have good traffic or aren’t making money. But the point is: ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL, a higher score is better than a lower score, and may help you drive more qualified traffic, attract more real fans, and ultimately make more money.
I’ve seen moving a search engine ranking on the site’s primary keyword from #3 to #1 make absolutely ZERO difference in the amount of organic search traffic the site received, but the company spent thousands of dollars to achieve it. How is that any different?
If you can drive them up with relatively little effort — and usually, with actions that will help you in other ways as well — why on earth would you NOT do that???
All true Scott, and well put. That’s a great point that the same things that help our scores build traffic and authority.
Brian, I say it means something to you, but it means more to other people including other blogger because who has not seen a blog with a high Alexa score and said I am wasting my time if I comment here.
Advertisers care also because it is easier to sell them an ad package if they see evidence you are getting a lot of traffic.
My take.
I see what you’re saying Michael. BTW, I don’t think you are ever wasting your time participating on a blog, popular or not. The author may or not see it or respond but others may read it.
And you’re right, many advertisers probably do consider ranking numbers before handing out cash.
Aside from getting into traffic and page rank, a credible online reputation is as important as being a reputable one as a person.
Hi Brian,
I believe that numbers do matter to advertisers, if you are looking to have advertising on your blog or website. It may also matter if you want to do guest blogging on other blogs. They do not always correlate to traffic though. Or even quality. I don’t believe Alexa really shows the traffic accurately either. I have sites that are getting more traffic than others and the Alexa ranking is low. (retail site vs blog)
Thanks Lisa, I agree with all of that. I’m just saying the numbers, even though inaccurate and a crock, are important because they are perceived as important by so many.
If everyone thinks the World is flat, that doesn’t mean we’re in danger of walking off the planet but it is important to understand popular opinion. We can do a lot with that information.
Online social reputation is getting to be one of the most essential to do business in the web 2.0 environment. Strategic building of your online social reputation can bring your business to new heights.
When I first started out, that’s all I heard quite honestly and it was how tons of blogs stated how you gauged your site’s popularity and your worth. Hell, no one knew who the hell I was was, but with a chance meeting with another blogger, it changed everything. I didn’t worry about Google rank because I never understood how I even got to PR 1, and just concentrated on what I needed to do to get my name out there. Networking is what helped my site get where it is today and the bloggers I have met along the way have helped me too.
Do I care about Klout? No, but like you said, its what is looked at by brands and other bloggers that think it’s the all or end all. Stupid as it sounds, it is what it is, but your reputation is worth its weight in gold. How you treat others online, how you share other content other than your own and what you give back to the community you are apart of. That’s what really matters. But do I look at rankings, sure, but it doesn’t deter me from commenting if the content is good.
Websites like Alexa has been around for so long that its just the norm and apart of how websites are tracked. So a new person starting out will likely get sucked into thinking that Klout, Traffic, and likes is all that matters. It helps I won’t lie, but it shouldn’t be your complete focus. Once a person obsesses about his ranking and traffic, they lose sight of what really matters: content, networking and building your community.
Wow Sonia, you did a better job in your comment than I did writing the post. lol
It’s actually a tough subject because it’s impossible to ‘rate’ people’s reputation with numbers and seems wrong to even try. It’s been going on forever with things like credit scores and school grading systems but they are all far from perfect. Like you said, “It is what it is”, a saying I use almost daily. 🙂
Online reputation is a major factor for bloggers and their blogs as well as websites. It decides their reputation on the internet where they are in competition with a lot of other blogs. To stay ahead of them all and be popular the reputation counts.
Thanks Peter, reputation counts everywhere.
I read this in one article today that online reputation can also be affected due to excessive keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is a negative point to the SEO marketing strategy and can badly hamper the reputation or status of the blog online.
True Thomas, black hat SEO earns a negative reputation, both in how others look at them and how hard Google spanks them.
Numbers do count, as you stated whether we believe it or not. But the scores can be manipulated, in some cases quite easily. Most novices these days tend to fiddle with their statistics while ignoring the actual content. That doesn’t mean there’s no scope for true bloggers. I’m simply trying to indicate that no matter the strength of the system, it can always be bent.
I agree Lina, without a doubt. I was just reading on Facebook that people are gaming the system with automated posts to Facebook groups. That sort of thing will always be around but, in the end, it’s better to play fair and live a little less stress.
I think the online reputation is a long-term development process of all the online communication channels we are involved in. Add your social media accounts, your blogs, your websites together and you get an idea what your reputation is. If you have been involved in all of these for a long time, there is a chance people may know you by now and you have some reputation and trust. If you just started, you must be prepared for a long way to get to the point where your online presence gets noticed.
It’s true Alex, I can spot many bloggers a mile away just on what is written before even seeing their name. That kind of recognition takes time to build and, if it’s positive, builds a longterm reputation that numbers will never be able to show.
Hi,
Well i believe alexa and blog comments can considered as reputation.. As it increase our reputation goes on increase. And when the online reputation increases the search ranking also increases.
I mean the blog comments on post can result in good reputation.
It’s all just a small part of the puzzle Amr and we need to work on our overall reputation. This post is just to get us thinking about how to determine that others are thinking.
Hi Brian D. Hawkins,
Well i believe Pagerank of a blog cannot be considered as reputation or determines the quality of the blogs its such a google rank. however i think Alexa is important but now a days it is also fooled by some tricks.
Tricks indeed Rajkumar 🙂
I used to believe in the Google Page Rank but now I don’t bother too much about it. Not true for advertisers though as the higher your PR the more offers you get to advertise on your site and the more you can charge for a spot.
I do believe in the Alexa ranking. It may not be perfect but as imperfect as it is it does measure your traffic to an extent. I’ve been comparing my ranking to other stats and although it is somewhat delayed it does go up and down along with those other stats.
As for your online reputation, the only way that will grow is by you putting yourself out there and by never letting your lust for money/fame seduce you into promoting products or services that you’ve never tried or don’t honestly believe in.
Great point Sire, I won’t promote a product I haven’t tried and believe in, that’s why I made a terrible internet marketer. 😉
For many people, Alexa rankings mean nothing now because there’s real discrepancy on how they come up with their figures. That said, I still find it oddly satisfying to see my ranking shoot up every now and then 🙂 Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Exactly Lexi, different strokes so it’s really about what others feel, not us.
Brian, as a blogger your online reputation means a lot. It is not everything, but readers who do not know you only have your online presence to rely on.
Hi Michael, how many of them will buy a product we recommend before that trust is earned?
When we focus too much on stats and numbers alone, I think that we may all have the tendency to overlook other critical areas such as quality and engagement. I personally believe that credibility is mainly established by coming up with solution-oriented and relevant content that our readers can greatly benefit from and when coupled with strategic online marketing this is a sure fire way to gain a remarkable reputation in the blogging industry. Thanks for the engrossing read.
Establishing a good reputation online is not merely about generating the most leads and having a high search engine ranking, it also has a lot to do with the kind of quality and relevance we produce through our posts. Thanks for the enlightening read.
You and me both Brian. I suppose that’s the price we have to pay for having certain morals but that’s OK by me.
Agree, Online reputation matters, itâs what I value more than these numbers that are never really reliable as they fluctuate so often & numbers do matter to advertisers. I guess building relationships that last a long time is the key as they always stay with you for years to come.
I agree, rankings are very important for people who don’t know anything about the company and would like to buy something from them. Rankings build respect and trust
Online reputation is indeed significant and make a lot of sense in attracting traffic to a particular website. It sometimes becomes a pain to maintain a clean and effective online reputation. Thanks for highlightinh this niche.
Hi Brian – I think the numbers only matter to the extent that they reflect the real value of the content.
I must admit I’m always interested to see someone’s Alexa rank (but that might be because it’s a bit of a new toy – I’ve only recently started to understand it, thanks to one of Adrienne’s posts) – but I won’t use that to judge the site, I’ll reach my own opinion. I’ve come across some great sites with low rankings, but that might just be because they’re fairly new and don’t have much traffic yet. I’m fascinated and a bit concerned when I come across a site with a high ranking that doesn’t seem to be much cop.
I do now keep an eye on my own Alexa score and must admit it’s been exciting to see it improve recently, but at the end of the day what matters to me is whether the people visiting my site think they get good value – I’m more excited about genuinely positive feedback in my comment stream than any other kind of ‘score’.
In my day job I work in health care and attempts to ‘rate’ services are always fraught with danger – there’s so much stuff you can’t ‘count’, like the difference between a doctor or nurse with great empathy as opposed to those who do the work but leave their patients feeling more vulnerable, maybe just for want of a friendly smile or the right tone of voice. Some things are hard to measure.
Thanks for a very thought-provoking post,
Sue
Thanks Sue, that’s a great point with a nice example; we can’t rate and compare everyone using the same simple metrics. Metrics can’t take intentions, experience, situation and a whole list of factors into consideration.
The numbers really mean nothing in a realistic world, they only become and remain important because so many people put so much stock into it. We know someone’s Alexa or Page rank is useless as far as rating the quality of writing or the value the content has to offer or even the potential joy we might find in engaging with that person.
With that said, I think it’s important to understand that as long as human nature refuses to adhere to logic, numbers and appearance will always be important. It does no good to say it’s not fair, or even correct, therefor I won’t believe it. We can refuse to participate but the fact still remains that numbers, whether comments, PageRank, Alexa, do matter.
I mean, seriously, should it matter that your favorite actor or entertainer has publically endorsed a product or politician? Absolutely not, that’s just foolish, we know a rock star, for example, isn’t any more qualified than the rest of us when it comes to choosing a political party. But it does matter as long as it matters to the masses and advertisers will pay a premium for those endorsements.
Oops, I got carried away. I don’t mean to lecture, we’re in agreement. lol
I really had no urge to post on this article, but Brian had to “straighten me out” (or he just wanted a buttload more text on here). So here ya go Brian. LOL
About some of your numbersâ¦.if you walk down the street and ask people who bought things onlineâ¦what was the sites Alexa Rank, Klout, or even Page Rank, how many would have a clue what you were talking about?
Some bloggers and webmasters are about the only ones who would even have a clue. Bloggers and webmasters are a very small percentage of online buyers.
Here are 3 real searches I did and I even looked up the Alexa so you could answer the questions. Because Alexa matters right?
I even checked Domain Toolbar Page Rank to give you even more clues as to what sites are “better”.
Search Phrase 1 â Which of these sites would you want to place an advertisement (no PR passed) on for the chosen search phrase?
Alexa 1,022,365 – PR 3 – rank on SERP 2
Alexa 1,132,464 – PR 3 – rank on SERP 6
Alexa 1,034 – PR 6 – rank on SERP 10
Alexa 514 – PR 7 – rank on SERP 27
Search Phrase 2 â Which of these sites has the least reliable information for the search phrase?
Alexa 6,240 â PR 6 – rank in SERPs 1
Alexa 10,453 â PR 5 – rank in SERPs 2
Alexa 87 â PR 6 – rank in SERPs 8
Alexa 63,496 â PR 3 – rank in SERPs 9
Alexa 3,599 PR 6 – rank in SERPs 10
Search Term 3 â Which of these sites would you buy from for the chosen search phrase?
Alexa 5,603,070 â PR 0 – rank on SERPs 4
Alexa 11,656,041 â PR 2 – rank SERPs 12
Alexa 62 â PR 9 – rank on SERPs 41
Alexa No Data â PR 2 – rank on SERPs 42
Ask your mother or other regular online shopper walking down the street the questions aboveâ¦bet they want to see the site, product or article before they make any judgment. Bet they do not even have any toolbars to check site numbers when they are shopping or looking for answers.
Now, do you think it would be more useful to spend your time on making your site useful and rank for the search phrases your potential customers use or spend your time trying to get a number that may only make you feel special, but doesn’t mean you get sales?
Aww, I feel bad you went did all that research for another topic but it has nothing to do with my point.
One thing I do know though, how to get you going. LMAOL Who says blogging ain’t fun?
Did you read the article or my comment? LOL!
The last paragraph of my comment was to get the point across to those “number watchers”. The rest was the example that you can not judge by the numbers for each of the task.
You were the one that said the numbers counted. Other commenters also seemed to think the numbers were worth spending time on. My point is there are better things to spend your time on…like quality, site ease of use, brand name recognition and getting qualified traffic…rather than a number that may not help you get more sales.
If you as an “educated” blogger can not judge site quality by the numbers and you know what they mean, how will those numbers matter to the majority of online searchers who have never heard of them?
I’m going to address your article with a series of questions, which I will answer myself. That’s just how smart I am. 😛
Does your credit score have anything to do with your integrity? Of course not but that’s how we are judged by banks, creditors and even employment. Is the score accurate? Almost never. Does that credit score mean anything to anyone you associate with everyday? Of course not, they don’t even know your score.
So why would I care if a shopper was looking at site rank? I’m referring to blogging and online business in an online reputation post. In our circles these numbers count. I’ve said numerous times on this page that they are not accurate, fair or even important in a true sense. BUT, as long as it’s common practice and accepted by our “peers”, the numbers matter. Are the numbers gamed? In Alexa’s case, Absolutely. Are they anything to worry about or obsess over? Not even close but bloggers, that is who reads this blog, need to understand that other bloggers do notice the numbers. It’s not fair, it’s a waist of times and not everyone is looking but… wait for it… the numbers do matter.
Just like Twitter and Facebook followers. Does a hundred thousand followers mean that anyone at all is listening? No it doesn’t. Do others look at how many followers we have? Why, yes they do. We can talk all day long on how wrong that is but, unfortunately, the fact remains, yes… Numbers Do Count!
How much is your car worth? There are two answers to that question and neither are wrong… The amount it is worth to you and the amount you can get out of it.
Actually there is a 3rd answer to your last question…I don’t have a car.
What I am saying is your “peers” should not be spending time on these numbers. Someone needs to show or explain to them, it is a huge waste of time. If they spent that time building quality…it will get them much farther than any of those numbers. And how do most people get the numbers that DO count…they give quality.
(Well, gaming some of those numbers are really easy and I am not giving them credit for building with hard work and quality.)
I think far fewer people look or really believe those numbers count than you may think. And even less when it comes to online business.
Although, I am glad that some of those people would rather sit and worry and work on no account numbers…gives them something to do.
Brian, you hit on some good points. I really liked the one that if someone has a high Alexa rank a reader probably will not even look at it. Alexa is really hard to understand. I can have a very popular blog post with a lot of hits and my Alexa rank is barely impacted. Maybe it is because at the 250,000 range it is hard to move up. I also have seen that when I use twitter a lot my Alexa ranking goes down. I think the bounce rate is impacted but not sure.
Your thoughts on these specifics?
Anyway, you make some compelling points and there is no shortcuts here; a good blog with good content is controlling.
A lot more attention seems to be focused on your Moz Page and Domain Authority over Page Rank now, but of course the pages need to be indexed with Google. But with Google’s 6 month reporting lag, who knows when that will be.