Using Your Google Cache as an SEO Indicator
By: John Elder posted in SEO
Hello good people!
Google Pagerank…oh how we love you. You’re a great guide for us lowly SEO fools. Many times you justified our jobs to clients, and sometimes to ourselves…. But Google is phasing out Pagerank, and have already removed it from Google Webmaster Tools. Is the sky falling? Is the end near?
No!
Pagerank is a good indicator, and a nice thing to be able to show SEO clients, but it’s really not that important in the scheme of things. No really.
So what should take it’s place indicator-wise? I suggest you use your site’s Google Cache Date, let me explain…
We all know what the Google Cache is, it’s a sort of snapshot copy of your site that Google takes. Whenever your site is listed in a SERP (Search engine results page) at Google, there’s always that little link next to it that says “Cached”.
If you click on that link, you’ll see a sort of copy of your site, and a bunch of information at the top of the screen. Check your site now, head over to Google and type in your web site URL, then find your site in the SERP and click the “Cached” link.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Look at the top of your Cached page…you should see this line:
This is Google’s cache of http://www.YOURSITE.com. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on DATE
See the date listed there? Is it today or yesterday? If so, you’re site is in very good shape. That means that Google has seen fit to visit your site today or yesterday. That means that Google has CRAWLED your site today or yesterday. And that, as an indicator goes my friends, is much better than any dusty old pagerank score.
You see, that’s what SEO is all about! The ability to get Google interested in your site!
These days Google keeps throwing the word “Trust” around. They like sites with a lot of Trust. What does that mean? I sure don’t know…but if Google seems fit to crawl your site often, they must trust you to be adding new fresh content often.
So don’t worry about the death of Pagerank. Worry about how often Google crawls and Cache’s your web site. As far as indicators go, I’d rather get Cached!
What do you think? Comment below…
-John Elder
The Marketing Fool!
