Google Page Rank - Important Or Just Another Number?

In my last newsletter I wrote about how your websites Alexa rating is not actually that important to the success of your online business. In this issue, I want to look at another popular statistic - Google Page Rank - and ask a similar question - is it that important?

First a quick overview as to what the Google Page Rank actually is...

Google Page Rank (or PR as it is often referred to as) is simply an indication of the number of websites that link to a specific website. It also attempts to indicate the quality of those links. PR ranges from 0 to 10 (with 10 being the 'best' PR and 0 being the 'worst'). The vast majority of small business websites will usually find they have a PR of between 0 and 5.

To calculate a particular sites PR, Google uses a fairly complicated algorithm based on the number of web links that it is aware of that link to the site in question. This algorithm will also take into account the PR of the page that is providing the link, thus a link from a web page that has a PR of 7 will be considered more valuable than a link from a page with a PR of 4.

Because of the way in which links from higher PR-ranked sites are considered more important, many people are choosing to buy links from websites with high PR's just so that they can increase their own PR. I have seen sites selling a simple text link on their home page for over $700 a month purely based on the fact that they have a PR of 7 or above. This may seem like a lot of money but when you consider that the website owners that are buying these links often have websites that are in no way relevant to the content of the site linking to them, it is absolutely ridiculous.

Take this example, let's say you have a website about health and fitness and you buy a link for $500 a month from a random website because it has a PR of 7. This random website has no relevance to your health and fitness site so what is going to happen? Well, your own PR may increase as a result of the link. You may get a bit of extra traffic but probably not much since people don't click on links that that they are not interested in. You will definitely be $500 poorer at the end of the month!

Instead, why not spend the $500 on pay-per-click advertising and benefit from some quality, targeted traffic?

Of course, there is a bit more to it than that and the reason that most people want to increase their PR is because Google takes this statistic into account when determining where a website will be displayed in their search results. Many people assume that a high PR automatically equals a high search engine placement for their chosen keywords. Not so....

PR is just one of over 100 different factors that Google takes into account when deciding where your website will feature (and these factors and the main algorithm change on a very regular basis). It is perfectly possible for a website with a PR of 5 to get a higher ranking than a PR 7 site if it has better content or is more relevant for the search term in question.

Remember that relevance is all important with Google and a link from a website that is not relevant to your own site will be considered far less important than a relevant one (which makes buying links from random sites purely because they have a high PR even more crazy).

I have read several rumours lately that Google haven't updated PR's for a couple of months and they are considering phasing PR out or modifying it in some way. This is pure speculation but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. PR is easily manipulated (for example by purchasing links as described above) and Google doesn't like to have their calculations or search results manipulated. It stands to reason that they will be looking at ways of preventing this.

So, in summary, is Google Page Rank important to your business?

Well, it is a good indicator of how many other sites link to yours and how important Google considers your site to be BUT I personally don't place too much importance on this statistic and I certainly won't be paying out for a link from a website just because it has a high PR.

As I said above, Google changes it's rules on a regular basis and I see little point in chasing a particular PR on the basis that it might get you higher search engine rankings. If Google do decide to do away with PR, all your work will have been for nothing.

Instead, concentrate on building quality, relevant links from sites that are connected in some way to your own site content. This will ensure that any traffic you receive via these links will at least have an interest in your site. Building links on this basis will automatically increase your PR over time (without the need to pay out for overpriced, irrelevant links). If you do things this way and Google does scrap the PR indicator, it shouldn't affect you in any way and the links you have in place will continue to benefit you.

Remember, in the same way that a low Alexa rating doesn't guarantee traffic or sales, neither does a high PR. Sure a high PR is a 'nice to have' but lots of traffic and high sales is even nicer :-)

Copyright 2004 Richard Grady

About The Author

Richard Grady has been helping people earn online since 1998. Find out more about Richard at: http://www.thetraderonline.com Free wholesale search engines: UK- http://www.wholesale118.co.uk and US http://www.thewholesaletrader.com

---

3 Deadly Search Engine Marketing Sins

My inbox this week provided glaring examples of three all... Read More

SEO #3: Getting Listed In Google in Under 24-Hours!

Yesterday you should have read the second course out of... Read More

Has Google Indexed Your Site ?

So has Google found your site yet?Over the last 12... Read More

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Fix Your OffPage!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is something you should be aware... Read More

Keywords ? Key For All Doors

Keyword research is certainly the most important phase in Search... Read More

See No Google, Hear No Google, Speak No Google

That's right - I dreamt of a World Wide Web... Read More

How to Avoid Getting OOPed On by Google?

Earlier this year, I was having trouble getting good search... Read More

How To Get Listed in Yahoo!

Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search Engine/Index) is... Read More

The Search Engine Optimization Game Is Getting Tricky

For more than 4 years now I have been modifying... Read More

How To Stay One Step Ahead of the Google Dance

It's taken you 6-months of hard work, constant changes, reading... Read More

Search Engines from a Webmaster Perspective

By now, virtually every webmaster has heard or read that... Read More

Getting Noticed by Search Engines

We all, meaning us webmasters want to have the best... Read More

Keep Your Content Fresh with this Quick and Easy Tip

Some of the Search engines want only original content. So... Read More

Do the Search Engines Know Your Website?

Are you considering a search engine promotion campaign to improve... Read More

Search Engine Optimization :: The Basics and Why Websites Need It

We all know that the most targeted traffic we can... Read More

Submitting to the Search Engines and WebCrawlers

When you want your brand new site to be indexed... Read More

Getting Specific With Local Search Engine Optimization

Localized search engine optimization is often overlooked as an excellent... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Strategies Guaranteed to Skyrocket your Rankings

The point of optimizing your website is so that you... Read More

eMarketing Sabotage - Top 10 Steps To Kill Your Search Engine Marketing Practices

We at America Web Works find ourselves amazed at the... Read More

Should You Buy Text Links?

You can rank number one (Or at least in the... Read More

Link Exchange Tips, No Tricks

Use text links, avoid image links. Anyhow, if you... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Page Optimization (part 5/10)

In parts 1 - 4 you learnt how to develop... Read More

Website Ranking With an Internet Marketing Specialist

On the internet, competition is stronger than ever. There was... Read More

Is Page Not Found Making Google Tell The World Site Not Found?

Search Engines are hard to tame, that's for sure. But... Read More

Top 2 Ways To Get Higher Rankings in Major Search Engines

Top 10 search engine rankings. Everybody wants it but a... Read More

Do the Robot!

Everyone should realize that the search engines (sponsored ads aside)are... Read More

What is Google Pagerank?

PageRank is one of the factors that Google uses to... Read More

Cache in the Bank: Understanding Googles Advanced Operators

If you would like to know when your site was... Read More

Use Keyword Articles for Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is very important for your online business... Read More

Writing Search Engine Friendly Webpages

In order to tap the huge stream of targeted traffic... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Search Engine Optimization Blunders to Avoid

If you want to develop a successful search engine optimization... Read More

Keyword Research And Overture

Many of us who build websites get in the habit... Read More

Google Bring Deskbar Search To Windows Desktop. Now Any Website Can Take Advantage Of This

Google's premier of desktop search proves that the desktop is... Read More