We as webmasters comprehend the importance of having a higher page rank. However we have also noted that many people in bid to bolster their page ranks buy links or get their sites attached to link farms. One has to first understand what and how pagerank is given by Google. There are lots of factors such as the quality of the backlinks a webpage has and also how the webpage ranks within the search engine results. Lots of people and companies worry about improving their pagerank that they neglect the most basic factor in SEO, that is building quality content for their sites. So today we'll talk about the importance of Page rank and should it really be a cause of concern to you?
Well, keyword density and placement have a bigger role in website ranking then the pagerank. We are not saying that Pagerank is irrelevant or something but there is proof that it is not quite important as it was once regarded as. Want to you check up on your Google pagerank? There is one tool we recommend using, that is prchecker.info. The tool will also give the pagerank for every webpage of the website. In this case you can type in any keyword or phrase and see the pagerank of those webpages that are ranking well. I mean one proof that Pageranks don't matter is when you see that some sites ranking well in search results despite having low PR's, while some higher pagerank sites do quite poorly. This again has lots of various factors such as content or quality of the links too. Its all about playing it safe and keeping it simple with Google, just avoid trying to cheat your way to the top - IT JUST DOES NOT WORK!!!
PAGE RANK IS NOT THE MAIN FACTOR IN RANKING AT THE TOP
Once again the Pagerank is not a critical factor in determining the rankings on Google. If this was the case then people would simply buy higher pagerank sites and prosper to the top of Google with little effort. That would be totally out of order as a site with little or no relevance would be at the top. There are many factors such as keyword density in the webpage content, title, url, all play a significant role in a webpage ranking. Now as a test, just try searching for a keyword and try looking at their page rank, you will notice that many top results do not have a high PR at all and yet hold good ranking on the search results, this will probably answer your questions on whether you should solely focus on Pagerank or not?
SEO AND PAGERANK LINK
So what does Pagerank mean to the standard webmasters going about with their SEO work? Firstly, keywords and non-pagerank factors (mentioned earlier) are quite important as they can put lower Pagerank site above a higher pagerank site. If you do not believe us, then just attempt searching on Google and you'll get your answer. We are not saying that you should therefore stop building Links in a bid to increase your pagerank. You can still continue in acquiring links but we suggest to spend more time in the creation of content and other keyword strategies then just focus on one.
Now when we take Keywords as a factor, we have seen that by having keywords in the URL and website title, it can have a positive effect on the ranking of the site. But the main thing is having good content that will ultimately have a positive effect on the site in the long run. Make sure you write for the target market and not just for the search engines. We are more concerned about the quality of the content then duplicated work been produced on your site.
The founders of Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) developed what we know as PageRank. Back in those days when Larry and Sergey met, search engines simply linked to pages which had the highest keyword density. This was a loophole as people could simply paste the same phrase all over their site to gain top rankings in Google. This was when Larry and Brin decided to develop PageRank which is used by Google to assess the importance of a website or web page. It has now become one of the many factors that is used to analyse which pages appear in search results or not.
What Does PageRank actually Measure?
PageRank was created to measure a website’s importance. Larry and Brin’s theory was based upon the relation of important pages and the links leading to them. They stated that the most popular pages on the web were the ones with the most links. PageRank in this sense looks at links as votes, so the higher the links you got, the better chance of acquiring a higher PageRank. I am not sure if I agree to this theory as we all know that one can easily hire someone to create hundreds of links for their sites. Then again some critics will say this is right as people tend to link to relevant content and those pages with more links to them usually have better content than pages with little or no links.
PageRank will also look at the web page that contains the links and see if it is of importance or not. It is said that pages that have higher PageRank will surely have more weight in voting with their links as opposed to the ones with lower PageRank. I hope this is making some sense as we try to understand the theory behind PageRank. We all agree that important pages have better authorities and lead web surfers like us to potentially better information or sources.
Is PageRank Important?
This is somewhat a tricky question because we have seen many websites ranked highly on the search engines which have very low or no PageRank at all. This goes to show that Google is constantly changing its algorithm and factors affecting search engine ranking too. PageRank according to us, is one of the many factors that can determine where your website will be ranked in the search engine.
Are there any Flaws in PageRank?
Yes, they are flaws in PageRank. Have you heard of Google Bombs? This is a great example of PageRank manipulation. As people understand the value PageRank brings to their site, they begin finding ways to obtain a higher PageRank by any illegal means or techniques.
Another term all webmasters must’ve heard before is “Link farming”, this is a method whereby people purchase links without any thought of its relevance of the pages being linked and in many cases this is an automated technique. We strongly advise to stay away from this as we have encountered many clients whose sites have been destroyed by Link farms. I have written a whole blog on Link farms and why you have to avoid them at all cost.
Just as you know, Google filters all possible link farms therefore avoid submitting your website to directories with low or no PageRank at all. Please do not panic if you find that your site is linked to a link farm. In many cases this will have no effect at all on your ranking as you cannot control who links to you but totally avoid submitting your site to them or linking back to them.
Where can I see PageRank?
PageRank of a website can be seen via the Google Toolbar. PageRank is measured within the scale of one to ten. It is rare to find a PageRank of 10 on the web.
Any tips to increase my PageRank?
Yes sure there are a few tips to increase your PageRank. Firstly, you need to have backlinks or have other higher PageRank sites linking to your website. Secondly, you can also trade links with other webmasters, but make sure that they are relevant and not a link farm. Thirdly, try to register your site with directories of high authority and higher PageRank too.
As you add new pages to your website, you can also create your own backlinks by linking to relevant pages within your own website but please do remember not to overdo it!
Finally, the best and the most important way to increase your PageRank is by having quality content that other people or websites want to link to.
FINISHING LINE
The bottom line is that Pagerank is important but not to the extent that you neglect other factors in the marketing process. All factors should be given equal importance as that is what will make your site a success on the search engines.All in all, build a nice website, add quality content and work honestly on your site and the results will surely come.
If you have any questions or need more information about SEO please feel free to contact us and we'll be happy to help.