Why PageRank is So Important

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In the midst of this, yet another export of Google’s internal pagerank values to the Google toolbar, I would like to explain what all the commotion is about and why webmaster’s are losing sleep this week waiting for the results of Google’s quarterly Toolbar PageRank Export, also incorrectly known as PageRank update.

First of all, according to most experts, once the values are made public after this process completes, you probably will not notice much change in the way that your web pages are ranked in the Google index. The reason for this is known as everflux, or the word coined to describe how the Google index is updated. Most SEOs agree that the Google index is constantly being updated. Pages are crawled on a more regular basis, those pages are analyzed and ranked according to several factors; quantity and quality of backlinks for the page, the anchor text used in the linking page, the keyword density and keyword prominance of the page, number of outgoing links, quality of outgoing links seems also to play a small part in the Google algorithm.

Contrary to popular belief, search engines aren’t just a means to gain more targeted traffic to the webmaster’s website. The true purpose of a search engine is expedite the “searching” of information on the internet. With billions of webpages currently on the World Wide Web today, it can be a daunting task to look for information that you want. Google has stepped up and delivered a mechanism that provides that user with the information he is searching for in the fewest number of clicks. That is precisely why nearly 80% of all search engine queries are handled by Google. Maybe more.

PageRank is

• an indication of how effective your backlinking strategy is
• the order in which a web page shows up in the Google index for a specific keyterm PROVIDING all other factors are identical.
• two identical pages with identical keyword densities: the page with the higher number of quality backlinks (PR) would be ranked higher theoretically.
• a measure of how much you can charge for text links on your webpage. The higher the PageRank, the more marketable it is.
• to many, myself included, a matter of pride

PageRank is not

•  something you can drastically change overnight, unlike keyword strategies
• a judgement on the quality of your actual website. I have seen many absolutely stunning websites with PR0s and PR1s, likewise I have seen horrific websites with PR7s and Pr8s.

So, take it as you will and make your own decisions concerning your own website. If you need and enjoy increased search engine traffic, want to make some extra money selling links on your blog or website, or simply want to brag about your PageRank…seek out quality backlinks that are relevant to your own sites content and watch the toolbar pr values increase next export.

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