Here is the definition of PageRank from Google:
PageRank, a system for ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.
Before this they claim that it is “the heart of our technology,” however, this is no longer the case, actually it hasn’t been the case for many years. The basic theory was part of Backrub, which you will find more information here.
Similar to my recent post about the value of Alexa data, it is something to consider, however, PageRank is not the end-all, be-all of anything. PageRank is a tool that evaluates the link popularity of a particular page.
A simple theory:
- Every page on the internet has a intrinsic value.
- When this page links to another page, it passes a bit of value to the other page.
(sometimes called link juice, link love or a vote)
- The more links that a page has pointing to it, the higher the PageRank.
- The number of links on a page, the lower amount of value it passes to each of these pages.
- When a page has a high value, it passes more value than a lower ranked page.
So, with this very simplistic look at PageRank, what does it matter if you have higher PageRank?
Absolutely nothing!
Like any other popularity contest results, it does not mean that you have something valuable to provide for anyone.
So, what is the big deal about PageRank? Like Alexa, it is something that is published and can be verified by visiting a website or a quick install of the Google Toolbar and a settings change.
It does not mean that you get traffic, it does not mean that you are considered valuable (to an algorithm or users) and it certainly does not mean that you have something that anyone should read.
What It Is
Link Popularity.
What It Isn’t
Anything other than link popularity.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to get a PageRank 10 page (or PR10). But, I would rather have a website that ranks high in organic results for the keywords that are relevant to the subject matter of my website.
Does PageRank mean anything to you, let me know! (leave a comment)
If you would like a great spoof on PageRank, check out PigeonRank.
Image from this query and PageRank calculation courtesy of SEO for Firefox from SEOBook.com
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
As a small provider of business web services, our goal is always to bring the intended traffic to our customer’s websites. (Doing something to, say, getting a client banned from Google would probabely be a lawsuit against us.) One particular commercial client has a PR2 on their main page and on a tonnage calculator page. The other 700 some pages have PR0. Yet, in searches related to their products/services, they are usually on the first page of the SERP in most search engines . So I too believe that PR has little value (to commercial sites). What I fail to understand is that if in-bound links should be from related subjects/sites, why would a site put up a link to their competition? That is almost as dumb as putting up google ads on an e-commerce site. PR fails to take in consideration that there are commercial and personal websites.
I am constantly reading SEO articles and visiting SEO sites to learn what to do and not to do (in my earlier years, some of my SEO “tatics” where more of a black-hat nature through ignorace rather than malice [Listen to that inner voice when it says that this doesn't seem right]). I find that many sites push Page Rank and in-bound Links and they push them hard. Often, I believe, the true reason for their push is that $99.00 linking program or $350.00 SEO program they wish to sell you (I also think that some of these sites are really just a form of multi-level marketing program with their resellers who can recruit their our re-resellers).
Thanks for the comment.
There really is beauty in the long tail of search, isn’t there? Linking should be about providing something worth linking to, however, when it comes to commercial sites, it is much tougher. Not just because valuable websites are potentially competition, but also that when/if you get a link from a related website, it is potentially a negative link (not valuable).
My advice, build the quality content for your users and you will show up in SERPs.