PageRank is the numerical value that Google assigns to each page on a website and is a measure of the importance or “authority” that Google places on that page. Google does not disclose exactly how the PageRank value is calculated however it is a number displayed as between 1 and 10 which is boiled down from a much larger number derived from Google’s complex algorithmic analysis of each web page. And that is important to note: EACH page on a website can be assigned a separate PageRank value, even if it is zero (some pages, especially new pages, may not have a PageRank assigned at all). PR does contribute to a page’s rankings or placings in the Google search results but while it seems that in general the higher the PageRank for a page then the higher up the Google rankings it goes, this often does not hold true as other factors come into play.
Several factors contribute to PageRank (PR) and a significant one is inbound link quantity/quality, or Link Popularity. Whenever a website links into your own website, that counts as a “vote” for your website which Google measures and this contributes to your PageRank. Now, the higher the PageRank held by the page linking to yours, then the more valuable that in-bound link is and the more it will contribute to your own page’s PageRank. So it is more important to grow quality links into your website rather than quantity, but even better is to grow the quantity of good quality links in. There are a number of ways in which inbound links can be developed:
Best practice methods:
- Request links from business partners, suppliers, customers etc
- Blog marketing
Dubious or low success methods:
- Purchase links
- Article marketing
- Directory submissions
Absolute no-no’s:
- Use of Link Farms
As well as inbound links from websites that are external to your own website counting toward your PageRank, internal links between pages within your own website are important too. In this way PageRank from high PR pages (often your home page for instance) can be distributed to internal pages on your website, thus increasing their perceived “value”.
So we can see that Google assesses each page on your website separately: analyses inbound link quality and quantity and analyses internal linkage and then in conjunction with other factors pronounces its judgment on every one of your pages by way of the PageRank value. Clearly if Google can’t find a page(s) on your website then it (they) won’t be assigned a PageRank at all and so won’t perform well in the search results pages. This where a website built with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind is essential for Google success.
The building of PageRank is a slow process driven primarily by the slow process of acquiring quality inbound links. Gradual it must be: if Google sees any dramatic or sudden increases in your Link Popularity it may deem there to be “unnatural” inbound link development and penalise your website by holding back PageRank and keeping you lower in the search results.
Author: Stuart Wilkerson and Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
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