What Is Pagerank?

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Nick Wilson

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PageRank is the most popular ranking system on the web that gives you an accurate perspective of Google’s value based on inbound links. This popular measuring tool scores your website with a simple number, between 0 and 10. Although these numbers seem tiny, they are very hard to earn. There are many ways to monitor your websites PageRank, like online PageRank checkers, rank checking software, PageRank tool bars, etc. Unfortunately there is no short, concise definition that explains how page rank works in its entirety.

Defining PageRank

Google gives the average user everything but a simple definition on how PageRank works and if it is a key factor. In Google’s eyes links are considered to be vouchers or votes. PageRank is Google’s personal voting system that determines which pages hold the most value, this value is based on votes known as Backlinks. This particular rank is one of the most popular ranks that Google uses, but it is not the only rank system. There are many rank systems Google relies on to correctly rank websites, such as MozRank, AlexaRank, PigeonRank, etc. All of these ranks hold the same amount of authority and no one rank surpasses the other by a significant amount.

Google’s Definition

True Perspective of Your Number

Just because the rank ends at 10 doesn’t mean this tool is doesn’t have much value. The number system is meant to be small because the ranks come few and far between. To really show what the numbers really mean, here’s a few major sites and their current rank:

Website – PageRank

Google -      Pr10 | Digg -        Pr8
Facebook -  Pr10 | Reddit –    Pr8
Youtube -    Pr9   | Squidoo -  Pr7
Yahoo -       Pr9   | Diggo -      Pr7
MSN -          Pr8   | Ezine -      Pr6

PageRank Is NOT Everything

To the right is a photo showing a much lower ranked site compared to much bigger website, with a superior rank. Now, if PageRank was the deciding factor for all websites, the keyword wouldn’t matter because by that thinking PageRank is law. This simple photo shows that PageRanks popularity far exceeds its worth on the web. Ironically enough though, the higher the Pagerank of your website the more its worth in terms of selling value, this is ONLY because of the popularity of the data tool.

Like I stated before, PageRank is only one of the many helpful tools that Google uses to collect information about your website. If you don’t believe me, download the PageRank plugin and compare the PageRank and the SERP‘s (Search Engine Rank Position) of the listings. The majority of the time the number one listing is not the highest ranked. Most of the time the number one site is just better optimized for search engines in terms of SEO.
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Nick Wilson is the owner, primary moderator, and main writer for SEO Journalist, which provides daily articles on website SEO and SMO performance. He is an experienced and versatile, professional SEO Consultant and Internet Marketer.

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