Why PageRank is Still Relevant
Google’s PageRank technology is something that has been scrutinized upon recently for being out of date, and even irrelevant. PageRank is still is technology you should be acknowledging and pursuing better results for your own sites. Of course the obvious question is: Why?
First off, a quick definition of PageRank to get everyone on par. PageRank is a value represented by a number, 0-10 that rates how important your website is. 0 of of course being the lowest, and 10 being the usually unattainable holy grail. Few sites have a perfect 10 PR, but Apple and Google itself are a few.
It Does Affect Google Rankings
Google is by far the most used search engine, with well over 60% of the market share by now, so it goes without saying that most search engine traffic will come from Google. Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) are affected by PageRank. It’s not a huge contributing factor, but it does make a difference.
For example, if Site A has a PR0, and is aiming for #1 Google spot for the term “pagerank”. Site B however has a PR5 and is aiming for the same term. Site B will rank supreme most of the time. This doesn’t take into account other competitors, though.
It Shows Longevity, and Trust
Longevity may not be obvious from PR, but it can usually be said that the higher the PR, the older the site. There are many exceptions of course, with this site even going from PR0 to PR5 in only 3 months or so.Once you start getting into PR6+, thats when you see the older sites.
Trust is sort of a multiplier for SEs that is hard to put into an algorithm, but it always goes to prove that when you have a higher PR, Google trusts your site more. Trust by a SE is hard to define, but if you can see it like this it will help: Take a friend you have that you trust for example. They must’ve gotten there some how… and it obviously wasn’t with backlinks.
PR4 and Below Is Irrelevant
It is true that having a PR4 is becoming more and more irrelevant today. The main reason I see for this is because you can get PR4 with good intralinking. Not perfect, great, just good. Maybe a sitemap, good navigation, table-less design, etc… all contribute to good intralinking.
Note the word intralinking. Linking within.
In Conclusion…
Don’t throw PR away. It still matters, and will for a long time. Google’s own technology is something that they obviously cherish and won’t be quick to dispose of. It may see a less impact of SERP placements but will always have an affect.
Leave a comment
jez
April 25th, 2007 at 3:21 AM
how did you get your pr5 within 5months than? just curious
Connor Wilson
April 25th, 2007 at 7:40 AM
Jez, you know what, I wish I could say I worked really hard getting as many backlinks as I could, but really, it was just luck to be honest.
It was my first PR update with something actually there, so I guess by using WordPress I had good intralinking to start with, and a few backlinks from directories, topsites, etc…
I was quite suprised. :\ Now however, I realize I probably won’t get PR6 on the update that is happening in the next couple of days, but PR6 isn’t out of the question for the next one
David Airey :: Creative Design ::
April 26th, 2007 at 4:07 AM
Nice post. It’s my first time here and I’m subscribing to your feed.
jez
April 26th, 2007 at 9:10 AM
hey thanks for your swift reply, you said I had good intralinking to start with, and a few backlinks from directories, topsites, etc…,
what directories and what topsites?
I am curious, because I got about 40 PR5 backlinks or so, but still at the peeasy PR4. I get about 7500/visitors a day, yet only PR4. thats’s so weird.
Connor Wilson
April 26th, 2007 at 3:36 PM
I’m pretty sure the way the PR algorithm works and will work in the future, directories will start to mean less and less, and to get to PR5 you would need some PR6 links, or higher.
Google takes part of each link’s PR and gives some to you, so it’s hard to get a PR5 for your self with only PR5 links.
With 7.5 visits a day, it is pretty odd you’re still at PR4 because that’s a lot of traffic, and of course with traffic comes backlinks, etc…
Are you talking about h4×3d? I could probably refine my answer if I knew which site you were talking about.
Adnan
April 26th, 2007 at 5:38 PM
And what you’ve missed out is that PageRank still matters so much when you’re earning from your site.
For example, a PR3 site at TextLinkAds is gonna make you peanuts. But when you’re a PR6, those peanuts turn into watermelons and you can start to earn a lot lot more! Others like ReviewMe also work like this…even though they don’t explicity say.
Connor Wilson
April 26th, 2007 at 5:49 PM
Yeah, that’s were the PR4 and below thing comes in. Too bad the value of paid links will drop significantly if you don’t have a majority of good ones.
Matt
October 24th, 2008 at 4:55 AM
It is true that having a PR4 is becoming more and more irrelevant today. The main reason I see for this is because you can get PR4 with good intralinking.
Is not easy at all. And definitely not without a few high PR external links.
Login »