Google Page-Rank; Is It That Big of a Deal?

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Permalink Reply by Amy Bright on August 30, 2008 at 1:14pm

I was in the SEO (search engine optimization) biz for awhile so I am very familiar with Google's Page Rank so I thought I would share the in's and out's of Page Rank.
1. Page Rank is not a be all end all. People put so much more emphasis on it than they really should. Yes it's important, you do want your site to achieve high page rank, however, there are so many more things that are just as important as page rank.
2. Google IS eventually going to do away with page rank, well for the public anyway. There will come a time that you won't be able to see it in your toolbar or look a site's page rank up. It will be (just like a lot of things including Google's algorithm) for "Google's eyes only". When the time comes, you will have to know what to look for in a site to see if it's "worthy" and "credible".

So here's those things you can look for in a site other than page rank to see if it's someone you want to link to (SEO 101) as well as being the 3 things Google weighs when it comes to their algorithm:
-Age of the domain. Do a whois look up. The older the site, the better. A site is considered "grandfathered" into Google 2003 and prior. 2004 is when the Google Sandbox took effect.
-The backlink portfolio of a site. Quantity AND Quality matter. A site with better "quality" backlinks - these are links from other sites pointing toward your site - can easily outrank a site with more backlinks. A website should have all different levels of backlinks to create a nice portfolio. Blogs, yes blog links are considered to be at the bottom of the totem pole. Text links, Paid Directories are high level links and the very best kind of link you can gain for your site is a relevant link. i.e. Your website is about copy kids eat free, then you want to find websites that are related so any website that also has to do with kids would be a great link for this type of site. As we all know in the SEO world and some of you may be familiar with Google's webmaster rules is STRONGLY against paid links (does not include paid directories). Recirpocal links is what they want to see. If they've picked up on paid links, you could be banned from rankings and good luck trying to get back up there if they do. With that said though about reciprocal links....be very careful who you trade links with. Stay away from "link farms", sites that have a page dedicated to outbound links that have nothing to do with their industry. If they get banned, it could affect your rankings in natural search. If you're trading a link, he best option for placement for your link is on a page that has the least amount of outbound links.

The last thing Google weighs when it comes to rankings is content. A site with fresh content on a regular basis and RELEVANT content. Use the keywords people use to search for your type of site, your products, your services, etc. Content, content, content is so important. I sat in on a Google Webinar recently and they couldn't emphasize how important this is.

So....I hope this helps you all. Stop focusing on Page Rank because there is so much more than that out there when it comes to Web 2.0! Want to know more about optimizing your site for better rankings? You can visit my sexy, outrageous SEO website.

If I've confused you at all, feel free to leave me a message.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Bright on August 30, 2008 at 1:28pm

Yes, page rank is on a scale from 0-10. You can achieve higher page rank from obtaining backlinks (links pointing from another's site back to your site). Ideally, you'd like the hyperlink to be a keyword you are trying to rank for in the natural search. Anyway, it's not only the quantity of links but also the quality! Quality links can help a site outrank a site with quantity in natural search.

If you don't care about your site ranking because it may just be purely a hobby to blog and for friends and family to read, then none of this matters. If you want to rank because you want your site to consistently gain higher volumes of traffic then this is important. If you're not appearing on page 1, maybe 2 in Google, it's a known fact that the general public doesn't search past page 1, again maybe 2 which is why a lot of people/businesses opt for pay-per-click the paid advertising on the right side of the search engine that guarantees them top placement.

I wrote a nice long and informative post at the bottom of this string of replies regarding this matter if you want to read more. :-) There's more to a website than Page Rank!

Amy Clary said:

From what I read, rankings are on a 1-10 scale; 10 being the highest. I guess it's based on the amount of links your blog has on the internet. (If I'm wrong here, please correct me.)
I am leaning on the side of "Don't worry; Be happy!"
I just don't want to work and work and work to see a silly number get closer to 10. ya know?

Morningside Mom said:

Elizabeth said:

I think people stress too much over the whole Google rank thing. I think that if you write from your heart & people like it then good things will come :-)

Thats exactly the way I like to think! :)

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Permalink Reply by Ali on August 30, 2008 at 2:58pm

Wow Amy, thanks for that info! However, I didn't understand half of what you typed! Kidding:) Sort of. I'm glad blogging is just a hobby for me, I think I would get too stressed on about pr and stuff.

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Permalink Reply by Jenni on August 31, 2008 at 12:43pm

I honestly never had checked mine or knew how until this discussion came up here! Mine in not very good...but I guess it doesn't really matter much to me! Still, I am glad I learned something new today!

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Permalink Reply by Lexie on August 31, 2008 at 2:27pm

I'm curious, though, what is considered a "good" page rank? 5? 8?

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Permalink Reply by Karen Putz on September 3, 2008 at 2:40pm

I have no clue what my Google Rank is. All that's important is that people get something out of my blog when they visit.

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