What is Google page rank, why is pagerank building so important?

PageRank is actually a web page ranking system, developed by the founders of Google, but the phrase ‘page rank’ is also used to describe the numeric figure awarded to a web page by Google to show how credible and trustworthy it considers that page to be.

The basic principle behind PageRank is that it determines the value of a webpage depending principally on the number and quality of links pointing to it from other websites. PageRank assumes that if a webpage has a lot of back links, especially if they are one way and are from relevant, high ranking authority sites, is must have valuable and trusted content.

This is how Google itself describes PageRank: “PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.”

When it is ranking a webpage, PageRank looks at three aspects of the back links to that page:

1. The number of back links

2. The relevance of the content on the source site to the web page

3. The page rank of the source webpage

4. Whether a link is one-way or reciprocal

Google assigns a rating to each web page that it indexes, commonly known as a page rank. This is a figure from one to ten, with ten being the highest, and is intended to show the relevance and value of the content on the site. If you have the Google toolbar you can add a function that shows you the page rank of the web page you are viewing, if it has been given a ranking.

Although it is difficult to determine which sites will have a certain page rank, it is possible to look at four broad categories:

Page rank zero to three = new webpages or those with very few back links

Page rank four to five = popular pages with a lot of back links from similar sites

Page rank six = exceptionally popular sites with hundreds of links from authority sites

Page rank seven to ten = usually media brands, big corporations, or government sites

Think of Google’s classification system as similar to the food chain pyramid. There are very few sites at the top of the chain, with a page rank seven or above, but there are many millions of sites with a page rank two or three at the bottom of the pile.

Why is PageRank important?

Google PageRank doesn’t determine which webpages are included in the search results when a search term is entered into Google; that is determined by the relevance of titles, keywords and phrases contained within those pages. PageRank does determine the order that web pages in the search results are displayed in, in combination with other software that establishes the relevance of the page’s content to the search term.

If we define the order in which search results are displayed as ‘search ranking’, Google’s algorithm, in simple terms, is:

page rank x relevance to search term = search ranking

If your web page and a competitor web page are seen to have the same relevance to a search term, your Google page rank will determine which page is displayed first in the search results.

Google is the most commonly used search engine on the internet, and if you are starting an online business, getting your web pages displayed in Google searches will be high on your list of priorities. Gaining a high page rank can make the difference between your web page being displayed on the first page of Google, where you will receive a large volume of traffic, and your web page being displayed on the third or fourth page, which very few web users ever look at.

The Most Effective Pagerank Building Strategies

Because Google’s PageRank system depends largely on back links to your web pages, improving your website’s page rank is simply a matter of generating more links. However, sheer volume of links will not necessarily increase your page rank, you have to ensure that they come from relevant sites, preferably with a page rank higher or equal to your own.

Here are a few ideas to help you generate back links:

1. Using links pages

Put a ‘link to us’ page on your site, including the code another web publisher will need to use to link to your site. Other sites may link to you in the hope that you will link to them in return. You can also link to sites which are relevant to your business, and then contact them asking for a reciprocal link.

While links pages can be very effective for pagerank building, these usually generate reciprocal links, which are not as valuable in Google PageRank’s eyes as one way links. The other issue to be aware of is that, while the homepage of the site you are linking to may have a great page rank of four or five, the actual links page may only have a page rank of one or two, or may not be indexed by Google at all.

2. Article syndication

Writing useful or informative articles relating to your business can be a great way to generate back links and increase your Google page rank. You can either submit your articles to article directories, where they can be downloaded by other publishers, or you can publish articles on your own site and allow people to download them for free. In either case, you should include a resource box containing links to your web pages that is published along with the article.

This is a very powerful way of generating a large volume of one way links. The only potential downsides are that a publisher may omit or change your resource box when publishing the article, and that you have no control over the rank and relevance of the sites that publish your article.

3. Commenting on forums and blogs

Social networking, or Web 2.0 technology is becoming very popular online, and sites such as blogs, forums and social book marking sites are looked on very favorably by search engines. Posting useful comments on blogs or discussion forums, which relate to your business, and including a link back to your site, can provide you with very valuable one way links that will impact your Google page rank.

If you are going to post on forums or blogs make sure you check the site’s policy on promoting your own site before you begin. Some forums only allow you to post links in a specific format, and in certain areas of the site. It may be a good idea to establish yourself on a discussion forum, by making valuable contributions to several threads, before you start posting links to your site.

Conclusion:

Generating high quality back links to your site, especially if they are one way links from authority sites, can really help to increase your Google page rank. The position your website reaches in Google search results is directly affected by your page rank, when combined with the perceived relevance of your site to the search term. For this reason, achieving a high Google page rank can give you a tangible advantage over your online competitors.  To find out how our in-house SEO specialists can help you achieve better results on the major search engines contact us today.