The blog-o-sphere is buzzing with news that we are just weeks (if not days)
away from the next Google PageRank update. But what is Google Pagerank?
It gets complicated. And when I say complicated I mean Einstein-esque
complicated. The Google PageRank explanation isn't for the faint of heart.
So... if you have heart conditions, blod clots, emphysema, are pregnant,
nursing or could become pregnant... Look the other way... NOW!
Google PageRank History
Google PageRank was developed in the mid 90's by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
at Stanford University. The two worked tirelessly for 3 years on an
algorithm that could produce a numerical ranking of webpages based on a
number of factors (we'll get to those in a second).
After a successful prototype was created in 1998, the two went on to found
Google shortly after. The Google PageRank became the standard by which
Google now ranks webpages.
The PageRank Algorithm
I'm going to zoom right through this part because this is where it gets
complicated. I just want to show you the world famous algorithm.
PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
where
PR(A) is the PageRank of page A,
PR(Ti) is the PageRank of pages Ti which link to page A,
C(Ti) is the number of outbound links on page Ti and
d is a damping factor
This is the original Google PageRank algorithm as discovered by Page, and
Brin. It has undergone a lot of changes since then, and the ACTUAL algorithm
that is used now remains somewhat mysterious.
So What Exactly Is A PageRank?
Google PageRank is defined by a number from 0-10 (10 being the highest). It
is, essentially, a vote of confidence from the community. The higher the
PageRank, the more "trusted" your site is by Google. That said, the links
from these sites are also highly trusted (more on that later).
What Does Google PageRank Mean To Me?
PageRank or PR, in short, means EVERYTHING! If you are aspiring to build a
great site that generates tons of revenue and loads of daily visitors,
PageRank is very important. There is a huge misconception floating around
that Google PageRank also determines your search engine results placement
(or SERP). This is not, and has never been true. On Google alone, it is a
SMALL factor. When I say a small factor, I mean it is only one of a couple
dozen factors. None of the other search engines use PageRank to determine
their results.
That said, Google PageRank IS a very important statistic for a monetized
blog or site. It is one of the deciding factors when determining everything
from how much you charge advertisers, to the overall value of your site if
you should go to sell it. Some sites even charge other sites for a link if
their page has a high enough PageRank. I'll get into this in a minute.
How Do I Get A High Google PageRank?
Pray! Actually the single most effective way to build a PageRank all has to
do with a very basic blog principle. Write quality content! It's that
simple.... kinda.
Google PageRank is a system that relies heavily on links. Incoming and
outgoing links are the biggest factor in your PageRank. You know how I'm
always preaching "link love"? This is one of the reasons (besides my strong
desire to better the community). Every link that comes into your site
(linkback, trackback, backlink) is given a value. The overall value of your
incoming links weighs heavily on your Google PageRank.
Every link is assigned a value based on how high the site that linked to you
is rated. For example... if you had 1,000 incoming links from websites that
don't have a PageRank, it might not weigh as heavily as having 100 incoming
links from a site with a PR 5. As I mentioned above, the higher the
PageRank, the more trusted the site is. Therefore, when it comes to incoming
links, the higher the PageRank of the links, the better your chances of
increasing your PageRank. The higher your PageRank, the more leverage you
have as a blogger.
There are also factors that you can't control when it comes to PR. The older
your site is, the more trusted it becomes and therefore, it is looked upon
in a favorable way by Google. Google wants lots of pages, lots of incoming
links to said pages, and lots of internal links to your pages. That means
that you should try to link to as many pages inside your site as possible.
This shouldn't be hard, because it only helps your cause. A "recent post"
category in your sidebar is an example of an internal link.
Some people even BUY incoming links from sites with a high Google PageRank.
I don't condone this on either end though. For one it costs money and it
isn't really cost effective for a new blogger. And secondly, the sites that
do this are usually punished when Google finds out.
Conclusion
This was just the basics of how Google PageRank works. I'm no expert, but it
should help you out as you are getting started. I hope this helps un-mystify
PR a little bit.
In closing, I'll tell you this... The fastest way to build Google PageRank
is to get linked to, A LOT! Also, I mentioned that writing quality content
was the way to build Google PageRank, and here is how. The more quality
content you put into your blog, the more pages you accumulate. Google likes
sites with a lot of pages. Also, the more quality content you write, the
more you get linked to. Incoming links mean sweet PageRank improvement, and
gaining a few awesome readers!
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E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
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