Google PageRank Separating Fact from Fiction

When it comes to running a successful web based business, getting to the top of the search engines is vitally important. Most people will only go through two or maybe three pages of searches when looking for a particular item.

For the last few years, much of the attention for search engine optimization has been on Google PageRank. Before you put to much faith into this formula, there are some issues that need to be understood.

It can be tricky to understand how the PageRank system works because Google keeps it mysterious. There are some truths owners of websites should understand before they put too much stock in the rank of their web pages.

PageRank updates 
The rankings formerly were updated about once every four months, but the frequency has become almost random over the years. There was one point where the rankings were not updated for 14 months. Another time, two updates were made within less than a month. This makes it difficult to determine the most up to date page rank for a website. Thus, the best time to check for a true reading on PageRank is right after Google does an update, but this can be hard to determine since the company does not post a schedule.

What is ranked  
Google PageRank does not rank entire websites, but rather individual web pages. Often the home page of a web site will rank higher than the individual inside pages. The system has been designed to rank single URLs rather than the full domains. This can lead some to overestimate the PageRank of their entire website if they only look at the rank of the home page.

PageRank isn’t precise 
Web pages with the same rank aren’t necessarily equal. Because each rank is based on a range of values, one page may appear higher on a search list than another even though they have the same ranking.

PageRank is not alone 
Google uses at least 200 variables to determine how web pages are ranked during searches, with PageRank being only one. It can be just as important to use the proper key words on pages, update content regularly and share that content liberally with others that are influential in the industry, such as bloggers and those on social media.

PageRank does help  
While it has shortcomings, PageRank still offers a way to separate the top web pages from those that don’t have as much to offer or are brand new.

Realizing how PageRank works and what it actually means can help the owner of a website understand how to attract visitors that might eventually become customers. PageRank might not be the most important part of the ranking algorithm, but it is still relevant and can provide valuable information about website hierarchies.