Page Rank

PageRank™

The Google PageRank™ refers to an external scoring system for the ‘importance’ of web pages according to Google. A score of 0 to 10 is allocated to a web page by Google, and this figure is known as the Google PageRank™ , not to be confused with what position a web page ranks in Google‘s search engine results.

This figure can change over time for a web page. Google’s own internal ranking scoring system revolves around a complicated process where differently weighted algorithms (numeric decision tree calculations) ultimately decide how close to or far from the top position and page 1 of Google’ search engine results a web page ranks.

‘Importance’ and Incoming Link Quality

There is a strong relationship and correlation between high quality incoming links to a web page and a higher Google PageRank™ figure. There has long been a central assumption as to why incoming links should matter which is that if somebody links their web page to yours, your web page must be important in some way.

This assumption seems harmonious with the structure of the web. Building upon this assumption over time has a resulted in web pages today being rewarded in ranking terms for the quality rather than the quantity of their incoming links.

Characteristics of a high quality incoming link from another domain are that:

• The page that the link comes from is related in subject matter to the page it links to.
• The actual hyperlink (the anchor text) contains a keyword or key phrase which is relevant to the main keywords and key phrases in the page it is linking to.
• There are few other outgoing links from the page that is providing the incoming link.
• The page that is providing the incoming link has a good Google PageRank™.

Since the Google PageRank™ figure allocated to a web page is based on a secret and relatively complicated underlying ‘poll’ calculation, it would be very hard to know exactly how to go about achieving a specified number for a page. It is not a linear process.

Although the ranking of a web page is based on a number different factors being taken into account based around relevance and importance of pages, and Google’s own guidelines and measures to protect the integrity of its search engine results, achieving a higher Google PageRank™ is likely to result in higher rankings for that page in Google’s natural search engine results.