Many factors signal a web page's importance (or lack thereof) to search engines. One of these critical indicators is Google PageRank. Writers and site owners should learn as much as possible about the page ranking algorithm, how to improve their page rank, and the overall importance of Google PageRank to SEO writing.
What is Google PageRank?
As a leading search engine, Google analyzes pages and places them in order of importance or value. The most well-known indicator in this process is probably the patented Google PageRank algorithm. Google ranks pages on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the highest score. Each individual page within a site is assigned its own numerical page ranking.
Page Ranking Criteria
PageRank looks at two things to help determine the importance of a web page:
- Number of incoming links from other pages
- Quality of the pages doing the linking
Though it may seem simple at first, the question "how is page rank determined?" is actually quite complex because of the constantly shifting relationship between these two factors.
How to See Page Ranking
There are various page rank check tools on the Internet, but one of the most reliable is found on the Google toolbar. Download the toolbar from Google's site, click on the wrench icon in the upper right corner, select PageRank from the "tools" sidebar, and hit "save."
Google cautions that this tool for checking search engine rankings is intended more for readers than for site owners, who tend to obsess on page ranking when it is only a single factor among hundreds that influences the perceived value of their site. More information on the real importance of page rankings is at Why Google PageRank Isn't Everything.
Improving Google Page Ranking
In order to improve Google's assessed value of a site, the writer or owner must increase the number of quality links that are incoming to the page. While numerous links from poor-quality pages don't hurt page rank, they certainly don't help.
The two best ways to increase the number of high quality links on a page is to:
- Promote the page appropriately and tactfully through blogs or social networking sites like Twitter
- Focus on delivering valuable, well-written content that other reputable sites will want to link to
When consciously trying to increase page rank, writers and owners must be careful to avoid mistakes that will significantly harm their page's rank.
Factors That Hurt Page Rank
Any number of ways that are intended to manipulate or "get around" the legitimate PageRank algorithm to receive a higher ranking will always be detrimental if detected. Some of these ways are:
- Buying or selling links from high ranking pages
- Reciprocal linking schemes (where pages agree to link to each other on a mass scale)
- Linking to banned sites, link farms, or other "bad neighborhoods" within the world wide web
- Being dropped from a high PageRank site as an outgoing link
Google webmaster central emphasizes that link schemes pose minimal temporary benefit and always hurt page ranking in the long term. It's better instead to "create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it."
While Google only sparingly releases details about how it assesses the importance of webpages, writers and site owners can do a lot to improve their Google page ranking. They should avoid link schemes designed to manipulate the PageRank system and instead endeavor to provide quality content and promote it appropriately.
Readers may also be interested in Choosing Topics for SEO Content and Keywording SEO Titles.
Sources:
"Google Corporate Information: Technology Overview" from Google.
" Link Schemes," Google webmaster central.
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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