Importance of Google PageRank

[Bill Engvall]

For how important a PageRank is...I would say, it's only as important as Google is. Or, more specifically, it's only as important as Google is to your website! Google ranks websites based on a scale from 0 to 10, measuring the "importance" of websites. If the bulk of your web traffic comes from Google, and your Page Rank drops, you're in trouble. But high PR means more traffic coming to your site through Google search.

[JEccles]

PR does not, and has never, had an affect on SERP's. It is pure vanity.

[roban]

PR does not, and has never, had an affect on SERP's. It is pure vanity.

I agree entirely. The importance of PR is a myth generated by web masters trying to sell back links. Site content is king and will be for a long time to come.

[traveller65]

So what you're saying is that in Google's own words:

"PageRank is Google's view of the importance of this page"

is wrong?


I don't think they can be any clearer...

Also, it's very basic but if you search for anything on google you will see that pages with higher PR list higher than pages with lower PR. So much so that even pages that barely have any mention of the search terms, if their PR is high enough, will still outrank lower PR pages that are purely about the search term.

Further, if all things on the page are equal a page with higher PR will outrank one with lower PR virtually all of the time on Google.

[roban]

Exactly. It is Google's view of the importance of a page. Just Google's. I have sites listed in the top 5 with a PR2 or PR3 and not because of PR but because of key word relevance in the body text. There are many issues that determine position and depending on which Google data center is sending results, a site can rank in various positions for the same search. Google places little or no importance to meta tags except the title while Yahoo and Live still do.

IMO a web master's time would be better spent in developing relevant content but if back links are on your agenda to drive visitors to your site, use back links from sites that have specific relevance to your own. Just watch what happens when Google does an update of its algorithms. A PR4 site can drop to a PR2 for no apparent reason but a site with great content will retain its position in SERPS.

[traveller65]

OK, but...

No one is arguing whether a completely irrelevant page without any keywords for a term will rank higher than a relevant page.

The issue at hand is whether a page with better content than another page (about the same thing) but with lower pagerank will out rank it.

Currently the answer to that is no it will not most of the time.

[roban]

Your point is well taken. The problem that I have found in pursuing relevant back links from high PR sites is convincing web masters to list a site with a current PR2 site on a PR4 or PR5 site.

[The Old Sarge]

...it's very basic but if you search for anything on google you will see that pages with higher PR list higher than pages with lower PR. So much so that even pages that barely have any mention of the search terms, if their PR is high enough, will still outrank lower PR pages that are purely about the search term.

Further, if all things on the page are equal a page with higher PR will outrank one with lower PR virtually all of the time on Google.

I have to disagree ... strongly.

Check out the first site in my signature. It ranks #1 in Google (and MSN/Bing and Yahoo!, as well as several others) for many of its keywords and phrases ... some of which were never planned or intended. All with a PR 2. It consistantly outranks sites with PR as high as 4, 5 and 6.

[adamjhuathan]

For me PR really doesn't matter as far as I have a good amount of traffic to my site....ultimately we just want traffic right? so am least bothered about that.

[The Old Sarge]

For me PR really doesn't matter as far as I have a good amount of traffic to my site....ultimately we just want traffic right? so am least bothered about that.

Very true. PR is largely a vanity thing ...

[sandalfly]

OK here is a question. I'm taking away the fact from this whole thread is PR is a vanity thing and is a waste of time to pursue. However, if your goal is traffic, its not a BAD thing to have a link from a high PR site because if THAT site is getting traffic, then there is a possibility that someone (or more people than a lower PR rank site) will see your link and check out yours, which in turn gives your site more traffic.

Is this a safe assumption? Again, would this be another reason to pursue linkbacks from higher PR sites?

This is a very back and forth topic!

[The Old Sarge]

OK here is a question. I'm taking away the fact from this whole thread is PR is a vanity thing and is a waste of time to pursue. However, if your goal is traffic, its not a BAD thing to have a link from a high PR site because if THAT site is getting traffic, then there is a possibility that someone (or more people than a lower PR rank site) will see your link and check out yours, which in turn gives your site more traffic.

Is this a safe assumption? Again, would this be another reason to pursue linkbacks from higher PR sites?

This is a very back and forth topic!

Yes, it is a fair assumption. But you get the traffic because people see and click the link, not because the other site had a certain PR. It's not a bad thing to have a link to a low PR site either. Because it's the link that brings the traffic, not the PR.

Ask yourself this: "Do I visit sites for their PR or because they offer what I'm looking for?"

Sure, you may click a site because you happen to notice a high PR, but do you seriously even check PR as a matter of routine when you're surfing or looking for something? I don't. Just as I don't imagine my e-commerce site will ever rate PR up there with Neiman Marcus' site or that my site will ever get a link from them.

[ateint]

PR can come in handy when it comes to gaining trust of your customers. If a users visits your site and sees a PR of 1 in their browser, they might not be interested in your browser. Also, it can come in handy when it comes to gaining backlinks to your website. A backlink from high PR site is worth more.

[The Old Sarge]

PR can come in handy when it comes to gaining trust of your customers.

How many visitors to the average Web site even know what PR is?

A backlink from high PR site is worth more.

What value does it provide other than your own PR?

[ateint]

How many visitors to the average Web site even know what PR is?



What value does it provide other than your own PR?

A site will not get much high ranking in SERPS if all inbound links are from low PR sites. I haven't seen any domain that is able to rank high without getting good amount of inbound links from authority/high PR sites.

As for visitors knowing about pagerank - users with Google Toolbar installed on their computer will see the green bar when they visit certain sites. They might not know what that is but they see the bar change from site to site. Most will eventually figure it out that full green bar means site can be trusted.