Note from Ann: I’d like this post not to turn into another “PR algorithm” one. Instead, I’d love us to discuss how many of us still use this information and how we do that. So please, share your opinion in the comments!
*The following tip was shared by Eric Gesinski who does Tulsa Website Design and SEO*
One area of SEO that is limited to one search engine but gets plenty of attention is Google PageRank. This is a core element of Google’s search algorithm, created before Google was even a publicly known company. Most SEOs and web designers are aware of it, but knowing just how it operates is another thing entirely.
The full functionality of PageRank has changed some over the years, but how it is distributed is still very close to the original algorithm Larry Page developed at Stanford. That full algorithm is as follows:
PR = 0.15 + 0.85 ( PR(Backlink 1)/TotalLinks(Backlink 1) + PR(Backlink 2)/TotalLinks(Backlink 2) + … + PR(Backlink X)/TotalLinks(Backlink X) )
In other words, the PageRank for any given page is calculated by adding 0.15 to 0.85 times the PageRank for each page linking to it which is divided by the number of links on that page linking to it. In English, this means you have a starting value of 0.15 for a page with no links pointing to it, then for each link, the amount added is affected by the PageRank of the backlink and affected by the number of links out from that backlink.
Most SEOs know that you want high PR pages to get for backlinks. Just keep in mind the fact that the link juice you get from any backlink is spread across every link from that page. So if you get a backlink from a PR6 site but that page has hundreds of links, it may not be as good as getting a link from a PR4 site with only three links leaving that page.
This also affects on-site SEO. So if you want to share the PageRank of your main index page with the rest of the pages on your site, be careful with how many links you set up on that index page. Even though you might have targeted anchor text in the hundred links you have in your footer, if you have a hundred links, you won’t be sharing much PageRank with each of those pages.
Knowing these details about PageRank can help you locate higher quality backlinks for your SEO, and can make the difference between a good backlink and a great one.
You can check back on Eric’s blog for more information on PageRank explained.
Well said, Eric. With SEO information becoming, mainly Google’s Page Rank Algorithm, I wonder how long they will keep the Toolbar PR available to the public.
Best,
Ryan
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Ann and Eric - thanks for sharing! We wrote a blog a few weeks back (maybe a month or so now - time flies!) about using PR as a factor for choosing article and directory sites ( http://level343.com/article_archive/2009/11/17/directory-submissions-and-article-marketing/ )
We neglected, however, to explain how PR works (i.e. the break down of number of links vs. PR that you actually get). Thanks again - I know our readers will find this helpful as an addendum to the post.
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Thanks for sharing this useful information. This is definitely very useful for me and I will have to bookmark this post for future reference.
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Hello everybody, is it just on my system, or is the pagerank not displayed in the google toolbar any more?
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Eric Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I’m still seeing it on my Firefox installation, although I’ve heard rumor that they’ll be deactivating the Toolbar PageRank display a few times (in the past). We’ll know it’s true when it happens, I guess.
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This is a very informative article. SEO is constantly changing and as it changes articles like this become very important in highlighting what we all need to know about Page Rank and how to use it effectively.
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Hi Ann,
just wanted to direct you attention on the fact that the link in your “WP Greet Box” leads to the blog feed, not to feedburner feed. You may want to fix that )
Best!
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Google PageRank will always be important, Page does not mean web page but Larry Page and the Page Rank is a calculation of factors believed to impact the relevancy of a web page in relation to the searched for keyword.
Weather Google will keep the PR value in the toolbar or not is irrelevant to the discussion, and Google Toolbar PR is not a tool you can use to measure quality of a website, not alone that is. Google PR does reflect Googles calculations of incomming links and the quality of these, but it does also contain other factors.
The Google PR algorithm has changed, emphasis on quality of links (Trust) is paramount. So you have Google PR as a value derived of lots of factors which change very often.
PageRank have become increasingly pragmatic and with an emphasis on issues that can’t be manipulated, i.e. age of domain.
Great article and great issue for discussion, thanks Ann and Eric!
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Thanks so much for this great explanation of page rank. If it’s okay with you, I’d love to give this post as a reference during our seo class when we talk about page rank. The comments will be extremely helpful too!
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Eric Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Shelly, for me it’d be an honor if you used this post as a reference, so feel free. I can’t speak for Ann for sure, but I’d imagine she’d feel the same way.
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Hi there, thanks for this wonderful and important info. Actually i was wondering what if do article submission for our site and put anchor in that content, will that effect our PR?
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Eric Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:50 am
Links from any source will distribute PR to the page they link to. So if there’s an article in publication with a link to your site, it will add PR to whichever page you point that link to.
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Thanks Eric, thanks for guiding me..
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Thanks for sharing nice information related to PR. Now i will follow this tip for getting page rank.
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Goolge now updating Page Rank on regular basis. I think PR is really changing alot.
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I’m really glad that you pointed out that backlinks need to be from a quality sites with high PageRank. So many so-called SEO professionals create mass of spam on pages that do not rank high and expect terrific results — doesn’t work that way. Thanks, Ann!
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So, you need to have links back to your own site from other sites with page rank to boost your own PR? Should this be from sites related to yours or any site? I have seen many sites with no PR rank higher in the search results for certain keywords than sites with high PR.
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Eric Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Keep in mind, PR is different than other SEO elements. You can have a huge PR site value, but if you don’t do proper SEO you won’t rank for any keywords. Sites with higher PR tend to have an easier time ranking for keywords they target, though.
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Your equation forumula looks more like an albegra question…believe me I stink at math. But your explanation below made be say “Aha got it”. BTW how does the age of a website factor into the algorithm? This is one question that I have asked others but no one seems to know?
Paul
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Eric Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Ha - it IS an algebra equation. Age of the website doesn’t really factor directly into the PageRank algorithm (as far as I know) but it does definitely affect positioning in the search engines. Some SEOs call this part of a “trust” element, different from the PageRank value. The higher the trust value, the better rankings you get, and domain age is part of that. However the truth behind the “trust” value (if there really is a full value for this element) is a bit more clouded than the PageRank value. I may have to do further research to find out more details about it.
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I have a doubt in posting comments on blogs. Suppose I need to post a comment on blog having PR 2. I found it. But when I opened the blog. I found several posts. I posted comment on a post, but the PR is 0. This means, the home page of the blog has PR 2 and the post page has PR 0. Does google counts the home page PR or the post page PR?
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Eric Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Remember that the PR value is one that is only updated a few times a year to show in the Toolbar PageRank value. There’s no way to know the true value of a page’s PageRank, but if the home page has a decently high PageRank, chances are the pages it links to will grow in PR value fairly quickly. Even if the Toolbar PR looks low for a specific page, posting on any page in a site that has a high PR value on the home page is usually a good idea.
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Nice article. I like that sense:
So if you get a backlink from a PR6 site but that page has hundreds of links, it may not be as good as getting a link from a PR4 site with only three links leaving that page.
It is just so true!
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Nice info. I am still waiting for page rank response from google for my new website. Thanks
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