I see reference to pagerank on so many sites, especially after an update, that it sometimes makes me wonder, why is Google PageRank so important? Personally, I think it holds a value to how Google values your site, and yes it “can” have an affect on your SERP’s, especially if you are targeting single word terms that are highly competitive. But we all know that you can rank on SERP’s with a lower PR if you work your SEO properly. So, why the infatuation with PageRank? Why do you sit at your computer drooling on your keyboard waiting on that little green bar to move?
Yes it has been written on Google’s site about PageRank having an affect on the SERP’s, but as recently as October of 2009 this was written on Wiki:
On October 14, 2009, Google employee Susan Moskwa confirmed that the company had removed PageRank from its Webmaster Tools section. Her post said in part, “We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true.” PageRank was still displayed on the Google Toolbar web appliance two days after Moskwa’s confirmation.
If you want to spend all your time drooling on your Toolbar PageRank (which, by the way, isn’t even a true measure of Pagerank and I will be writing about that another time) then go ahead and be my guest.
Let me be clear, I am NOT saying that the almighty PR is completely worthless, but think about this: If you want to get traffic to your site that converts into sales, then FORGET about PageRank. Instead of drooling over something you really don’t even understand, maybe you should concentrate on writing something people want to read, or working on your on-page SEO, or maybe even market and promote your site.
Advertisers are not as concerned as they once were about PR. You can boost PR by getting more links, etc.. and you can game the Alexa rankings even easier. Advertisers are well aware of this!
Concentrate on your content, on-page SEOÂ and promoting your site and your traffic will increase. I have built sites that get more traffic with a PR0 than other PR3-4 sites get. So, I know that it is possible to do. Besides, traffic stats are more important in my opinion than PageRank, PR doesn’t always mean traffic, and it certainly doesn’t make you any money with clicks and sales.
My opinion of the TBPR (toolbar pagerank) is that it is not worth obsessing over. Yes I do check my PR from time to time with my SEOQuake toolbar, but your time is much better spent creating content fit for HUMANS instead of losing sleep over something that is outdated and inaccurate you could be doing something productive with your website.
The toolbar PR you are looking at is outdated by as much as several months anyway. Google updates real PR constantly, but we don’t see it and don’t know what the actual value is on a daily basis, so really, what is the use in obsessing over something that is inaccurate.
I don’t want any new or experienced blogger or webmaster to think I am discounting the value of “true” PR. What I do discount, is bloggers and webmasters obsessing and writing about it to the point that some uneducated noob blogger thinks that he must rush out to every link directory and submission site to get as many links as possible to get some TBPR. It is wrong on our parts to exude this worship over Google, and yes, Google knows we do it and they love to keep us guessing.
I admit that I also obsess over it at times too. But after the last few months of researching, and then bringing some logic to the table, I came to realize that my obsession with this false ranking was part of a driving force in letting my content fall off. It is utterly stupid on my part. Then I started to notice this obsession all over the net about PR link this, and PR that, it is a waste of time!
Here are some quotes from Matt Cutts on the topic of PageRank:
When asked about he fact that Google can only create a PR update that is a full quarter behind the times is awfully troubling he replied:
I believe that I’ve said before that PageRank is computed continuously; there are machines that take inputs to the PageRank algorithm at Google and compute the resulting PageRanks. So at any given time, a url in Google’s system has up-to-date PageRank as a result of running the computation with the inputs to the algorithm. From time-to-time, that internal PageRank value is exported so that it’s visible to Google Toolbar users
What he is saying is that the “internal” Pagerank is updated continuously but only exported occasionally.
When Matt was asked will this PR update affect SERPs? he responded:
By the time you see newer PageRanks in the toolbar, those values have already been incorporated in how we score/rank our search results. So while you may be happy to see that the Google Toolbar shows a little more PageRank for a given page, it’s not as if that causes a change in search results at that point. So you won’t see any search engine result page (SERP) changes as a result of this PageRank export–those changes have been gradually baking in since the last PageRank export.
This is the statement that I want to emphasize. When I was saying “your PR doesn’t matter” I was telling the truth. It really doesn’t. It is not a true measure of anything accurate or important other than the fact that you worked hard to get some links. Does toolbar PR mean your site has content that is better? Does toolbar PR mean that you will get more SE traffic? Does it really mean anything? No it really doesn’t matter.
While it is generally conceded that these days Google places much less importance on PageRank as a ranking factor (some estimate that its present weight may be no more than 5-10%) it is still one of the factors to be considered in increasing your ranking, and has grown (through the Google Toolbar making a mutated form of PR visible) to be a factor of considerable economic importance to webmasters.
What makes a site good? Is it PageRank? Is it Alexa? Is it number of links? What do you think?
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Hey Keith, Great article I agree people tend to put too much emphasis on pr and the google foolbar. Concentrate on writing for you audience,building quality content and networking with other like minded individuals, this will take your blog to a new level.
.-= Danny @ Blogs About Everything´s last blog ..Increase your blog traffic with dofollow community =-.
@Danny @ Blogs About Everything, Thanks Danny, you will probably be one of the few that actually agree with me on this one since most seem to salivate over PR.
I think human interaction should come first and the rest will follow….
Well done Keith! You’re right on point with this article. Though I still consider PR to be something to measure my blog by, I have also become less obsessed with it over the years. It can still help bring in commentors, advertisers, etc, but it is not the be all end all of se rankings. I have websites that rank number one for their primary keyword term with only a PR of 3. There are so many other factors that come into play, including the niche you’ve chosen and how competitive it is. Enjoyed the post!
.-= Keller Hawthorne´s last blog ..Last Day to Win My New WordPress Theme – Fresh Journal – or Get $10 OFF! =-.
@Keller Hawthorne, Thanks Keller, glad to have you here commenting. That is really what I was trying to say in my post, that obsessing over it will usually equal negative productivity.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
My issue isn’t with your position, but how you come to your position. I completely respect that you disagree with me, but I think that why you disagree is pretty bogus.
1. When do you stop worrying about something simply because it’s not the most important thing? If you had the opportunity to save a friends life would you not do it simply because your wife’s life is more important to you? No. You would save both lives if it is possible. Focusing on PR and building great content are not apposed to each other. In fact, doing the one results in the other.
2. You stated in the article that you should not fuss over something that you don’t understand. A much better approach would have been to educate so that the reader can understand it more thoroughly so that they can then make the decision not to fuss over it based on an informed decision and not based solely on your ‘opinion.’
The key isn’t to ignore PR completely but to strike up a good balance by focusing on both page rank and user oriented content.
I believe that the key is striking up a balance that works for the individual. Just like a recipe. Too much yeast and your bread will be crawling out of the oven. None and it lays their like a dead biscuit.
It’s as if your writing a certain type of advice for beginner bloggers that advanced bloggers might not find applicable. But then I have to ask, why are we educating new bloggers differently that the way that experienced bloggers think? I agree with your intent, but I think that I disagree with your methodology.
@Nicholas Z. Cardot @ A PR Loving Website, I am pretty sure that your analogy of saving one vs two people’s lives is far fetched and an extreme comment.
I did state in my article Nick: “I don’t want any new or experienced blogger or webmaster to think I am discounting the value of “true” PR. What I do discount, is bloggers and webmasters obsessing and writing about it to the point that some uneducated noob blogger thinks that he must rush out to every link directory and submission site to get as many links as possible to get some TBPR. It is wrong on our parts to exude this worship over Google”
I thought that statement made my position clear that I believe there is some value to PR, but I think that it produces negative results to obsess over it. Yes, we should find a balance, something you are much better at than most bloggers (including myself), and will prove to help your blog become very successful.
I like your analogy with the recipe much better, we are not saving lives here, just merely creating food for the brain.
And to be clear, I would give the same advice to the experienced blogger, if you are obsessing over PR, STOP!
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Drooling On PageRank =-.
@Keith Bloemendaal, I wonder whether people actually obsess over it, or whether its just generally a high-traffic term/highly-known term that makes it good fodder for writing. When I speak to SEO companies, its rare that I hear them focus on page rank. They normally talk about predicted results in the SERPs and number of backlinks. In any event, very solid advice in your post here on other things to concentrate on. Great job in raising the issues.
Great points Keith as usual. I’ve struggled with this issue since starting my blogging journey over 3 years ago. Within the last year or so I quit worrying about page rank. My PR has stayed steady at 3 for over 2 years and frankly it hasn’t mattered much to me. My site continues to grow traffic and revenue…I’d like to think my site is proof of it not mattering much….just my 2 cents of course!
.-= Todd´s last blog ..Laundry Room Sewer Smell Solved – Plumbing Trap =-.
@Todd, Your site is a perfect example Todd, it earns an actual full time income (most would consider it full time) and yet your PR is much lower than sites that can’t seem to make $100 per month.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
I don’t like PageRank personally. At the very beginning when I started blogging I had a PageRank of 3 and then it dropped to 0. Now it’s still at 0 but it doesn’t really tell anything about my web site.
I now get more traffic then ever and also have more backlinks .. so actually I don’t see what PageRank is supposed to be measuring
.-= Julius Kuhn-Regnier´s last blog ..How to Handle Your Blog Like Real Estate =-.
A good example that PR doesn’t equal traffic.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by kbloemendaal: RT @HotBlogTips Drooling On PageRank http://tinyurl.com/y9wshth...
I believe PageRank is not a big deal in terms of revenue. In fact, there are lot of money making blogs out there that has a very low PR- but still has good traffic. However, PR needs not to be ignored ‘coz I believe it’s still being utilized by Google’s algorithm to rank websites or blogs for a particular targeted keywords.
.-= Cebu Tech Blogger´s last blog ..Windows Phone 7 Series- an iPhone Killer? =-.
@Cebu Tech Blogger, PR does have “some” importance, what I am really trying to say is that if some bloggers would concentrate more on their content and promotion, I think they would benefit more than they do obsessing over a toolbar…..
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
Keith, your tips are excellent and I’ve learnt a great number of tips off you over the last few weeks.
I currently don’t do anything specific with SEO, although I have downloaded the SEO pluggin – well it’s a start… I guess I need to put something in it each box though.
Separate question – Linkwithin is not a pluggin for Wordpress is it, but a widget. I’m currently using YANRP which works well, I was just wondering how to install Linkwithin instead. Any help much appreciated.
@Matthew Needham, If you click the link under the the thumbnails and sign up for it you can down load the plugin. I like it because of the thumbnails.
Awesome stuf here Keith, I honestly don’t pay too much attention to any of it, I measure my site by how busy the comments sections are or how many trackbacks get put up.
I could and may well start pagerank 1 for years, doesn’t bother me one bit as long as my content is getting out there. Like you I think it’s important to concentrate on providing value and not spending too much time looking at our stats, I don’t have the time to do that to be honest!
RT’ing now brother
.-= TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..I Rank Higher Than ProBloggers, But Make No Money =-.
@TheInfoPreneur, Thanks James, like to judge my site based on traffic and bounce rates, I know a lot of readers don’t comment so the actual traffic trends tell me that my site is gaining exposure.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
It is all too easy as a new web developer to “drool” over pagerank as when you have some green you feel you are doing something right and achieving your goals.
However it really is becoming more and more meaningless – ranking are what matters – not pagerank!
@olly@component Compare, That partly what I am trying to say that SERP’s and PR are not always related.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
Obsessed? Drooling? No, but yea I get the warm & fuzzies when it goes up, and the awww maaan when it goes down. lol
I gotta say bravo for distinguishing between toolbar and internal PR; THIS is where so many just get it all wrong…now if we were in on the internal stuff, that might be worth something.
Here’s a funny for ya and more proof that it all just makes no sense. DennisEdell.com held a PR1 for like 2yrs with a handful of posts on it all of which were MONTHS old before the next; my posting was very erratic as it was a personal blog and I just didn’t have the time or motivation…
Practically the day I moved everything over to truly use the blog…it lost it all. LOL
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATED – THREE Plugins Needed – What Do You Recommend? =-.
@Dennis Edell, I get the warm fuzzies when my sites get an increase too, I just try not to obsess over it
Yeah, sometimes I salivate over pr – both page rank and public relations for my site… usually when I’m making a concentrated effort to increase traffic. Have found google’s analytics a far better tool.
As far as I’m concerned though is the quality of my content… that’s ultimately what brings readers back, and it’s that hopefully ever expending cadre of repeat readers I really want. Bet you do too.
.-= Anne Wayman´s last blog ..Is Web Article Writing Too Easy? =-.
@Anne Wayman, you are correct, i like to think my content is why i am getting the traffic I get, not PR (pagerank), because my PR is still only a 1.
Great post Keith,
I have to agree, PR is not as important as it use to be. Some people still think its important, but I think they are for bragging rights. When I hear people bragging about their rank, I ignore them.
However, I am interested in page rank and how it works. When they update the rank, I will look mine up and will check whenever Google updates these numbers.
.-= element321´s last blog ..MMO – Making Money Online Social Network =-.
@element321, James, I am interested in PR too, I look forward to the next update and hope to see my site get a boost, I just try not to spend too much time on it.
Thanks for dropping by…
You know what the single best thing about Google Page Rank is?
Simple, it always prompts conversation.
Any post about Google PR, regardless of how over or under (nah) rated it might be, alays a get comment grabber. great post bro.
.-= Extreme John´s last blog ..A Day in the Life of.. Episode 4 [video] =-.
@Extreme John, That is true John, PR is a hot topic no matter which side you take in a debate about it.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
Hi Keith,
Your post made me feel sooooo much better. I know nothing about PR. I remember reading a post over at Dragon Blogger’s place I think it was where he referred to it as PR. I didn’t even know what PR meant
Right now I’m just concentrating on building the community and getting to know folks. Whether Google like it or not probably should be more of a concern but there are only so many hours in the day
Thanks for giving new folks like me a balanced perspective.
Eleanor
.-= Eleanor Edwards @ Give A Brick´s last blog ..Life lessons from the car wash =-.
@Eleanor Edwards @ Give A Brick, Glad I could help Eleanor. I don’t completely understand PR, nor do I wish to really, but I know enough to know that it is not necessary to obsess over it.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Does Your Twitter Account Suffer From Erectile Dysfunction? =-.
I have to totally agree. People spend way to much time looking at the darn Google toolbar page rank waiting to see it go up or down.
I just don’t see the point in that, as the tool bar only gets updated like every six months or something like that.
Spend more time writing good content for your sites and you will rank better.
Great post.
@Trevor Bandura@Make Money Today, Thanks Trevor, I believe it all starts with content, but there should be a balance of several main factors to get your content more visible.
Great post. You’ve basically summed up the issues regarding why PageRank shouldn’t be an obsession for anybody. I’ll echo your comments on PR0 sites outranking PR6 sites. Mine does for many to most of the technology related topics covered there. So how can that be possible?
Simple: just like Google says, PR is not the only factor involved in rankings (anymore).
@The Digital Life & Tools Blog, Ya, some people don’t realize that you can make a full time income from a PR1 site (I have one that does that for me).
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Blogging Is Easy? =-.
I stopped worrying about PR years ago, and I’ve enjoyed blogging a lot more ever since I did that. I don’t even worry too much about SEO. I just write and have a good time doing it. I then do my rounds of blog commenting, not so much as I used to, time being what it is, and I’ve found that has generated more than enough traffic for me.
.-= Sire@WassupBlog´s last blog ..Where Bloggers Meet, A Forum For Bloggers =-.
@Sire@WassupBlog, Sometimes just writing and enjoying it is the best combination, and it shows with the community on your site, Sire.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Comment Links: Are They SEO? =-.
ya. thats sir… it will clear all my doubts about page rank …..
@Ram kumar, Thanks for stopping buy Ram, and for connecting on facebook too, I have been watching your blog grow, don’t worry about pagerank right now, just write quality content and do plenty of promotion.
It seems the only time I think about Google Pagerank is when I read about it, then I’ll check to see what mine is, without remembering if it changed from the last time I checked it.
You asked ‘What makes a site good? Is it PageRank? Is it Alexa? Is it number of links? What do you think?’
My opinion for my site is that is not only shows up more than once on the first page of Google, Yahoo, and Bing for certain keyword searches, but it also shows up ahead of my main competition. I don’t think, no, I know that PageRank has nothing to do with that because 2 of them have higher rankings than me, although my Alexa ranking is much better(lower) than theirs. But in the end, for me, it’s a matter of my site appealing to my prospects and gaining me new business based upon them, not any search engine or algorithm. I just see the Google and Alexa stats as by-products of the efforts I put into keeping my site content fresh to maintain its positioning on the search results, not the other way around.
.-= Aaron´s last blog ..Freaky Friday: Site-Enhancement Oil- Too much of a Terrible thing =-.
@Aaron, That is a great way to look at it Aaron, if it doesn’t make you any money (pagerank) then what use is it?
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Blogging Is Easy? =-.
Hi Keith
I guess I do both.
I am obsessed with pagerank (there I’ve said it) I dream of pagerank 5… but I also write what I think are helpful articles for my readers.
I’ve read comments by Matt Cutts before about ignoring pagerank, but because you can get an actual score, it’s difficult to ignore.
Shall we start a Pagerankers Anonymous? I’ll be the first member and start off by saying… “My name is Keith Davis, and I am obsessed by Pagerank…”. LOL
.-= Keith Davis@public speaking´s last blog ..Practice, practice, practice… =-.
@Keith Davis@public speaking, I secretly do that too (shhhh, don’t tell!) and maybe if this site was a 6+, I would be writing about how important PR is LOL!
Excellent, well explained, well written article Keith!
The most important part you talked about IMO is the fact the PR is constantly updating and THAT is what matters… NOT the toolbar rank.
This is why (as you know) when you point big links at a page, it will improve in rankings within just a couple days and sometimes hours!
The only time I care about toolbar PR is when I am getting links from sites that are in my niche… at that point, I do in fact want very high PR links with my anchored keywords. These links are what will boost my pages in the SERPS.
AL
.-= Allyn´s last blog ..Introduction To BackLink Stacking And Why =-.
@Allyn, I also use the TBPR to see the rank of sites I am linking out to, not that every link out of my site (in the content) is to high PR sites, but I think it is an important factor that many are missing out on because they think they are giving away PR.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..4 Tips To Get More Blog Exposure Via Twitter =-.
[...] Drooling On PageRank – Hot Blog Tips [...]
The page rank does matter if it your site your talking about but the page rank of the pages which link to your site are very important. just get a some with page three plus and your go up the google rankings far quicker
Great article and definitely echo bound:) (that’s my weekly post of must read articles). I think you have explained fairly well the importance or not of PR. It was once an important metrics and I believe that in some form, it continues to be, although with much less impact as it used too. PR is a brand for Google and they where built based on this. Maybe soon they will find a new name and call it something else. Regardless, it will be there. For the record, I agree that too much importance should not be given. If all you worry about is PR, then it is most likely that you are compromising your websites quality.
.-= DiTesco´s last blog ..Microsoft’s (BING) Free SEO Toolkit Update =-.
I’m concentrated only in writing articles content for my blog and promoting it by building many backlinks each day, i have a seo toolbar which display my PR, i sometimes check it to see if Google (or SEO, i don’t know if SEO updates automatically after Google has update… xD) has update but i’m not obseded by that.
Actually, my page rank is.. n/a xD because my blog is new, i don’t say that i’m impatient for Google update but i’m not happy to haing a n/a PR…
For me, the most important thing for a blog is its articles! If articles s**k, the blog s*** too!
PS: good article man! ^^
.-= Sushie@ how to lose weight´s last blog ..Low carb diet =-.
i think she is right..most important part of a website is to get ranked from keywords…i have a website of PR 3…but no traffic because its not ranked from any keyword.
@John Sullivan, Different SEO’s have different opinions on whether that is true or not, and I do believe that you need a higher PR to rank for competitive 1-2 word terms, but that will come over time.
.-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Drooling On PageRank =-.