SEO Consult Blog

With the impending PageRank update we thought we would help our readers out
in the understanding of ranking, the algorithm and Google in general.

Among the most anomalous of Search Engine Optimisation considerations is Google
PageRank (PR). Those new to Search Engine Optimisation get too heavily involved
in tracking their PageRank and lose sight of the real goal, which is generating
more traffic to a web page. In reality, the PageRank that is displayed in the
Google toolbar and is used in Search Engine Optimisation software, is virtually
useless as any form of Search Engine Optimisation measurement.

Infrequent Updates

Google Toolbar PageRank is updated infrequently, with the shortest gaps between
updates usually being around 3 months. This means that any time, the PR that
you are seeing for your website could be up to 3 months old. In some cases,
it can be considerably longer between updates.

No Account For Page Relevancy

However, this isn’t the main problem with trying to use PR as an indicator
of your site’s search engine performance. PR is a numerical representation
of your overall link popularity. It doesn’t take relevancy into account. Regardless
of your PR, if Google does not deem your site to be relevant to a particular
search term or keyword then your page will not rank highly.

When PR Matters

PageRank truly only becomes relevant if you intend to sell your site or, in
some cases, if you are looking to sell advertising on your website. Webmasters
do use Google PR as a guide to generate prices for a sale and for paying for
advertising on your pages.

There Are Better Things To Obsess Over

In a lot of respects, Google’s PageRank can do more harm than good. Some webmasters
spend a large amount of time trying to fill the green bar rather than drive
more traffic to their website. Unless you intend to sell advertising space
or sell your entire site then you are better off avoiding the temptation to
obsess over PR.

Related posts:

1. Google PR Update, What this means for SEO Professionals
   Google have today initiated its Toolbar pagerank export, but what exactly does this mean for your website? Absolutely Nothing! A lot of SEO consultants will...
2. Is PageRank Really Relevant Anymore?
   Measuring PageRank has been the sin of many a webmaster and novice SEO since search engines began indexing pages and Google began offering a snapshot...
3. PR - PageRank and its importance
   PageRank is the system developed by Google originators Larry Page and Sergey Brin, it gives each and every single webpage on the World Wide Web...
4. Page Rank Obsession
   PageRank is one of those things that new Webmasters and anybody undertaking DIY Search Engine Optimization tends to get a little too wrapped up in....
5. Realistic Timescales of When You Will Be Top
   At SEO Consult we are extremely specific as to how long it will be before your site receives first page listing, our predictions are based...