One of the measurements
commonly used to gauge the importance of a page in the eyes of Google is known
as PageRank. This measurement is displayed within the Google Toolbar once it‘s
installed in your browser. To download it, go to: http://www.google.com/toolbar
Although toolbar PageRank can
be a useful measurement tool when gauging the importance of a site, it is often
criticized for not being updated as frequently as some SEOs would like. The gap
between what Google really thinks of a site, and the score being reported by
toolbar PageRank, is a source of irritation for many SEOs.
Suffice it to say that,
regardless of the spirited discussion that revolves around Google's toolbar PageRank, the following facts prevail.
1. Once installed, the Google
toolbar will produce a PageRank (aka, an importance) score for every page you
visit. For instance, Yahoo scores a very high PR=9, while WebMD scores an also
high PR=8. This means that Google sees Yahoo as a little bit more
"important" page than WebMD. Therefore, an incoming link from Yahoo
would carry a little more weight than an incoming link from WebMD.
2. Although PageRank is an
importance score, it should not be confused with, or misconstrued as, a ranking
score. It is entirely possible for a low PageRank page to score high on a
specific keyword search if that search is more relevant to the page with the
lower PageRank.
3. Remember, you want to be
linked-to by important pages. That being the case, PageRank remains the best
insight you have into 'who's who' from Google's point of view.
4. Here's a warning, though.
If a page is showing a PageRank=0, or the PageRank bar is ghosted out, then you
don't want a link from that site. It could mean that Google doesn't trust that
site — perhaps they've been caught spamming Google's index. However, it's also
possible that Google simply doesn't know about that Web page or Web site.
Either way, having a link from them, or linking to them, will NOT help your
ranking efforts and could possibly hurt them.
6. As we alluded to earlier,
Google isn't updating their toolbar PageRank scores as frequently as you (and
others) might like them to. The result is occasionally inaccurate PageRank
scores and long waits before you see your own toolbar PageRank score respond to
your optimization efforts.
7. If you happen to notice
your own toolbar PageRank score slipping, this can indicate that it's time to
rethink your optimization efforts. There is a distinct possibility that you're
doing something wrong, from Google's POV, and the ranking penalty they've assessed
is being reflected in your PR score. If, on the other hand, you have a new Web
page and its PageRank isn't going up as fast you'd expect, this could simply mean
that Google hasn't updated their toolbar PR scores lately.
