What is PageRank?
PageRank is one of the important factors that determine
Search Engine Results Page (SERP). It is a numerical value
assigned by Google that shows the importance of a web page.
When one page links to another, it is actually casting a
vote for the other page. It goes to say that a page with
more relevant inbound links enjoys a higher page rank. For
simplicity sake, PageRank is referred to PR in this article.
Applying the Mathematical Concept of PageRank
Google calculates the PR of a web page using this equation:
PR(A)=(1-d) + d[PR(t1)/C(t1) +...+ PR(tn)/C(tn)]
't1...tn' are pages linking to Page A
'C' is the number of outbound links of the linking page
'd' is a damping factor set at 0.85
This is the original equation Google published when it developed
PR. Whether Google uses a variation of it, only God knows.
This equation, though, is essential to an understanding of
PR.
Don't be scared by the above equation. For a fuller explanation
of this equation with working examples read The Google Page
Rank Algorithm and How it Works by Ian Rogers.
The purpose of this present article is to apply the Mathematical
concept of PR to your web page ranking strategy. Yes, you
can organize your linking strategy to achieve high PR for
your important web pages.
Inbound Linking Strategy
Many people assume that the Toolbar PR values of PR1 to
PR10 are set on a logarithmic scale. Nobody outside Google
knows for sure, but there is a very good reason for this
assumption. That being the case, moving from a lower page
rank to the next higher one gets increasingly difficult.
So, moving from PR3 to PR4 is more difficult compared to
moving from PR1 to PR2. For illustration refer to the table
below...
Toolbar PageRank (log base 10....Real PageRank
0...................................0 - 10
1.................................100 - 1,000
2...............................1,000 - 10,000
3..............................10,000 - 100,000
4.................................and so on...
*This illustration assumes a log base of 10.
In a nutshell, an inbound page link with a PR8 is worth
more than one with PR4. The number of outbound links of the
incoming page link becomes immaterial. Inbound links with
high PRs that are relevant to your website will boost your
web page ranking significantly.
The practice in the past was to buy inbound links with high
PR to boost your web page PR. However, Google in recent times
has clamped down this practice. A new web page with lots
of high PR inbound links will be viewed with suspicion. Buying
incoming links has become a thing of the past. The rock solid
ways to gather inbound links are through...
a. Directories - Getting listed in quality directories like
DMOZ or Yahoo can help boost your page rank.
b. Building a great content site that others want to link
with.
Internal Linking Strategy
Based on the equation that Google uses to calculate PR,
adding new pages has the effect of improving the overall
PR of a website. If your organize your internal links carefully,
you can channel the PR of your new pages to the important
pages of your website.
The strategy is to grow your website steadily by adding
new pages, and link them to your important pages. Avoid pages
that are identical eg. affiliate programs web pages. You
will be accused of spamming by Google, and run the risk of
having your web pages and possibly your entire website penalized.
Add new pages that are rich in content, and relevant to your
website. Content is king.
However, new pages have to be indexed by Google before they
can channel their PR to other pages. Google only indexes
pages that have one or more pages on the web linked to them.
Organize your internal linking carefully.
Outbound Linking Strategy
You will lose page rank with outbound links. So it is good
practice to ask for reciprocal links, and to have outbound
links from a page with the lowest PR. Have the anchor text
of the incoming links centered on your keywords or similar
keywords. You also need to vary the text of your inbound
links to make them look natural to Google.
Choose your link exchange partners carefully. Avoid link
farms. Period.
Google enjoys about 36 percent of web traffic on the World
Wide Web. In absolute terms, this represents a significant
figure. As long as PR is one of the important factors Google
uses to determine Search Engine Result Pages, it is prudence
to understand how PR works and strategize your linking accordingly.
You don't need to crack your head to fully understand PR.
All you need is to simply apply the practical concepts delineated
in this article to your linking strategy, and a good dose
of patience. For Google places emphasis on the age of your
links, your domain, and your web pages.
It's a fool's game to try to beat Google. Stick to rock
solid principles when building your link structure, and you
won't have to worry when the next Google 'dance' comes along.
Your web pages will still be standing after the dust has
settled.
Gerrick W
mailto:gw@1stinternetmarketingsolution.com
Visit: http://www.1stinternetmarketingsolution.com
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