Search Engine Optimisation Boot Camp Three: You Are Not Your Web Page Rank
Continuing our series of SEO Boot Camp posts, were going to discuss another commonly held misconception in the industry and tell you something that a lot of webmasters probably wont want to hear: forget about Page Rank.
Its very easy to get sucked into the Page Rank game and believe that the higher it is, the better your site is, or the better your rankings will be or the more magic beans that you will be given when the goodly gypsy comes a-visiting next time. Simply put, it doesnt work like that.
Google Ranking Factors
Page Rank is just one factor amongst over 200 when it comes to how your site ranks in Google and although it sounds authoritative and it sounds important, its really not as vital to your rankings as many people think. Sites with a PR of one or even zero frequently hit the top positions for their chosen key terms and sites with comparatively high PRs can struggle.
Something else that anyone thats been in the SEO business for a while will have seen is the absolute fixation that some people can develop for their Page Rank more so than their traffic, positions or even how much money theyre making out of their site. This makes no sense, surely? When it comes down to it, unless youre using this site to link to others, your Page Rank is just a meter on a toolbar. It can be nice to see it filled quite highly, but its only one factor out of hundreds when it comes to getting your site listed highly.
What Is Page Rank For?
In light of this post, this question could certainly stand to be asked. If its not the be-all and end-all, or even that important when it comes to building your sites profile, what is it for?
Its definitely got some use. A link to your site from a high PR site will certainly carry more authority than a lower one, which may well help your sites rankings. Of course relevance is king here, but a relevant link with a high PR can only help.
Theres no getting away from the fact that Page Rank is a metric which is used when it comes to Googles ranking algorithm, but your site is not its Page Rank and theres absolutely nothing to be gained from obsessing over it. Instead, spend that time looking into your Analytics account and seeing where your traffic is coming from, what its doing on your site and where its going. Thats far more relevant data and it will be much more useful to your sites ROI than an abstract in a toolbar.