Google and Understanding Page Rank and What it Means to YOU

Google Page Rank is an important measurement tool of how you are ranked by Google. PageRank is their perception of the quality and creditability of a in individual web site/page. Google reports this as a number from 0-10 (10 being the best). So if your web page and your competitors web site has the same relevance - then whomever has the higher PageRank gets the better ranking. This is why PageRank is so important.

There is near unanimous agreement that PageRank is primarily determined by the number of web sites or pages that are linking to your site. Google considers these links as a vote of confidence. They are always seeking relevancy and value. They also rank the "links" to you and believe me not all links are created equal. In other words, the more credibility that the link has, the more important it is to your ranking. How is this credibility determined? They use their PageRank (of course) to determine the link value. As an example, let's say that your best friend Mark has a web site or blog and he links to you. Let's also say that Mark's PageRank is 3 and has limited inbound links. This link from your buddy will certainly help you because Google loves inbound links but it help you more if you can find 100 or more Marks web sites with a PageRank of 3 to link to you.

If you can get a single link form a web site that has a Page Range of 6, it'll help you more than 100 Mark's sites. Why, because the PageRank 6 site is considered more valuable and relevant. From my research, it appears that Google PageRank falls into four broad categories:

0-3: New sites or sites with very minimal links

4-5: Popular sites with a fair amount of inbound links

6: Very popular sites that have hundreds of links, many of them quality links

7-10: Usually media brands (USAToday.com), big companies or A-list bloggers.

Now, it's important to note that PageRank is believed to be calculated on a logarithmic scale. What this roughly means is that the difference between PR4 and PR5 is likely 5-10 times than the difference between PR3 and PR4. So, there are likely over 100 times as many web pages with a PageRank of 2 than there are with a PageRank of 4. This means that if you get to a PageRank of 5 or so, you're likely well into the top 0.1% of all websites out there. If most of your competition is ranking around with a PR2 or PR3, you're ahead of the pack.

How do you determine your PageRank?

There are at least two ways to figure out what your approximate PageRank is. One, you can download the Google Toolbar (the PageRank feature is not turned on by default, so you'd have to enable it after installation).

The other way is to use the Page Rank Calculator. There several very good free calculators on the net and some require no registration. Check them out and if you are a PR6, please email me immediately. It's quick, free and requires no registration. Check it out. If you have a PR6 or higher,

Why is this important?

Most web site owners are paranoid about their Google ranking. By knowing your page ranking will help you to make the changes or additions to your site to improve your content and value to not only Google but to those other web sites that potentially link to your site. As almost every writer about Internet marketing or SEO will agree that great CONTENT and FRESHNESS are key to your overall success on the Internet. Get Ranked!

Chuck St. Arnaud is the Chairman & CEO of a the oldest and largest ISP in Coastal Georgia. A frequent writer and speaker on the Internet, he is considered a local asset when it comes to understanding the potential of using the Internet. Chuck is also an adjunct professor of Marketing at a local university. Visit his blog at http://www.sysconn.com