Is PageRank Important?

Is PageRank Important?
By Nick Mackk

If you have done any research on Search Engine Optimization, you have definitely heard of PageRank. A lot of people all over the internet see it as the end all, be all of SEO. That is very far from the truth. When Google was a little baby of a search engine, PageRank mattered a lot. Now that Google has matured to the massive adult it is now, PageRank is only one of over 200 signals that Google uses to rank a website.

Google has openly stated that PageRank is only updated once every three months. Since search results are updated every minute of the day, PageRank is considered historical. Plus PageRank is a range. It takes many back links to move your page to the next rank. So, two pages can have the same PageRank and one can have hundreds more back links. Google openly admits that PageRank is kind of a novelty. They even have said that PageRank is "for entrainment only."

What am I getting at here?

Well, even though PageRank is not as important as it used to be, it has it uses. In my opinion, PageRank should only be used to quickly analyze a page. You can quickly look at your Google toolbar and get a feel for how well the site performs in the SERPs. It can only give you a feel for things. PageRank should not be used to determine what a page is worth or how many visitors the page gets. I have seen well designed PageRank 2 sites make more money than PageRank 5 sites.

Also, you should not use PageRank to determine whether or not you should submit a back link to a site. If the site you are submitting to has a low or even no PageRank, but there is a possibility that the link can send you direct, targeted traffic, submit the link. Qualified traffic is qualified traffic, it does not matter where it comes from or if the link helps you in the SERPs.

You should never rely on PageRank. Your goal should be to get as many back links as possible. Don't let the little green and white bar on your Google Toobar stop you from submitting a back link. If its on a quality site that is not against Google's TOS, there is not way a back link can hurt you. It can only help.

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