Romancing Google and Demystifying PageRank
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 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...
Tool 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.