The (hidden) value of Google PR
by Randall McCarley
February 2nd, 2007
I have avoided writing about PageRank on this blog - mostly because I think it is silly. But there is a serious side of PR that does not get discussed very often and that is credibility.
PageRank is a score from 0-10 that shows how powerful the quantity and quality of backlinks to a given page in a website are. “Quality” just refers to the PR strength of the linking pages… not how good, useful, credible or related the linking pages are. With that I will say that a good PR score is not an indicator of quality content (in general) or even how likely a page is to appear high in Google’s search results. Even new websites without any visible PR can outrank established pages with high PR scores.
Still, some people are obsessed with PR. They buy, sell and trade links based on PR. They use PR as a measure for value.
People unfamiliar with PR and what it really is (an indicator of link popularity) tend to put more faith in it than is really deserved. Beginning SEOs chase PR like it is the elixir of life. And non-SEOs seem to think PR has more power (and value) than it does. Mostly, I think, because if Google has assigned a high PR score to a page then it must somehow be valuable… at least according to Google. And Google is Google.
PR preys on people’s ignorance. The PageRank indicator is part of Google’s toolbar. And Google has been pushing that toolbar hard.
When you mouse-over the PageRank icon on the toolbar the tooltip states “PageRank is a measure of the importance of this page” followed by the score. Now if you put something like that in front of a typical web-surfer, non-techie, soccer-mom type person they are sure to read all sorts of things into it. Including value… and credibility.
Next Article: More FREE LINKS! Previous Article: 14th Colony New Phone Number
February 8th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
I’ve put trust in PR simply because a lot of people search through Google, and it’s base on content or relevancy rather than links (or so I hope). But I believe it should be coupled with good Alexa ranking. It means that a lot of people are really visiting your site.
By the way, I hope you can find time too to check out my site. I’ve just added a new feature there called myspace video code generator. I’ll appreciate any form of feedback from you. Thanks!
February 11th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Sorry to disappoint but links still rule in Google. And Alexa is damaged goods - it only represents a portion of the internet and is far from accurate. Plus it can be spoofed.
James, your link went to a “not available” page so I pulled it. Let me know when your site is back up and I’ll check it out.
February 14th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Rand
If only PageRank were based not just on links but actually (as you say)on credibility, AUTHORITY AND RELEVANCY. Now that would be joy!
I’ve got sites with average PR of 3… they get found for 1500 different on topic keyword phrases a month (without Google Adwords or paid search marketing), generate thousands of dollars of revenue for their clients and not once have I panicked over Page Rank… its at best a general indicator and not one I dwell over personally.
I’ve got my own website a PR of just 4 (oooh yay! LOL)and it ranks in the top 5 SERPS results for certain keyword phrases with over 250 million results related to the web marketing industry. So Page Rank - look and move on….
Daz
February 15th, 2007 at 12:08 am
I agree that PR doesn’t mean much by way of ranking. At my last day job I managed 3 sites that all out-ranked high PR sites. The comparison was PR3 or 4 versus PR6 and 8 - a huge margin!
On a somewhat related note, after Google’s PR update in January I didn’t even think to check any sites besides this one. The other night I got quite a suprise - linkersunion.com already has a PR5!
LU was soft launched in November and I really haven’t done much with it yet. It’s been sitting as I’ve been training employees to help me out with it. You’ll start to see some interesting stuff over there very soon though - I promise!
February 16th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
To be honest, when I mention the green bar to non SEO people, 80% of them don’t know what it is.
February 17th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Thanks for the heads-up on PR. I agree that it’s something that is used to help promote Google toolbar, which I disabled long ago.
February 17th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I think more than 20% know of it and 99% misunderstand it. Even as an early SEO myself it took a while to understand what it doesn’t mean.
Welcome MacHold (and nice blog!). I think it is interesting Google even includes PR in the toolbar. I think there are a few reasons and one is PR is the PR Google used to get big. ;-) Another is Google got started by appealing to Web Pros who in turn advocated google to the masses. With PR in the toolbar they still get the geek vote. But I have to wonder if Google isn’t aware of, and promoting the common man’s misconceptions in an attempt to make them more reliant on Google doing the thinking for them. It’s a bit of a strech but Google is big enough and ego-driven enough to try it.