What is Google PageRank?
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm that was developed by Google founders Larry Page (hence the name âPageâ Rank) and Sergey Brin in 1998 whilst they were studying at Stanford University. As a result, the patent is assigned to Stanford University and not to Google. It is the main tool used by the Google search engine to determine the importance of a web page, and by understanding it you can boost the performance of your website when it comes to search engine rankings. The exact algorithms used are fiercely protected by Google, and as a result this article states what is believed to be correct, as compiled by a range of industry experts.
PageRank is a method of using the value of one web page to determine the importance of others. For example, if there is a link from Page A to Page B, Page B will score a point. It is not just the number of links that count, it is also the quality. If there is a link from a top-ranking page to a smaller page, this smaller site would be given some ranking points â kind of like a âvote of confidenceâ from a reliable source.
The value of a web page is rated on a scale of 1-10, and pages can move up the scale via a form of logarithmic progression. The exact formula is unknown, but it is likely that pages require more links of a higher standard when moving higher up the scale. For example, moving from PageRank 5 to 6 requires more links and higher quality links than moving from PageRank 1 to 2 does. Remember we are talking about individual pages here â it is quite possible that one site has a page with PageRank 4, and other pages with only PageRank 1 or 2 or 3 etc, as these have a lower amount of quality links.
Google PageRank does not just apply to single web pages; it also applies to entire sites. The rank of the entire site can be determined by adding up the PageRanks of its individual pages. A point to bear in mind here though is that a site will never be able to gain a higher PageRank than it has number of pages. This means that a site with seven pages will never get beyond a PageRank of 7.
The math used to assess link value can be extremely complicated, and will not be discussed in too much detail here, but essentially the value of a link is found by taking the PageRank of the page that it is from, then dividing it by the number of links on that page. For example: a link from a web page which scores PageRank 2 and has a total of two links is worth more than a link from a page which scores PageRank 3 but has a total of eight links. The nature of the scale used means that this is not so much of a factor as you get higher up the ranks â a link from a page which scores PageRank 9 is still a high scorer, even if there are twenty other links on that page.
PageRank is an important factor that is used by Google to rank web pages and websites, but is not the only factor. The exact amount of sway it holds it something only known by Google, but it is safe to say that if you are a website owner or administrator you should be focusing on getting large amounts of quality links from other sites, in order to boost your search engine rankings.
Source: http://www.best10webhosting.net/faq/whatisgooglepagerank.php
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm that was developed by Google founders Larry Page (hence the name âPageâ Rank) and Sergey Brin in 1998 whilst they were studying at Stanford University. As a result, the patent is assigned to Stanford University and not to Google. It is the main tool used by the Google search engine to determine the importance of a web page, and by understanding it you can boost the performance of your website when it comes to search engine rankings. The exact algorithms used are fiercely protected by Google, and as a result this article states what is believed to be correct, as compiled by a range of industry experts.
PageRank is a method of using the value of one web page to determine the importance of others. For example, if there is a link from Page A to Page B, Page B will score a point. It is not just the number of links that count, it is also the quality. If there is a link from a top-ranking page to a smaller page, this smaller site would be given some ranking points â kind of like a âvote of confidenceâ from a reliable source.
The value of a web page is rated on a scale of 1-10, and pages can move up the scale via a form of logarithmic progression. The exact formula is unknown, but it is likely that pages require more links of a higher standard when moving higher up the scale. For example, moving from PageRank 5 to 6 requires more links and higher quality links than moving from PageRank 1 to 2 does. Remember we are talking about individual pages here â it is quite possible that one site has a page with PageRank 4, and other pages with only PageRank 1 or 2 or 3 etc, as these have a lower amount of quality links.
Google PageRank does not just apply to single web pages; it also applies to entire sites. The rank of the entire site can be determined by adding up the PageRanks of its individual pages. A point to bear in mind here though is that a site will never be able to gain a higher PageRank than it has number of pages. This means that a site with seven pages will never get beyond a PageRank of 7.
The math used to assess link value can be extremely complicated, and will not be discussed in too much detail here, but essentially the value of a link is found by taking the PageRank of the page that it is from, then dividing it by the number of links on that page. For example: a link from a web page which scores PageRank 2 and has a total of two links is worth more than a link from a page which scores PageRank 3 but has a total of eight links. The nature of the scale used means that this is not so much of a factor as you get higher up the ranks â a link from a page which scores PageRank 9 is still a high scorer, even if there are twenty other links on that page.
PageRank is an important factor that is used by Google to rank web pages and websites, but is not the only factor. The exact amount of sway it holds it something only known by Google, but it is safe to say that if you are a website owner or administrator you should be focusing on getting large amounts of quality links from other sites, in order to boost your search engine rankings.
Source: http://www.best10webhosting.net/faq/whatisgooglepagerank.php
