Is It Worth Taking Notice Of Google Page Rank Updates?

Developments In The Page Rank Calculation

The Google page rank algorithm was initially thought up by Larry Page and Sergiy Brin. They used it as a method of measuring the relative importance of single pages on the internet.

It was calculated with regards to the number of back-links (or popularity votes) that any one page had attracted. Webmasters subsequently made use of the page rank system as a means of assessing their online success.

However, in recent times SEO experts have cast doubt over the relative importance of PR scores. They have pointed out that web pages with scores of 0-5 often rank highly and that there are other factors including domain age, link anchor text and social media engagement which have a great impact on SEO success. It is now worth questioning the level of focus that should be placed on page rank updates.

Conjecture Over The Scoring System

The latest of the updates was made recently. It led a number of webmasters to look for answers as to why the rank of some pages had increased, while others had gone down. Loren Baker from Search Engine Journal said that ‘Google seems to have expanded their differentiation between bogus links and links which are earned. Earned links are links from authority blogs and web communities, well branded and trafficked sites, links earned via news or linkbaiting and user reviews’. So the PR change can be viewed alongside the Penguin and Panda updates as part of Google’s attempts to clean up the online environment.

Webmasters may analyse the adjusted scores in relation to their link building efforts. A substantial decrease in page rank may have been caused by the acquirement of links from ‘bad’ sites. While an increase may indicate that the right methods of link generation are being employed. Pages that have shown a gradual decrease may have been overtaken by the competition, or deemed to be less important due to their age. As the SEO expert Andy Hagans said, “Really, the importance of the green pixels is now negligible, aside from a very rough indication of a site’s link popularity and assurance that it isn’t banned in Google.”

Could Page Rank Be A Thing Of The Past?

Some industry professionals have argued that there is a direct correlation between page rank and positioning on the search engine results pages, others have pointed out that there is an opportunity to sell advertising space on pages with a high rank. However, Google continues to place emphasis on the importance of other factors apart from page rank. They are also penalising those websites that have been boosted by the mass sale of high profile links. So the level of concern that webmasters have for the scoring system may well diminish.

It is likely to be a matter of time until Google either deletes or makes major alterations to the green scoring bar. There is even an argument for the integration of some other kind of ranking system as part of Google Analytics platform. As Google representative Amit Singal said, “No one should feel, if I dismantle the current search system, someone will get upset. That’s the wrong environment.”

Clued up webmasters will prepare for the changes and show less of an inclination to abuse the system in a bid to increase their rankings. They will concentrate on the creation of high quality, link worthy content, promotion via bookmarking websites and engagement through social media and mobile networks. If you’d like to find out more about how to achieve high rankings in the new digital age then get in touch with the SEO experts at Websearch today!