What is Page Rank?

When discussing SEO page rank can be a confusing term. Page rank does not refer to a page’s position in the Google search results. Instead, page rank is an assessment of a particular web page based on the links that are pointing to your site. Those links can originate from outside sources as well as from pages within your website. The reputation of those links contributes to your page rank. For example if you receive a link from a little-known personal blog to your website, that link would contribute less powerfully to your page rank than a link from a well-known, often-bookmarked site like CNN.com. Page rank is Google’s way of using the collective intelligence of the web to determine which pages are valuable to its users.

Google says this of its PageRank technology: “PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages…. important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results.” Google says this on its Technology page, and the statements signal that a high page rank should definitely be a goal when optimizing your site.

For the industrial marketplace, a page rank of 3 to 4 is typical. But, the sky is the limit, and a high page rank could be a key component to your quest for search engine visibility. So the best way to achieve a higher page rank is to gain reputable links to your site. For the industrial marketplace, sites could consider submitting their link to high-traffic directories. Perhaps your industry is highly focused and there is a niche directory that industry insiders rely on. Create a blog for your products and services and add content often. Make that content easy to share and bookmark. You can do this by adding buttons to the popular bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, and del.icio.us. Also check out industry forums as places to submit your site links.

At the end of the day there is no fast trick to a high page rank. Google’s page rank system will reward sites that are providing their industry valuable information. If you make your content worth reading, easy to bookmark and consistently add material, links to your site will increase, and so will your page rank.

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