Google PageRank Question - Google Experts Only, Please!

Hey guys,

I've been searching for a few days now trying to find the OFFICIAL answers to these two questions. Here goes..

1. When you look at an official mirror of a website with high PR (say PR7), and the website that it is mirroring has a similar PageRank (PR7 or PR8), would this PageRank be considered valid and therefore, calculated as a "vote" for PR to other sites?
   
2. How much does PageRank have to do with the cache of the website on the SERPS? I've noticed that some official mirrors are cached by Google, while others aren't, so I remain confused.

Please, no sissy answers here. I need a response from a reputable source.

Thanks,
Scott

 

1. Yes the link out is valid and mostly over time both the sites will gain the same PR. But linking between them has little value

2. Page rank has nothing to do with SERP and cache. Page rank is a result and no reason for SERP. If you have good SERP and you get good hits then you can gain PR.

PR is not dependent on a single factor but a combination of facts

 

If you are looking for experts and officials, then why do you ask on the forum. Ask the company directly, phone them.

 

They are slow to respond; we'll see what they say when they do respond to the email. Also-- do you know of a number I can use to call them? I would definitely call them for this.

 

Thank you; that's the most complete answer anyone has given me so far.

 

The main problem with your question is it makes an assumption that isn't fact: Google relates a mirror of a site (official or otherwise) to the original version, simply by virtue of one being the mirror of the other. This is not the case, and the PR of one has nothing to do with the other, except by what links might exist between the 2.

2 different sites are exactly that... 2 different sites. The PR, cache, and ranking of the two will be independent of each other.

ecom's answer may have been the most complete on you received, but it contains a glaring error:

Neither of those statements is necessarily true. If both sites gain the exact same links, then yes. Possibly it will be also true if both sites garner the same number of the same strength links... but that is also true of any two sets of sites, irrespective of whether or not one is a mirror of the other.

-Michael

 

I agree with Mvandemar, mostly.

The main thing is that these are separate sites, therefore separate PR.
Linking between them is fine. No problem. Will impact both of their PR's.
PR is about links between sites, nothing else. The vague 'various factors' (in ecom's answer) are bullshit. Links do get weighed - that's the only factor other than the number of links. Some links mean more then others.

Ranking is another issue. It is not likely that google will rank both sites equally well - and it shouldn't. It is likely to rank one site higher than the other based on region (the one closest to you is likely to be chosen if all other factors are equal), the age of the sites (oldest will rank higher) and pr (highest will likely rank higher).
In most cases this means that the original site (usually the oldest) will rank best.

 

Excellent. Thank you for your response and I'd like to thank everyone else for their responses! Hopefully this will help others as well.