Hello One thing I have noticed about DP is that almost everyone is obsessed with PageRank, but why? In my opinion, PageRank does not matter a bit. All of my sites have/used to have PageRank, some up to PR4. However, they have all gone down in PageRank for one reason or another. I am now quite happy, because despite the drop in PageRank they have all climbed in SERPs and visits. So why do people make such a fuss about PageRank? Right now, in the middle of an update, everyone is complaining because tools don't work. There are loads of threads saying there is a PageRank update. But why do people care so much? For a start, can people not wait a few days until the update is finished before they start complaining that the tools don't work? Secondly, why does everyone have to make a separate thread about what their pagerank now is? Thirdly, why is it that every 5 minutes someone makes a thread saying that the pagerank update is underway/has happened. And finally, why does everyone care about PageRank? What benefit does it give? My sites rank higher now they have less PageRank. I know I would prefer for them to lose all their PageRank and climb even more. So why all the fuss? Calum
PR was considered important when link sales was at its peak. Since it didn't go well with google, the PR has considerably lost its sheen. Now traffic is the KING
Exactly, the only benefit I see of PR is for links sellers. But even for them, it is only a benefit if the person buying cares about PR. So if everyone forgot about PR then link buying and selling would be a lot better and based on things that matter like traffic. Yep, I don't think it holds any. My sites all went up in SERPs when they lost PR.
Regarding link sales.... All Google did was take aim at a couple high profile directories and that was enough to spread the fear among directory owners. Mission accomplished for Google, but I still see many doing it. Link sales are still running strong, and I could point out a number of sites that are doing quite well with it - no, they are not mine. These sites are in the top 10 for highly competitive keywords that compete with 35 million + pages. In most cases, the most lucrative Adsense niches/high traffic keywords are all dominated by sites with high PR. There is the oddball case here and there, but then again Google updates internal PR quite frequently. This green gold toolbar that we have just displays how a site appeard to Google in the past. Google says PR is important, and sites that have high PR are more likely to be listed at the top of the search engines. From everything I have seen, I believe Google. I don't believe for a minute that PR is everything, because its not. Two sites with different PR that are ranking for "california hot tubs" could come down to who has more text links for "california hot tubs." PR is simply a general overview of a site, which does not result in the automatic ranking of any keyword pasted on the site. I think Google's internal PR is quite complex. I believe that Google assigns PR to each and every keyword that our sites rank for, and then combines that aggregate PR to export to the toolbar. Thus a PR 6 site may actually have a PR 0 for "california hot tubs" while a PR 2 site has a PR 1 for the same keyword. However, the overall PR of a site most likely is calculated into the ranking equation. The PR obsession will never stop. Some love it and some hate it. Until Google removes it from the toolbar, this love hate relationship will continue...
Wrong PR has absolutely no effect on rankings, even Google's Matt Cutt's has admitted this. And contrary to some people's beliefs a PR update also has no effect ranking updates. its simply Google exporting there data which has been updating constantly on there end onto your toolbar.
I wrote about Is Google PR Important on my SEO blog a while back. As stated by others PR is important to link sellers. However, what makes it such a popular topic is that is something webmasters can see. It is like Google bestows this number on us and it feels like a measure of how we are doing. SERPs bounce often and traffic comes and goes but this magical number stays with us for a couple of months or more. It instills pride when you can say mine is bigger than yours. I know it is useless but like so many other webmasters, I still watch the numbers when the updates happen and am pleased when it jumps and a little bummed when it falls. Does it really matter? No, but it is part of being a webmaster and I doubt many of us do not eagerly check the PR numbers when an update happened.
People have a hard time letting go of old SEO. Heck, I've seen people on here spreading SEO logic from 1998. Things change and they can't get past it.
people base a monetry value of their site on PR. the higher that is, the more they can charge for advertising space...
matt5409, yes that is true, but why? Since it is proven that PageRank has absolutely no effect on a site's rankings, traffic or anything else, why do people want it? The links section is full of threads like selling PR3 links, PR4 links, but what benefit does a PR4 link have over a PR2 link? IMO nothing, except it will get you PR. Except, since PR does nothing anyway, it is cheaper and better to buy low PR links. I bet most people here would prefer a PR5 link with 150 uniques/day rather than a PR0 link with 250 unique/day, I know why one I would choose...
I see what's your point here but it's just the one side of the coin. Sites with PR5 are strong & established sites in Google. If they're related to your site and you get a link your rankings will improve after a few weeks. And that could brings you much more traffic than 100 uniques / day.
PR is a good measure of the potential of a site... which is great incentive for others to buy links on your site... there are some PR4-5 blogs selling links as high as $100/month ... with ten of these links they are already making a decent website income...
i have had 3 day old sites with pr=0 doing 400k uniques a day BUT thats because none of it was from google, i still cant seem to find a page with pr=0 on the first page of google that has 5million results or more
Let's look at what Google has to say about Pagerank: http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. <- This is right from the horses mouth. And this is the relationship between PR and traffic. Better positions in Google = more traffic. PR means much less in non competitive niches, which typically bring a few hundred or less visitors per day. That's why I think most people do not understand PR and its importance - because they are not getting traffic from highly competitive keywords. Now try competing for a keyword that brings in say 5,000 visitors a day. This is where PR really matters. I have yet to see anyone that disproves the importance of PR. What I mostly see are rumors and myths regarding PR involving low competition keywords. Nearly all competitive keywords are dominated by high PR sites. So until someone comes along with some proof, I will continue to believe what Google has said about its own technology.
Why becouse this forums are full with noobs and people with lack of knowledge .... Glad somebody is thinking as me ...
We are not all noobs. Some of us base our thinking on reading the facts, such as snowbird's post directly above yours.
because it's the dumb way of rating a site - by literally giving a website a score out of 10, even the simplest of people can understand it's supposed "worth". google should probably re-address it's PR algorythms - making it more based on true site quality rather than simply backlinks. but that's probably impossible to calculate with current technology
my sites all used to have high PR but now struggle to maintain a PR3 status, but traffic is steady and adsence and other income keeps coming in, thus I dont worry about PR as much as I did when I first joined here