I checked the PR for my site on many different websites and it shows up as 3. However when I go to the website, it shows 0 on my google toolbar. Whats going on?
Those "PR Tools" on various websites are unreliable. Toolbar PR is also unreliable, except for a brief moment in time when Google decides to update it. No public PR value really matters in any case. Real PR is updated continuously (Google "everflux") and is already reflected in your search engine rankings along with all of the other factors in the Google algorithms.
They are not more reliable than the Google Toolbar PR. And that is only accurate for a short period of time after a public PR update, as I said earlier. Matt Cutts: What's an update?
I was just thinking that if page rank has changed (like it does every 3 months or so) recently you can use iwebtools or seo logs page rank checker to see the effect. I know some page rank checkers such as prchecker.info which, BTW, is first in google serps for page rank checker, do not show the latest changes. At least thats my experience.
Either way, you're still only accessing "public" or "toolbar" PR, which is only accurate for a short period of time after a public PR update. Actual PR is adjusted on an ongoing basis.
Ok I guess you learn something new everyday. So public pr is actually 3 months old or is it accurate on the day it is "exported" ?
It is pretty accurate on the day they do the export (subject to the conversion from whatever actual PR is to the graphical representation of that value). Depending on how volatile your site is, however, it may be out of date a few hours, days, or weeks later.
[Bold and underlinings in the quote above are mine] It is fashionable (but in error) on Digital Point to disparage PR. I'm happy to see one of the DP voices I respect the most saying it like it is — that is, that PR does factor into search engine rankings, exactly as Google itself states. I know, I know — I can already hear the voices of protest: "PR itself doesn't count; it's the quality backlinks that count." Of course, we know that. But PR is a direct, measurable report of how well you are doing (or how poorly you are doing) in securing those desired backlinks. Google measures all that and assigns you a PR. And that PR does factor into the search engine results.