The myth of page rank

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by BigBob, May 14, 2006.

  1. #1
    I'd like to hear about people's experiences with page rank and their position in results.

    I have a site with page rank 5, and it isn't found in even the first 50 pages of results for my keywords! Now my keywords are relatively competitive (but not extremely so), so you would think I'd do better than that, eh? (I'm talking about Google results here).

    My conclusion is: page rank doesn't mean much anymore. I think other factors play a much larger role. Having a big page rank is not going to get you very far...this is my theory.

    Any comments? :)
     
    BigBob, May 14, 2006 IP
  2. Phynder

    Phynder Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Hi BigBob!

    Do some searching for older threads that address this point. It is much more complex than a simple yes or no.
     
    Phynder, May 14, 2006 IP
  3. zokiii

    zokiii Peon

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    #3
    PAGE RANK doesn't effect your rankings on serps.
    It is just number that shows popularity of your domain.

    Inbound links are those that create page rank and they are pretty important for good ranking on google.

    Check how you rank for allinanchor:keyword on google.

    Work on backlinks (put keyword as anchor text) and update site often and results will come.
     
    zokiii, May 14, 2006 IP
  4. stymiee

    stymiee Peon

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    #4
    Actually it just shows the popularity of one particular page as each each page has its own PR. Home pages for websites tend to have the highest PR in a website simply because they tend to have the most links pointing to them. But this sin't always the case. There are a lot of websites that have excellent subpages that receive a lot more links to them then the website home page. As a result they have a much higher PR then the home page.
     
    stymiee, May 14, 2006 IP
  5. GADOOD

    GADOOD Peon

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    #5
    The only myth in regards to Pagerank is the one that many novices love to buy in to and spread which claims PR doesn't matter.

    Pete
     
    GADOOD, May 14, 2006 IP
    chiefwiggum likes this.
  6. stymiee

    stymiee Peon

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    #6
    PR does matter, it's just that most most people don't understand how.
     
    stymiee, May 14, 2006 IP
  7. diamondsinfo

    diamondsinfo Peon

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    #7
    Exactly - you can have all the PR in the world, but if you don't have inbound links from on topic sites with anchor text of your keywords, you will not rank for them.
     
    diamondsinfo, May 16, 2006 IP
  8. WebFreedom

    WebFreedom Peon

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    #8
    I think that PR and SERPs are loosely based on the same principles, but ranking high for one certainly doesn't guarantee ranking high for the other. I think sometimes people get too caught up in "PR fever", and this actually distracts their attention from where it will provide the most benefit - the SERPs. :)

    Sam
     
    WebFreedom, May 16, 2006 IP
  9. realdeal

    realdeal Guest

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    #9
    hey listen, "Pete"
    you're obviously a beginner yourself, and a little pink behind the ears as well, or you wouldn't have made such an inexperienced statement. Did you go to school or were you just born dumbbe??

    the fact that a crumby site can have high PR proves without a doubt that pr don't mean nothing no more.

    you obviously need to get off the couch and actually do some internet marketing once in a while, because you obviously don't have a clue at all to what is going on these days.

    wise up, bro
     
    realdeal, Jun 15, 2006 IP
  10. rickvidallon

    rickvidallon Peon

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    #10
    I am rebuilding a site with for a client who was curious why he couldn't edit the web pages. Turns out their previous web designer created their entire 4 page website using large Jpegs and image maps. The homepage has 2 OBLs.
    The URL is (almost) 2 years old.

    Take a look; http://www.kgsandkgs.com/
    They have a PageRank of 5 -- go figure.
     
    rickvidallon, Jun 15, 2006 IP
  11. Sunny

    Sunny Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Pagerank does not directly depend on page content. It is simply a measurement of amount and quality of backlinks to a perticular webpage.
     
    Sunny, Jun 15, 2006 IP
  12. redhits

    redhits Notable Member

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    #12
    redhits, Jun 15, 2006 IP
  13. martaay

    martaay Peon

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    #13
    thats hilarious :D
     
    martaay, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  14. CJan_NH

    CJan_NH Peon

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    #14
    That's amazing :eek:

    Thank you for posting it-a couple of my co-workers are currently shaking their heads in amazement :)
     
    CJan_NH, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  15. Skinny

    Skinny Peon

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    #15
    Exactly what I was going to say. PR doesn't really mean a whole deal, unless your are selling/buying a site, or selling/buying links.

    Skinny
     
    Skinny, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  16. banless

    banless Peon

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    #16
    I agree with stymiee. My thought is this. Page rank does matter. And for a couple of reasons. One people need to remember googles definiton of page rank, according to goolge it is the measure of importance of a certain page. The higher the page rank the more important that page is to google. Does this mean that you will rank high, no it does'nt. But it does still play a role in how it affects a sites ranking.

    Another reason why you want a high page rank is because that is the best way to get good backlinks from other site related to yours, most quality websites are not going to give you a link from their site if you have a pr of 0 or even a 3 for that matter. Quality produces quality. Just because you have 10,000 backlinks from sites that are related to lets say "golf balls" it does not mean that google is going to reward with a first page ranking under golf balls.

    What it comes down to is the overall quality of links that you get, what I mean when I say quality is this: Quality sites mean, sites that have been online for awhile, perferably longer than 5 years the longer the better, sites that also have other high quality links pointing back to them, sites that are listed in Google directory, DMOZ"?", Yahoo directory, Small Business Directory ect. These sites need to also be relevant to yours, just because a site has your keyword somewhere on the page it does not make that page fully relvant to yours. And of course sites that also have a high pr. These are the kind of sites that you want to get links from.

    So if you want to rank under some of the most competative keywords on the market you going to need not just what I stated above but also, you also need to make sure that your own site is optimized correctlly as well.

    Do you have the proper title tag?

    Do you have the proper description in the description tag? (And yes these tags are still used by google, if you do not write a description tag then google will write for you, and that's not good)

    Do you have the proper keywords in your keyword tag? (I recommend using no more than 3 keyword phrases, any more than is just a waste of space)

    Do you have a robots tag?

    Do you have a robots.txt file uploaded to the top level of your server?

    Do you have a well built sitemap? Including a google sitemap "xml"

    Does your own site have a high a pr?

    If you can somehow pull all of those things off then I am willing to bet that you will find your site on the first page of google under the keyword that are targeting within the next couple of updates maybe even sooner.

    Outside of that for those that have not submitted their site to www.index-it.net for there free inclusion space is still open. Just thought I throw that there real quick. Go to this page you not signed up yet: http://www.index-it.net/freeindex.html
     
    banless, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  17. Roman

    Roman Buffalo Tamerâ„¢

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    #17
    I gotta go with Pete. As far as I know PR (not TBPR, but live PR) is part of the formula on how a page ranks. It may not have much weight, but it does have some weight thus giving it importance to some degree.

    Since Sept. Google has made a real mess of TBPR updates, but that doesn't mean that actual PR is messed up.

    Links and sites are still sold with PR as a factor, although less often now, so right there it shows that PR does matter.
     
    Roman, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  18. Web Gazelle

    Web Gazelle Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Actually page rank is a way Google measures the impartance of a page and it tells the googlebot how often to crawl a webpage. That is what it is used for. So a PR 5 page can expect to get more visits from the googlebot than a PR 4 or PR 3 page.
     
    Web Gazelle, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  19. rickvidallon

    rickvidallon Peon

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    #19
    I think if ANY of us really knew how to get great PR/SERP's on a
    guaranteed or consistent basis for ANY website, none of us would be in this forum, rather lounging on a yacht sipping margirittas.

    I think there are too many unknown factors in the implementation and workings of the Google algorithim(s). The search engine environment is way too fluid.
    What works for one site does not work for another. (For whatever reason)

    It's like trying to crack the code for how Experian, Transunion and Equifax rate your credit score. They say get more credit ~ then they say you have too much credit ~ then they say carry less than 50% on your cards ~ then they say pay pay-off your cards ~ blah blah blah...

    So there you have it. SERPs, PageRank and FICO scores are the new black-holes of the universe.

    Cheers!
     
    rickvidallon, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  20. phree_radical

    phree_radical Peon

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    #20
    I think maybe PR is actually PigeonRank like they said, and it can make or break you but it's based on pigeons

    PR5 means you made the pigeons happy enough and should focus on links... am I right?
     
    phree_radical, Jun 17, 2006 IP