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Is Google PageRank Still A Valid Marketing Tool?
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2007

The Google PageRank Toolbar in SEO circles is a hotly
debated item, as are most issues dealing with Google. Some
say it's useless, others say it gives you a general
overview of your site's standing in Google. Regardless of
who is right, this Toolbar shouldn't be ignored nor
worshipped, just closely watched.

The Google PR Toolbar is a simple tool you can download and
place on your browser. When you surf the web, this toolbar
will give you Google's PR or Page Rank for that particular
site or page. Google ranks all web pages from a scale of 0
to 10. This Toolbar is more like the Richter scale than an
ordinary scale. There's a big difference in the rankings as
you go up and they are not proportional.

You must also realize each of these ranking points are
further divided and only Google knows the exact placement
of your site or page within your shown PR number. For
example, if you have a PR6 site your site could be at low
end of the PR6 scale (closer to PR5) or at the top end
which would make it more of a PR7 site. Big difference.

* PageRank Confusion

Many suggest Google is not giving us the real value of the
page in the first place and this toolbar is often out of
date and more of a smokescreen than real information about
a site. There could be some truth in this as Google never
gives up all its secrets. Does any company? Certainly not
the company that holds the keys to the most powerful
economic force on the planet: the Internet.

Complicating matters even further are webmasters and
marketers who try to manipulate their own PageRank by
buying or exchanging links with other high PR sites. Many
are now doing Three-Way linking to try to influence their
site's rankings in Google.

A whole SEO industry has been built up around PageRank for
the simple reason that the stakes are extremely high. If you
can deliver first place rankings for your client's targeted
keywords in Google it means free organic traffic or
visitors delivered directly to your site.

Many SEO experts believe Google has a whole list of ranking
factors which determine how well your page is ranked. Among
others, these ranking factors include Google's PageRank
algorithm (voting system) and Hypertext-Matching Analysis
(analyzing page content).

* Google's Position

If you check out Google's own corporate site for an
explanation you will find that Google clearly states its
patented PageRank™ algorithm is the heart of their web
ranking system which was founded by Larry Page & Sergey
Brin in 1998. You will also find that Google says it uses
numerous factors including PageRank to examine the whole
web and find the most relevant and important pages to match
a specific search.

PageRank takes into consideration over "500 million
variables and 2 billion terms" when finding the most
important pages. Google makes it clear that each page casts
a vote for another page and this is reflected in the
PageRank. Votes from particular sites or pages might have
greater value than others. "Important pages receive a
higher PageRank and appear at the top of the search
results."

* The question still remains, is the Google PR Toolbar a
valid marketing tool? Should you use it?

One can only speak from experience, I have always used the
Google PR Toolbar and find it helpful in assessing what
Google thinks of a site or page. I rarely link out to sites
anymore but if I do I always check any potential linking
partners to see their PR. Any site with PR5 or over I will
link to it if that site is related and has high rankings
for my site's own targeted keyword phrases. I also check
out the number of outbound links on that page. Lower is
better because the amount of PR passed along is divided
equally with the other links.

Sometimes I will link to a lower PR3 or PR4 site if I find
the content on that site is extremely good and I know it is
only a matter of time before Google upgrades that site to a
PR5 or higher. You must be very careful not to link out to
any type of 'link-farms' as Google will penalize you for it.

In my opinion, many SEO experts worry too much over the
exact PageRank or Value Google is giving to a page. Whether
or not we can really know the true value of any page? Well,
the true value of any web page is staring you in the face
in Google's SERPs for if over time a page consistently
holds the #1 spot then that is Google's true PageRank and
Value for that page for a particular keyword or keyword
phrase. If your page is consistently in the 1000th spot,
then Google doesn't think your page has much value for that
keyword.

Your site's overall value or PageRank within the Google
ranking system may be a little harder to figure out if you
dismiss the PR Toolbar as a good indicator of your site's
overall worth within Google. Maybe Google has put into
place filters and blinders to discourage the online
marketers and SEOs who try to abuse and manipulate PageRank.

* Let Your Own Experiences Rule Your Judgement

Again, one can only speak from experience, I believe the
Toolbar is very helpful in showing what Google thinks of
your pages. Over the years, I have experienced my main
website at a PR1 level and I have experienced it at a PR6
level. Believe me, the PR6 is much better. Can't imagine
what a PR8 site would be like to run or the kind of
lifestyle it would provide.

Higher PR means better rankings for your site and your
keyword phrases. It simply means more traffic and more
sales. If you're optimizing for Google, you should do
everything you can to get the highest PR you can possibly
get. More importantly, you should be doing everything you
can to increase the PR of the pages where you have your
long-tail keyword phrases as organic traffic from these
pages will usually turn out to be your site's main revenue
source.

I have found one of the quickest ways to raise your Google
PR is to get one-way links from high PR6, PR7 and PR8 sites
(Think Article Marketing). Google considers these links as
votes for your site and ranks your site or page
accordingly. Consistently get enough of these incoming
one-way links over the long haul and your PR will go up if
you have high quality unique content pages that are well
optimized with good navigation and formatting.

* Where To Get The PR Toolbar

If you're not using the Google Toolbar - use it! You can
download it here:

http://toolbar.google.com

Another great way to see PR in action is to use the Visual
PageRank tool here:

http://www.iwebtool.com/visual_pagerank

It will show you the PageRank of all internal and external
links on a webpage at once. Extremely helpful when you're
checking out any site or page. At a glance you can see
the current Google PageRank of all these links.

Google's PageRank system, including the PR Toolbar, is
something every webmaster and online marketer should be
aware of in their struggle for higher rankings. Don't
become obsessed with it, instead use this system to your
advantage to build better pages and sites. For despite all
the misconceptions and intricacies of such a complex
system, no webmaster can deny that if you conquer the
Google PagePank system, it will deliver the goods.
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The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous
websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For
the most effective web marketing tools try:
http://www.marketingtoolguide.com
For the latest Google Marketing Strategies go here:
http://www.bizwaremagic.com/Google_Cash_File.htm
2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed
if this resource box stays attached.
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