Google Page Rank: What is it and what is it for?
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 3:45 am
If you are looking to improve your Google ranking through SEO, then you better consider Google PageRank. This number can influence where your site ranks and can tell you how much importance Google places on your website.
Page Rank is assigned to a web page with a number between 0 and 10; the higher the number, the better for your website.
Keep in mind that Page Rank isn't everything in SEO, but it does give you an idea of what Google thinks of your website. If you're a zero and your website has been around for a while, that's something to worry about.
Most SEOs consider page rank to be determined primarily by website age, content, and inbound links. For example, if a website with page rank 8 links to yours, it is likely to pass some page rank to your website.
Google PageRank may seem like an outdated concept. Since public scores are no longer visible in search engine toolbars, it's easy to assume that this metric is no longer important for search engine optimization (SEO).
However, it still influences your content rankings behind the scenes, so it's smart to familiarize yourself with it.
What is PageRank?
PageRank is a system developed in 1997 by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin . It was designed to evaluate the quality and quantity of links to a page. Along with other factors, the score determined the positions of pages in search engine rankings.
To illustrate this concept, it helps to think of Google as interpreting links as “votes.” In addition to counting them, Google also looks at the pages that cast each “vote” and weights some as more important than others. As a result of these and other factors, Google calculates an overall score known as the content’s PageRank.
The motivation for creating PageRank was to improve the overall quality and accuracy of search engines. In the early days of the Internet, search results were often not as relevant to users' queries as they are today.
The academic reference system and the process of evaluating scientific articles inspired Sergey Brin and Larry Page to solve this problem.
They used these concepts in their research project at Stanford University and applied it to search engines. The idea became the basis for Google and its PageRank toolbar, which used to publicly display scores.
Over time, Google stopped using the Google Toolbar PageRank. The single-score metric was no longer useful to the public and created confusion about its meaning. It also contributed to link spam and abusive SEO practices, such as buying and selling backlinks.
How is PageRank calculated?
PageRank is calculated from a mathematical formula, which the original Google document defines as follows:
PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
mber of outbound links and d is a damping factor, typically set to 0.85.
In this equation, T1 to Tn are all the pages that link to page A. C represents hospital mailing address list the number of outbound links and d is a damping factor, typically set to 0.85.
To simplify this formula, we could say that Google takes into account the number of incoming and outgoing links and the PageRank of each page that links. The “voting” example above is the best way to illustrate this system.
Essentially, the amount of points (also called “link juice”) a page can pass depends on its own overall PageRank. Well-maintained inbound and outbound link structures can pass a considerable amount of link juice, which can boost your website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let's say page A has accumulated ten PageRank points. Linking to page B will pass the maximum amount, which is ten points. However, linking to five other pages (internal or external) will dilute the link juice, so page A will only pass two points to each page.
In some situations, you may prefer not to transfer any PageRank points to a page. For example, a particular link might lead to a paid advertisement or an unreliable source, which could undermine its authority.
In that case, you can use the rel=”nofollow” tag, which tells Google not to pass any link juice. Note that the “nofollow” link still counts in the overall PageRank calculation, so the number of points you can pass will still be lower.
Page Rank is assigned to a web page with a number between 0 and 10; the higher the number, the better for your website.
Keep in mind that Page Rank isn't everything in SEO, but it does give you an idea of what Google thinks of your website. If you're a zero and your website has been around for a while, that's something to worry about.
Most SEOs consider page rank to be determined primarily by website age, content, and inbound links. For example, if a website with page rank 8 links to yours, it is likely to pass some page rank to your website.
Google PageRank may seem like an outdated concept. Since public scores are no longer visible in search engine toolbars, it's easy to assume that this metric is no longer important for search engine optimization (SEO).
However, it still influences your content rankings behind the scenes, so it's smart to familiarize yourself with it.
What is PageRank?
PageRank is a system developed in 1997 by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin . It was designed to evaluate the quality and quantity of links to a page. Along with other factors, the score determined the positions of pages in search engine rankings.
To illustrate this concept, it helps to think of Google as interpreting links as “votes.” In addition to counting them, Google also looks at the pages that cast each “vote” and weights some as more important than others. As a result of these and other factors, Google calculates an overall score known as the content’s PageRank.
The motivation for creating PageRank was to improve the overall quality and accuracy of search engines. In the early days of the Internet, search results were often not as relevant to users' queries as they are today.
The academic reference system and the process of evaluating scientific articles inspired Sergey Brin and Larry Page to solve this problem.
They used these concepts in their research project at Stanford University and applied it to search engines. The idea became the basis for Google and its PageRank toolbar, which used to publicly display scores.
Over time, Google stopped using the Google Toolbar PageRank. The single-score metric was no longer useful to the public and created confusion about its meaning. It also contributed to link spam and abusive SEO practices, such as buying and selling backlinks.
How is PageRank calculated?
PageRank is calculated from a mathematical formula, which the original Google document defines as follows:
PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
mber of outbound links and d is a damping factor, typically set to 0.85.
In this equation, T1 to Tn are all the pages that link to page A. C represents hospital mailing address list the number of outbound links and d is a damping factor, typically set to 0.85.
To simplify this formula, we could say that Google takes into account the number of incoming and outgoing links and the PageRank of each page that links. The “voting” example above is the best way to illustrate this system.
Essentially, the amount of points (also called “link juice”) a page can pass depends on its own overall PageRank. Well-maintained inbound and outbound link structures can pass a considerable amount of link juice, which can boost your website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Let's say page A has accumulated ten PageRank points. Linking to page B will pass the maximum amount, which is ten points. However, linking to five other pages (internal or external) will dilute the link juice, so page A will only pass two points to each page.
In some situations, you may prefer not to transfer any PageRank points to a page. For example, a particular link might lead to a paid advertisement or an unreliable source, which could undermine its authority.
In that case, you can use the rel=”nofollow” tag, which tells Google not to pass any link juice. Note that the “nofollow” link still counts in the overall PageRank calculation, so the number of points you can pass will still be lower.