PageRank: What it Really Means

PageRank (PR for short) is a method (an algorithm) used for measuring a web page's relative importance. The higher a website's Page Rank, the higher it will be placed in Google's search engine results for the targeted key words and phrases.

Google defines Page Rank as:
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

What this means is that PageRank acts as a balloting system. Hyperlinks that point to your website from another website are casting a "vote" of support for your site. The more hyperlinks pointing to your website, the more "votes" of support you have, the higher your site will be placed in the search engine results.

PageRank can be viewed through the Google Toolbar and is measured through a series of numbers with 0 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. We suggest you get so you can monitor the PageRank of your own site and your competitors sites. As websites gain more one-way links (votes of support), the PageRank number for that website will increase. Google updates PageRank approximately every 100 days.

Typically, webmasters will purchase links of high PageRank for their site. One-way relevant links with higher PageRank are believed to be more valuable and can go for as much as $10.00 a month PER LINK! Although purchasing high PageRank links can be a viable marketing strategy to increase website popularity (and subsequently traffic over the long term), it can be very expensive and difficult to maintain. Webmasters may pull the link at any time without prior warning or simply demand a higher price for it. An alternative to potentially spending hundreds of dollars per month on links is to use a service that provides FREE relevant links. Free Links Direct is one such service that offers a unique and effective system for providing quality one-way links to webmasters at no charge.

The importance of PageRank to a website cannot be overlooked. PageRank is becoming a measuring stick in determining the popularity of websites. As more and more users start to understand PageRank, they will use it as a gauge in determining the quality of any given website. In fact, more users are beginning to shun a website if it does not show a strong PageRank rating. Webmasters need to ask themselves whether or not they can afford to ignore PageRank. All trends indicate that those who do are going to be left out in the cold.

Free Links Direct SEO Team
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