PageRank (PR) continues to be one of the most significant components of Google’s ranking strategy whereby it determines the rank of a web page by evaluating the quality and quantity of links targeted at that webpage. In 1997, the concept of PageRank was developed by Google’s founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. PageRank changed the search concept by interpreting links between webpages as a form of votes. The name of the algorithm refers to Larry Page and also to web pages.
Although Google now uses thousands of different factors when ranking websites, it is important to understand how it worked with PageRank scores in the past.
What is PageRank?
PageRank ranks web pages according to their importance in terms of the link structure of the web. Basically, pages with many quality links pointing to them are given the highest authority and ranking in the search engine results pages.
This is exactly the case with other academic journals and the so-called high ‘impact factor’ where articles that are most cited have the greatest impact. But with PageRank, there is more sophistication as it also considers the value of each link, understanding that not all links have the same weight.
By combining this strategy with content, Google was able to offer more relevant search results than its rivals. Links, in short, became the new gold ushering a new approach to SEO strategies across the world.
Is PageRank Still Used According To Present Times And Standards?
As of today, Google still applies PageRank, but, of course, in a more advanced form. Now it is integrated into the larger system called E.E.A.T. or Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust.”
According to Google:
- What PageRank does is determining authoritativeness by analyzing how many other such pages link to that page.
- Even Google representations, for instance, Gary Illyes, have stated that PageRank is not lost it still works and links are very important in E E A T. Additionally, Page Rank influences several variables in SEO including:
- Crawl Budget – Pages with a higher PageRank bar are crawled regularly.
- Canonicalization – If two or more pages of different page ranks exist for the same content, the one with the high PageRank bar is the one favored by Google.
There is evidence that indicates that cutting off links or disavowing backlinks reduces traffic a lot, hence, links are still considered a crucial part of the system of ranking by Google.
How Can PageRank Be Used Or What PageRank Essentially Does?
Let’s find out the essentials first.
PageRank scores each page in accordance with the links pointing to this page. The whole process is iterative. This means that the score is bonded to the link structure of the web, and the total number of links is processed by the algorithm.
The later posts describe a formula for the algorithm that first appeared in a paper in 1997.
PR(A)=(1−d)+d(PR(T1)/C(T1)+…+PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
Where,
PR(A): The PageRank of page A.
d: Damping factor (the probability that a user will click on multiple links).
PR(T1)/C(T1): It represents the Page Rank of the page providing a link as its linkages.To put it differently, a page’s Page Rank is the value of the links directed towards it, divided with all its directed links.
The Damping Factor
Like all other web pages, the damping factor represents a Page Rank feature that deals with the chances of users interacting with links. For example, a strong page linking directly to another transfers more value than one that is several clicks away.
An Error in the Original Formula
There was a defect with the preliminary formula which involved the explanatory pages — it was possible to compute the total Page Rank to be greater than 1. This difference arose from the inadequate approach used in spreading the use of the damping factor among all web pages. All the computations undergo a proper probability distribution in the β corrected formula .
A Brief History of PageRank
- The Patent: The first Page Rank patent was presented in January 1998 and it expired ten years later, in 2018.
- Public Introduction: PageRank found its way into the Google Directory for the first time in November 2000 and then later onto the Google Toolbar that allowed users to see over-simplified figures from 0-10 scale representing the page rank.
- Demise of the Toolbar: The PageRank toolbar was discontinued in 2016 although the algorithm is still active at work within Google.
How PageRank Has Evolved
Let’s be clear; PageRank has never been easy. All the fuzz started in 1996, when Larry Page and Sergey Brin came up with this idea, which later transformed into a measurement of independent votes in the crammed up world of the internet. If that wasn’t enough, in early 2000s, Google perfected PageRank instead of it being abused, but still having to adapt itself to an evolving web. Some key shifts in this development include:
1. Waging Spam Links War
Gone are the days, when Google algorithms considered the spam or junk/low-grade quality source links valuable, here are some of them that were identified:
- Sitewide links ( excessive use of the links throughout the content such as attribute rel “nofollow) , ugc or rel “Sponsored” links were flagged by Google and are used as means to spam technology.
- Penguin and SpamBrain algorithms, these algorithms are automated link defection aimed to isolate spam websites.
2. Link Consolidation
Massively duplicated web-pages and redirection are taken care of by canonicalization which effectively amounts in the consolidation of features for the desired URL, for example: page rank.
3. Weighted Links
With the reef understanding that such an assumption carries a grain of truth, however, the “reasonable surfer model” was introduced whereby it links other most relevant hyperlinks using this as a reference.
Fighting Link Spam
The prevalence of link based schemes forced google to come up with anti abuse measures and over the years since it inception many measures have been put in place including:
- Nofollow Attribute Block (2005): Stopped spam and other unwanted links from administering page ranks.
- Penguin Algorithm (2012): Thwarted sites that possessed targeted link building correlating their link profiles.
- Disavow Tool (2012): This allowed webmasters to remove unwanted backlinks.
- SpamBrain AI (2022): This is an AI system which helps to detect and nullify unwanted links.
Can You See Your PageRank Score?
Nowadays, it’s not possible to check PageRank scores on Google as there is no direct option for this. However, sites such as Ahrefs have provided an alternative method known as URL Rating (UR) which measures the strength of a page’s link profile out of 100 only for the specific page on the site in question.
While UR is not exactly PageRank, it is a reasonably close substitute because it uses measures of both internal and external links to estimate a page’s importance.
For Improving Your PageRank Score
When looking to enhance the score of your Page Rank, one strategy is to concentrate on high-quality links. Here’s how:
- Repair Redirects
This strategy entails the use of relevant link building techniques to redirect old pages or broken pages to new relevant ones. By doing this, it is possible to recover lost PageRank. Ahrefs Best by links report should be used to find the suggested strategies.
- Edit Internal Links
Make links to relevant pages so as to distribute PageRank among important pages within the site. Ahrefs Internal Link Opportunities can be useful to find relevant links in the site.
- Edit External Links
Gain backlinks from relevant authorities on the matter by:
- Targeting specific content marketing strategies
- Conducting different outreach campaigns
- Forming partnerships and collaborations
Conclusion
Page rank has surely changed the way things work, but the most important factors still have their say. After all, links still have concrete results in rankings regardless of the algorithms and strategies used. It is safe to say such strategies will be crucial in SEO.
Regardless of the fact that the web today seems to have progressed to more sophisticated systems of ranking websites, the fact remains that PageRank provided the grounds for Google’s supremacy in the Thunder of the Search. Consequently, the knowledge and application of its principles can help improve the visibility as well as the credibility of your site.