PageRank Still Counts
A few weeks back, WebProNews carried an item on the subject of Google discarding PageRank from Webmaster Tools. Susan Moskwa, a Webmaster Trends Analyst at the top search engine said, “We’ve been telling people for a long time they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true,” she expounded. “We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look for it.” As it stands now, PageRank is deleted from Google WebMaster Tools and only appears in the Google Toolbar.
I can’t figure out why Google recommends that we must not be obsessed on the information displayed in PageRank yet it is apparent to all that most of us count on these numbers when gauging the results of our search engine optimization and marketing strategies and since most of us recognize the concept that a high PR results in added business for our website then, Page Rank should be taken note of when evaluating the results of our efforts.
Titus Hoskins, a Search Engine Marketer and author of ‘Does Google Page Rank Count Anymore?’ wrote in his article that, “For years, Google has been downplaying the importance of Page Rank and states that it’s only one of about 200 ranking factors which determine how Google ranks its index for keywords”, pointed out the outcomes of obtaining high PR grade on online companies, and I suppose that a lot of what he mentioned were insightful, to say the least.
Titus Hoskins spoke about the result of a top page rank saying that, “Obtaining a high PR7 or PR8 simply means more business and revenues. Placed against a PR1 site, a PR8 will win more respect in the eyes of potential clients and can produce enormous profits for the site owner.”
So where does this potential client respect emanate from? It is borne out of their respect of Google of course. Titus Hoskins examined the respect and brand recall Google has by saying, “Google has established an unmatched credibility and brand recognition in the eyes of potential customers visiting your site. Web users trust Google for guidance and direction”, and as an online marketer, Hoskins is astonished by how Google affects the online community. Respecting this he explained, “I am completely amazed each day at the marketing power Google now commands with web surfers and with the general population.” Hoskins added, “Google is the king of online search and no other search engine even comes close to Google.”
I interpret that to signify that if Google, gives a web-based business a high PR, then count on Google’s impact to have a positive effect on how many purchase from that site. So how can we blame these online businesses from assigning such a big importance to Google PageRank numbers?
“Regardless of what Google wants to happen,” wrote Hoskins, “PageRank is still extremely important to anyone marketing on the web, especially if you’re selling SEO services or operating a web business.” In closing, he summarizes people’s assessment of PageRank as a marketing tool that, “still wields tremendous influence and power” and by and large, this understanding has remained true up until now. “By default, PageRank is Google’s opinion of your site,” Hoskins stressed. “Web users can count (at least to 10) and if Google believes people are still not counting when it comes to PageRank, then they are fully mistaken.”
Despite what Google has said it is my opinion that there is still some function application of Google’s PageRank feature. I go along with the writers quoted above, and intend to continue to use Google’s PageRank in my evaluation of my own SEO efforts as well as other people’s.
Follow me on twitter.com/legalbear
