Page Rank - n - Page rank is a value that Google assigns to a web page based on the importance of the page on the internet.

Page Rank is a Google feature, owned and trademarked by Google. Basically it's a ranking system that determines how important your website is to the world wide web. In Google's own words:

"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'."

Basically it's like all the pages linking to you are voting for you, and you're voting for all the pages you link to. Sites that link to you and have a high page rank get you more "votes" than sites that link to you and have low page ranks. It's sort of a popularity contest, but the popular kid's vote counts more than the unpopular kid.

There are other factors too, like your keyword relevancy and the amount of traffic you receive to your site (which is why SEO is important). I know there's some math to the whole thing, but I'm a writer, not a mathematician, so I can't help you there.

Some SEO companies (but not CyberSunshine) will manipulate the Google Page Rank for you, to make yours higher than it actually is. But that's cheating and I wouldn't recommend it. In the long run, cheaters never win. The best way to increase your Page Rank is with good old-fashioned hard work. Get out in the blogosphere and make friends, and hopefully they'll like you enough to link to you. You can even ask people to link to you if you have the nerve. Most bloggers wouldn't be offended by you asking, so go for it! But be prepared to link to them too.

Wikipedia's article on Page Rank

How to check your Page Rank

A complicated article on the math of Page Rank

Labels: Blog Dictionary, Real Estate Blog, Website Tools