How is Google Page Rank determined?
What is Google Page Rank?
If you’re after top search positions in Google, you probably already
know to pay attention to the Google Page Rank value that shows up on your
Google toolbar. The idea behind it is to give a measure of importance
to a particular web page, and it is based on the number and quality of
backlinks to this page. Google then uses this Page Rank along with a text-matching
algorithm to generate the search results ordered by relevance to the search
query.
The rank of a page can also be equated to the probability that a web
user will end up on it, taking into consideration the manner in which
the web is linked, and the possibility that the user may not click on
a link but perform a random jump instead. So, if the probability is relatively
high, then Google views the page as prominent, and therefore important.
How does Page Rank work?
Google Page Rank for a particular page is directly proportional to the
number of links that point to it. However, these links are not all given
the same weight. Google claims that some links are more important because
they originate on pages that are themselves considered important. So,
out of two links from two different pages, a link coming from a page with
a higher Page Rank will be given more weight in the algorithm. Besides
being dependent on Page Rank of the originating page, the weight of a
link is also inversely proportional to the number of links originating
from the same page. That is, a link coming from a page with 20 other links
on it will be given much less weight than the link coming from a page
with only 2 links.
That means that it is possible for a page with only one backlink to have
a higher Page Rank than a page with multiple backlinks, if this link originates
from an "important" page with few links.
On top of these factors, in determining link weight Google also takes
into consideration whether or not the linking page is in the same domain
or on the same server, geographical proximity, text within the anchor
text and immediately surrounding it, and originating page content.
For tips for a successful linking campaign that takes Google Page Rank
into consideration, take a look at our reciprocal
linking guide.
For more information on Google Page Rank, you can check out the official
information on Google, or for a more technical explanation that we
used in determining how Page Rank works, read the Page
Rank patent information.
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