The significance of PageRank...

[dreamache]

We see it all the time in #SEO and everywhere else.. People over concerning themselves with pagerank..

What is pagerank? It's a number that Google made up to signify the strength of backlinks that a particular page has. And it's no more than that... In other words, pagerank does not correlate to traffic.

High pagerank does not = high traffic. (Or high SERPs)

So before you focus all of your energy on generating a high PR, focus more on exactly what it takes to achieve high rankings on your target keywords. (Backlinks from relevant, quality sites with your keywords as anchor text.)

Pagerank should only become a primary focus if you're selling links.

[Delivos]

Roger that! Selling links is kinda tough these days, anyway. Are you suggesting that the only use for high PR is preying on others? :O

[DaveJ|UK]

Quite right.

Looking at the topic more broadly, your focus should be generating as much money as possible. If you need a #1 spot to do that, then go for it.

#1 spots for keyphrases that don't make you any money are just as useless as high PR pages that don't make you any money.

[xpose]

Having a high pagerank can increase your SERPS in a broader sense. If you have dynamic content that always changes, then in general your website should have a better chance to be in the top 10 or 15 in SERPS because google trusts your site a bit more.

[DaveJ|UK]

Originally Posted by xpose

Having a high pagerank can increase your SERPS in a broader sense. If you have dynamic content that always changes, then in general your website should have a better chance to be in the top 10 or 15 in SERPS because google trusts your site a bit more.

Are you suggesting Google rewards pages with content that constantly changes?

I don't know for sure but I would guess it's the other way around. If a document has remained fairly unchanged or has just had additions made to it, then I would tend to trust that document more. Bounce rate will play a significant part in how useful Google perceives that page to be to its users too.

[WebsitesInCrisis]

Great post on Page Rank... it certainly is not the most important thing. Seems to be more of an ego thing...haha!

As for position in the SERPS (search engine result pages), Google takes into account over 200 factors when deciding where your web page will rank. (remember, Google ranks pages, not sites).

Curious as to what those 200 things are? So was I... then I found this:

(hope links/urls are ok... not an aff link and not my site)

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/inte...ng-factors.htm