Page rank is a ranking system first developed by Larry Page for Google. Since that time, webmasters and developers have spent a lot of time trying to improve their page rank with Google. The implication is that the better your page ranks the more Google and other search engines like you. The ranking system goes from PR0-PR10. Google, of course, has a PR10.
Page rank is how Google rates the popularity of your website or blog. If other sites link to your site, it’s assumed that you have a good site. Each time someone links to your site, it’s seen as a vote in favor. The problem lies with the fact that everyone is focused on this one aspect of building a popular and valuable site. Owners of sites with a high page rank are frequently asked for links to lesser ranked sites with the hope of improving public relations to the lesser ranked ones.
Whereas this has been the case in the past, many webmasters are changing their minds as to the importance of page rank. What is important, of course, is good SEO which will help your page rank anyway. The method many use to achieve this is by obtaining back links.
Google has recently made the decision not to show the true page ranks of websites for this very reason. It’s interesting to note too that just because a site has a PR0 doesn’t mean they have no rank at all. Every site that is created with integrity and provides value will have some rank; just not enough at the time to reach the level of PR1.
Steps to Improve PR (page rank)
· Buy a domain name that suits your business or purpose of the website. If you sell widgets it might be a good idea to have widgets somewhere in the domain name you choose. Although this is a good idea, it isn’t everything so don’t worry if all the good ones seem to have been taken already. Be unique!
· Link back to your main page (Home) from every page on your website. This is because each page will be indexed by the spider bots. As time goes on, these pages will end up with PR and because each one links back to your Home page, they will contribute to the ranking of the main page.
· Use keywords to your advantage by having niche and topic oriented keywords throughout every page and piece of content you have on your site. This will require a bit of homework and keyword research. Don’t overdo it though. Having your pages ‘stuffed’ with keywords can be interpreted as spamming. A good tool to use is called live-keyword-analysis.com. Here you can enter the keywords you are using for a piece of content and then paste the text in the window. It will calculate the percentage of each keyword in the text. It’s a good idea to keep it below 3%. If you have it at about 2% then you are doing well.
· Title tags: This is really important for you to understand. You want to have the best keyword for the page in the title tags as this makes it easier for Google and other search engines to find your content and match it with the keyword search.
· Tag your photos. We’ve heard various discussions on this subject. Some folks aren’t sure if the bots scan for tags in graphics and photos or not. But, when in doubt, do it any way…can’t hurt and might help. These are called ‘ALT’ tags. Some photo hosting sites allow you to tag the photos so take advantage of it and use appropriate keywords as tags.
· Create back links. Some people choose to buy back links from high PR websites and if this is something you can afford or seems right for you, do it. Otherwise, visit other sites related in some ways to yours and leave relevant and valuable comments. In your comment signature, be sure to have a link back to your site. Don’t leave the link as part of your comment as that too is seen as spamming.
· Link to other sites from within yours. Not only is it good karma, but when you link to other sites, you are seen as more attractive to visitors on your site.
If you need more help with SEO it might be a good idea to get advice from some of the specialists. This is what they do for a living and if you want to improve your page rank, this might be one way to accomplish it.