We can go into a vast amount of detail about what makes productive SEO link building and what search engine optimisation techniques work best, however the only real way to decipher if something actually works is to measure its effectiveness. It is quite simple for a company to monitor click throughs to sites and number of visitors, and if you are a website which offers products or services for sale then profit figures will also play a key role in your company success.

All this is well and good within your overall marketing strategies, but what about your actual link building effectiveness? Measuring how effective your search engine optimisation is comes down to more than just number of visitors to your site, and one useful tool for monitoring your search engine success is by using PageRank.

PageRank is patented by Google and is a tool that was devised for measuring the effectiveness of links to your website. It works on several levels, the first one being the basic link process. Every time a link goes from one web page to your web page, it is classed as vote from that website. This could be a link direct from an industry website to your site, or a link from another site which appears in a Google search, or just a link from any type of web page to yours. Technically, the more votes you are getting on your links, the higher your ranking.

That being said, our good friends at Google understand that your search ranking effectiveness goes deeper than just quantity – it is about quality too, which is why PageRank does not just stop there. If a vote from a particular website for your link is found to be a more reliable source, or just more crucial to your specific domain or the search engine world in general, then this vote will be given a better ranking.

All this might seem confusing, but in the grand scheme of things this is really just like the results of a general election. All websites from around the web play a part in voting for your specific web links, which is what makes them more a success. A vote could come from another web page simply having a hyperlink to your site or from multiple sites suggesting links to your content. Other factors affecting search engine optimization, such as relevant keyword links and number of clicks all play a part in the ranking of your site links.

Your Google PageRank result can be increased by simply getting your links out there. Consider key, relevant websites which your SEO links would benefit from being on and try to get yourself on there. Whether it is through a sponsored link or just a recommendation, if you don’t ask, you don’t get; so try and get yourself noticed. If you do have direct competitors then consider what web pages link to their site. If you think that would be relevant to you then try and get yourself included, too.

Google have updated their PageRank system over the Bank Holiday weekend. The last PageRank update took place over the Christmas period during 2009 when, if rumours were to be believed, it looked like Google were looking to phase out the PageRank process altogether.

Many industry insiders questioned whether Google would keep faith with PageRank – some were surprised when the last update happened over the Christmas holidays, effectively showing that the rumours were without foundation. This latest update would suggest that they should now be quashed entirely, however it is conceivable that there could be changes abound in the future.

There are many paths for Google to take with PageRank. One suggestion in the search engine optimization industry has been that PageRank could be removed from public view and become invisible. Another rumour is that it will gradually be phased out and that a site’s last PageRank will stick against its name for the rest of its natural life. Good news for high ranking websites – terrible news for websites that have a poor PageRank.

SearchEngineOptimizatiuon.co.uk noticed the update in the early hours of this morning, with a vast majority of our clients seeing a positive change and associated benefits in the SERPs. We believe as an ethical SEO company that natural measures are the correct way to improve a site’s PageRank and that it will increase over time through the addition of quality content and effective link building strategies – carefully planned on-page and off-page SEO.

Webmasters shouldn’t read too much into PageRank, however. It should only be used as an indicator of how a website is performing and how Google views your website in a wider context. It shows how much authority Google judges your site to have on a scale between 0 to 10 with the most popular sites boasting a high PageRank. PageRank can be improved with a streamlined, well-optimised website that attracts targeted visitors to your services.

The PageRank algorithm was created at Stanford by Larry page and is as follows:

PR = 0.15 + 0.85 ( PR(Backlink 1)/TotalLinks(Backlink 1) + PR(Backlink 2)/TotalLinks(Backlink 2) + … + PR(Backlink X)/TotalLinks(Backlink X) )

To find out more about how to improve your PageRank, contact us today for a free SEO analysis.