Google PageRank Algorithm: It Still Matters

If you have been a part of SEO for more than a couple of years then you probably remember Google’s Toolbar Pagerank. It displayed the Google PageRank of every page you visited on a log scale from 0-10.

In the beginning, Google PageRank Algorithm made Google the most powerful search engine. Everything was great until PageRank stayed the magic potion of Google's ranking mechanism.

However, once Pagerank scores become visible by Google and it unleashed a flood of optimization strategies that were not exactly positive.

But even before Google officially removed Toolbar Pagerank in 2016, they had already stopped to update it for many years. Thus, some SEOs see PageRank as an outdated and insignificant metric that has no place in today’s SEO.

But actually the thing is PageRank still plays an important role in Google’s ranking algorithm.

Just a month ago, Gary Illyes, talked at a conference in Singapore. In his talk, he notified the audience that PageRank is still a part of Google Algorithm, it’s just that the public score (i.e. Toolbar PageRank) no longer exists.

Let's look into what PageRank was and what PageRank is?

Definition of Google PageRank Algorithm

PageRank (PR) is a calculation or numerical equation utilized by Google Search to rank sites in their web search tool results or search engine page ranking. It judges the value of a page and used to give each page a relative score of importance and authority by determining the quality and quantity of other pages that link to it. PageRank is a method of estimating the importance of website pages.

According to Google:

“PageRank operates by checking the number and nature of backlinks to a page to decide an imperfect measure of how significant the site is. The secret assumption is that more significant sites are probably going to get more backlinks from different domains.”

Google PageRank Algorithm is not the only main algorithm used by Google to evaluate search engine results, but it is the first and the best-known algorithm that was used by them.

PageRank Now-a-days

When something is undetectable, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The same goes for PageRank. Google took out the scores from the public access, however, PageRank stays its secret element ingredient. Also, it still matters for rankings, as it helps the search engine to evaluate the most relevant result for a particular query.

Final thoughts

Most SEOs never consider Google PageRank for obvious reasons, as it is old, and now there is no way to see the PageRank for a page anymore, even if you wanted to.

But it is essential to remember that the PageRank formula is at the core of many of today’s SEO best practices. This is the reason why backlinks matter, and that’s why SEO professionals still pay so much attention to internal linking.

But that doesn’t mean that you should obsess over, or even try to optimize for PageRank directly. You shouldn’t. But understand that whenever you build links, work on your internal linking structure, or examine your external links. By this, what you are actually doing is indirectly optimizing for PageRank.

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