PageRank is the ranking metric Google originally created to show the value of a webpage. It has been around since 1996 when Larry Page created the term as part of his research project on search engines at Stanford University. PageRank was based on scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest and 0 being lowest. Webmasters have looked to this ranking metric for almost 2 decades as an indication of how well their website is performing in Google. The PageRank algorithm is pretty complicated, you can read more about it here. But basically, it comes down to the quality of content on the website and quality of links pointing at the website, from other websites (that is as simple as the explanation gets folks).
PageRank Toolbar No Longer Updated
PageRank has been on the outs for a long time. But now, Google has gone on record saying they will no longer be updating the metric. According to Search Engine Roundtable, “December 6, 2013 was the last time we had a Google Toolbar PageRank update, that was over 10 months ago – not as long as a Penguin refresh (which is way more important) but still, significant.
Google’s John Mueller said in a video Google+ hangout yesterday that Google will probably not be updating Google Toolbar pagerank in the future. He said this at 20 minutes and 30 seconds into the video.”
So what does this mean for those who are obsessed with PageRank? Don’t be. Google has been saying for a long time, do not focus on PageRank. Personally, I have seen some excellent, high-traffic websites that have low PageRank. I have also seen sites with really high PageRank that have almost no traffic and even a penalty! If Google is not updating PageRank, it really counts for nothing. So I offer this simple advice, let it go. Looking at PageRank is like relying on validation from your first grade teacher for your current day efforts, it is really a thing of the past.
Sources
- Google: We Won’t Be Updating Toolbar PageRank. Barry Schwartz. SER. 10, 07, 14
- Google Toolbar PageRank Finally & Officially Dead? Barry Schwartz. SEL. 10, 07, 14
- PageRank. Wikipedia. Last modified on 5 October 2014 at 11:29.
