In my first three posts of my blog series, I discussed the significance of the relevancy of the link, the age of a domain, and the ability to acquire the link.

Part 4: PageRank

Now it’s time to discuss a Foundational Link Building variable that finds itself in the center of several SEO & link building debates: PageRank (PR).

PageRank as defined by Wikipedia is: “A link analysis algorithm that is used by Google in which a numerical weight (ranging from 0-10) is assigned based on the relative importance of a page.” In other words, PR is a number assigned to a web page (note: “page”, not “site”) based on its relative importance and trust value.

As I mentioned earlier, the necessity of a high PR in acquiring high search rankings has been a constant debate since its inception. I am here to make an attempt to bring closure to this ongoing debate.

PR is old (in terms of Internet age), yet many SEOers still rely on it as a sole metric in link building and research. Doing so will only end in undesirable results. Google’s PR is not updated consistently and thus can display an inaccurate picture of a page’s actual value.

PageRank is calculated based on the linking popularity of the backlinks to a particular page. In other words, it examines the backlinks of “www.xyz.com,” the backlinks of those backlinks, and so forth (link popularity). After evaluating the backlinks within that detail, Google assigns a numerical value called PR. PageRank is excellent for calculating a page’s raw link popularity. However, it doesn’t take into consideration the relevancy of the link, the age of a domain, anchor text used, or if it’s a spam link.

Now that you have a solid comprehension of PR, I’ll show you how to actually apply your newfound knowledge of PageRank during your link building research.

As previously discussed, PR is on a scale of 0-10, or in some cases N/A (Download Google’s Toolbar to display a page’s PR). With the exception of a PR0, any PR is good (PR0 indicates that your page at one point had PR, but has since been demoted to a PR0 – which is not a good thing). Having any PR above 0 indicates that the page has link popularity. And getting a link from that page means you get some of that link popularity too!

Once you get around the PR4 – PR5 range, that page then has the ability to pass strong link value. And if you can somehow manage to get a link from a PR8 page like the homepage of the Economist, you’ll be on the receiving end of some powerful link popularity. So keep that in mind during your link research when you come across a page with PR7 or higher. Make sure to explore all white hat options in getting a link from that page!

Nonetheless, it’s important to remember that the PageRank of a page should not be the only factor to consider when doing link research and SEO. The anchor text, relevancy, age of the domain, popularity, and how well the site is currently ranking are all factors to be considered along with the PR of a page.

In Part 5 of “What Makes a Good Link,” I’ll discuss a factor that is often overlooked during the link research process: traffic value. Until then, keep looking for that relevant, aged, page with a PR4!

What makes a good link? Join @bmpham325 as he discusses #PageRank bit.ly/IPLDev1 #linkbuilding ^MLS

— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 3, 2012

Bobby Pham, Search Team Link Development Specialist, has been with Intrapromote since 2008, and brings 5+ years of experience in link building and search optimization. At Intrapromote, Bobby has worked with large clients to increase their backlink profile through a fundamentally sound link building approach. His enthusiasm for Link Building in general is refreshing in an industry where many become jaded after a year or two. Bobby is always looking for new ways to build relevant links for his clients, leading to increased online visibility and brand exposure.

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