Google May Start Calling PageRank Something Else

Google: It May Be Time for a New Term

Last year, Google quietly got rid of PageRank in Webmaster Tools. Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa had said, "We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it."


A lot of people wondered why Google would keep PageRank in the Google Toolbar, where it still sits to this day. Search enthusiast Barry Schwartz of Rusty Brick speculated that Google would not want to remove it because PageRank is "too much of their branding." After some words from Google's Director of Research, Peter Norvig today, however, I'm not so sure that's the case.

Note: Watch Norvig's keynote address here (or view our liveblog of the event), and our exclusive interviw with him here:

Norvig said at SMX today that PageRank is still one thing that is "overhyped," and that Google never felt that it was such a big factor. They have always looked at all available data, combining every available signal and tiring to figure out the best way to combine them.

Norvig also said that it may be time for some re-branding with regard to PageRank. There may be a different term in the pipeline. "There's a technical formula that's PageRank, which is the way of judging the links between pages, and that's just one component of how we rank the pages and you get your final search results. There's all these other things that come in, but they don't have a catchy name. So some people apply PageRank to mean all the components that give you the final ranking, and that's where we get confused. So probably we need some other term for that...We'll get some marketing guys on it."

I don't know how seriously the company is considering this, as Norvig seems to simply be speaking off the cuff, but given the company's repeated emphasis on a lack of emphasis on PageRank, it would not be surprising to see them change the name. However, the problem with that could be, that these same PR-obsessed webmasters would just become obsessed with the re-branded term.

Link Popularity – Important for Search Engines

Link popularity is one of the most influential factors that determine how well your website will perform in the search engine rankings. In the past, ranking of a web page was determined by the number of keywords with on-page elements like Meta tags, title tags etc. but web developers soon learned the trick to cheat on the search engines. Later on, search engines laid much emphasis on the number of links a site had. This too worked for some time and website developers found means to abuse the search engine again and earn links by the use of link farming. But then search engines began to assign a quality factor to each of the links pointing to the website. Building link popularity became a science in itself and today it is one of the most complicated and intricate activity for the search engine optimizer.

Link popularity is an off page criteria, exploited by the search engines to measure the quantity and quality of the websites that link to your site at any given time. It adds the aspect of impartiality to the rankings and increases the visibility of the website. Inbound links play an important role for getting a high keyword ranking and it is link popularity that matters the most. A good link is always better than hundred bad links.

Tips to Boost your Link Popularity Campaign

Devote Time To Gain Links:

It is not possible to grow link popularity overnight. Spend some quality time to work on the links and make it a part of your routine. Notice the results and then work accordingly.

Quality Not Quantity:

Search engines follow certain sophisticated rules when judging links and the popularity of the site is also vital. Avoid link farming and try to get links from similar sites as links from relevant sites are strong endorsements and will increase your link popularity.

Get Listed To Many Directories

This is important if your site is a new one and without inbound links, search engines will not rank your website. To get quality links get listed to as many directories as you can.

Set Your Goals

Link building is a time consuming and taxing job. Do not look for instant results. Have patience and keep a track of your links. One quality link a month shows that you are doing well. Give your exact HTML link code: specify what you want in the link and suggest in which page you want that. This will make your job easier and reduce the burden in setting up the link.
Choose a professional SEO company for your link popularity campaign

Link building is a time consuming job and needs proper planning. Approaching SEO Services India is a good way of being successful without hurting your reputation.


Summary:

A website’s link popularity is not just concerned with the number of incoming links but also with the quality and type of website that links to the site. Google’s latest algorithm updates have made the distinction very clear between quality links and quantity links. So, it can be said that, it is Google’s method to minimize the abuse of using unethical means to rank websites and improve the search engine page results.