Whether you run a tech business, provide legal support to clients, or own an e-commerce store, you should have a razor-sharp focus on ranking high on Google SERPs. Impressive rankings mean high traffic, great conversions, and a secure bottom line.
High Google SERP rankings won’t just fall into your lap out of nowhere; you have to work hard to achieve them. This is where Google PageRank (PR) enters the picture. Developed in 1997 by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PageRank is a power-packed algorithm used to rank webpages on SERPs. It improves the quality of search results by evaluating the quality and quantity of backlinks a website receives.
Ten years ago, every digital marketing expert had their eye on PageRank; it was the ultimate SEO metric. Fast forward to 2023, and the buzz around PageRank has died down.
Why? The Toolbar PageRank isn’t supported and available anymore. However, PageRank isn’t obsolete. The toolbar metric may not be relevant anymore, but the PageRank algorithm still plays a big role in organising Google webpages.
In this blog, we’ll offer a closer look at Google PageRank and help you take action accordingly. Let’s begin!
What Exactly Is PageRank?
There are many ways to determine where a website should rank on Google SERPs. Google uses a wide range of algorithms to check the three-step crawling, indexing, and ranking duties off the list.
The E-E-A-T update helps Google determine whether a webpage provides adequate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Other metrics like the Core Web Vitals give Google a good—in fact, great—understanding of how to rank webpages.
PageRank does pretty much the same thing. The original PageRank patient expired in 2018. However, it was replaced with a new one and still continues to affect SERP rankings. Let’s understand why it plays such a pivotal role.
Backlinks are critical. When a high-DA (domain authority) website like Forbes provides a backlink to a small business, it goes without saying that said business is doing something right. Perhaps their content is top-notch. Or maybe their products/services are phenomenal. Whatever the reason may be, high-DA websites only provide backlinks to other businesses when they find them credible, trustworthy, reliable, reputable, and authoritative.
Google cleverly uses these votes of confidence to rank webpages. PageRank takes the quality (domain authority) and quantity of backlinks into account to determine SERP rankings. The underlying assumption is that credible websites generate more high-quality backlinks. As a result, they deserve loftier rankings.
The PageRank algorithm does all the heavy lifting for Google. As of 2023, you cannot check your website’s PageRank. However, the URL Rating (UR) tool is a good replacement for PageRank. It calculates the strength of a webpage’s link profile. The score ranges from 0 to 100; the higher the number, the stronger the link profile. PageRank uses the following mathematical formula:
PR(A) = (1‑d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
The URL Rating tool uses a similar calculation to determine the overall score. The link juice a page can transfer to another website depends on its own PageRank.
Recommended Read: 3 Ranking Factors That Will Be a Turning Point for Your Business in 2023
How Can I Improve My Website’s PageRank?
Now that you have a good understanding of how Google PageRank works, it’s time to start using actionable strategies to improve your website’s PageRank. It’s important to note that backlink quality always takes precedence over backlink quantity. Yes, both are important. However, 2–3 high-quality backlinks will benefit you more than 10–15 low-quality backlinks.
Instead of generating as many backlinks as possible, focus on quality. Seek backlinks from high-DA websites. When you increase the quality of your own content, established businesses will take notice. They’re more likely to offer you a backlink and improve your rankings.
Your content should demonstrate E-E-A-T, as we discussed earlier. Hand over the content writing reins to industry experts who are capable of providing value to your audience. When you raise the content bar, you’ll catch the eye of the biggest names in your industry.
We also recommend writing high-quality guest posts for high-DA websites. Instead of churning out one guest post after the other, take your time. Your content should be written masterfully.
For starters, it should cover industry topics in depth, not superficially. There are hundreds and thousands of blogs for every topic. No matter how unique your topic may be, something similar has already been written. Instead of rehashing old ideas, bring something new to the table. Provide rich, fresh insights. This is an excellent way to stand out from the crowd and give your content the buzz it deserves.
Recommended Read: How to Generate More High-DA Backlinks in 2023
The Importance of a Robust Backlink Analysis
Before you start building high-quality backlinks, make sure you perform a backlink analysis to determine where you stand. This is a comprehensive review of your website’s backlinks.
A well-planned, thorough, and meticulous analysis will help you understand your site’s performance and detect problems affecting your SERP rankings. It’ll also give you a better understanding of how your website stacks up against your top competitors.
It’s possible that you’ve generated backlinks in the past that have turned into broken links over time. Perhaps you took your content down. Or maybe a high-DA platform provided an unlinked mention, not a backlink. Maybe the URL was incorrectly entered.
There’s a lot that can go wrong. A backlink analysis will help you detect faulty links and replace them. You’ll find new opportunities for link building, understand why your competitors are doing so well and how you can replicate their backlinks, and turn broken links/unlinked mentions into healthy backlinks.
Fill Up Your Link Building Tank!
If you’ve been struggling to improve your website’s Google SERP rankings, it’s time for an actionable link building plan that does the trick. As a trusted, experienced, and reputable SEO company based in Canberra and Sydney, we help businesses get back on track and stay on track.
Explore our SEO services to get started. We rework your website’s on-page, off-page, and technical aspects to elevate your SERP rankings, improve your traffic reports, and stabilise your sales. At TocToc, we also specialise in content marketing, social media marketing, web design and development, app development, and email marketing.
Let’s work together and steer your business in the right direction. We promise professionalism, superior results, and consistency at every step of the way.
