What Is PageRank?
PageRank is a metric used by Google to assign a value of importance to a web page that is based on the quantity and quality of other web pages linking to it.
The PageRank metric is a very important ranking factor for websites because it measures the popularity of the web page based Google’s proprietary algorithm system.
PageRank scores used to openly available to website owners through Google’s PageRank toolbar; however, that toolbar has since been discontinued due to link spamming and other black hat SEO practices used to manipulate a website’s reported metric.
PageRank is calculated with the following formula:
PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))
Although it may seem complex, the formula is fairly simple because it evaluates the quality of each outbound and inbound link on a page and assigns points to them to calculate the PageRank.
The metric affects the site’s SEO performance which is why websites with broken and spammy links or a weak backlink structure are unlikely to appear at the top of the search results.
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Go to the SEO Glossary to find more terms and definitions that relate to the field of search engine optimization.
The Editorial Staff at SEO Chatter is a team of search engine optimization and digital marketing experts led by Stephen Hockman with more than 15 years of experience in search engine marketing. We publish guides on the fundamentals of SEO for beginner marketers.
