Getting a high ranking on Google, a good page rank number, is a critical part of generating free search traffic.

What is a page rank?

A page rank is Google’s way of expressing the value and popularity of your page. Each page has a page rank. It’s not a site rank per se, although your site’s rank is generally considered the page rank of the top page.

The basic definition of page rank assumes that zero is low and 10 is the highest possible rank. 5 is a decent page rank for any site. 7 and 8 are extremely popular sites. Google is one of the few in 10.

Search traffic is the result of someone entering search words into Google and Google providing them with a list of URLs that includes yours. And ideally, you want your site’s URL to appear on one of the first pages of Google results.

How do you know what your grade is?

It’s easy to measure the page rank of your own site or any other site, if you install the free Google Toolbar. Go to Google and click on “more”. One of the options is the Google Toolbar. Then just follow the installation instructions.

When you have your Google toolbar, you’ll see a little white rectangle on that toolbar that’s a bar chart. Shows the page rank of the site you are viewing. If everything is white, then that site has a rank of zero. If it is grey, then it is not classified. If you have a page rank greater than zero, you’ll see a red bar that stretches across the rectangle in proportion to the page rank.

What does it mean to have a page rank?

A good page rank means that other popular websites link to you and vote for your importance. (By linking, they automatically vote for their importance.) And the value of your vote is determined by how well they they are classified. So you want a lot of popular sites to link to you.

Page Rank is a complex calculation made by Google, based on the links that go to your site and the sites you link to from your site.

Some SEO experts say that when you link to other sites from your site, it is important to only link to high ranking sites, i.e. page rank of 5 or higher. Internet gurus believe that when you link to low page rank sites, Google thinks you are linking to a low value site.

How important is it to have a good page rank?

It is extremely important if you want search traffic. There is a whole industry called search engine optimization, or SEO, that is entirely concerned with optimizing traffic to your site. Page Rank is an important part of that. If you have the budget, it would be good to do your research and hire an SEO consultant. If you don’t have the budget, you can do it yourself.

If you’re going to do it yourself, here are the steps:

1. Optimize your own site. That includes having a sitemap, having metadata correctly on each page (metadata includes keywords and description), and optimizing the use of keywords in page content. It also includes a regular schedule for new content on the site. For more information on these features, see Website-Do it yourself.

2. Email popular sites and ask them to link to you. You can offer something in return, for example a free advertisement or a link exchange. Use a link exchange if your site is supported by your site, but not by a competitor.

3. Getting your site into every search engine on the planet, even though possibly 4 of them cover the most search traffic. These niche search engines that no one has ever heard of often have very good page rank. If they link to you, that’s a win for your site.

there is more in Website-Do it yourself. But these steps will get you up and running and you’ll start driving more traffic—and better page ranking—to your site.