The Google Page Rank Algorithm

November 18, 2003

It's no secret anymore that Google ranks as the number one defacto-standard in the field of major search engines. In 2003, Google accounts for more than 85% of all Internet searches on a daily basis. Google now has many versions running in many different countries, including China, Japan, the U.K., Hong-Kong and many others. Rank for Sales knows many small and not so small businesses and companies whose livelihood almost basically depends on Google bringing them new customers, day after day.

When the livelihood of an entire company depends on just one search engine, this tells you a lot about the success of Google. It also underlines the importance of any web site ranking high in Google. In order to develop an independant and objective ranking system that has integrity, is both fair to everyone and is efficient for all end users searching on a specific keyword or keyphrase, Google has developed the Page Rank (PR) Algorithm.

The Google Page Rank value relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the Internet by using its vast global link structure as a prime indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives. It also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves important or are favorably viewed as "established firms" in the Web community weigh more heavily and help to make other pages look established too.

Established, high-quality sites receive a higher Page Rank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines Page Rank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.

Google's complex, automated algorithm makes human tampering with their results extremely difficult. And altough Google does run relevant ads above and next to their results, Google does not sell placement within the results themselves (i.e., no one can buy a higher PageRank). A Google search is an easy, honest and objective way to find high-quality websites with information relevant to users searching specific products, services or information on a particular subject.

For a very good interview with Chris Ridings, one of the best experts in the Google Page Rank algorithm, please click here.

Article written by Serge Thibodeau,
President & CEO,
Rank for $ales
Copyright (c) Serge Thibodeau 2003

Unless otherwise specified, all content and material on this site is copyrighted by Serge Thibodeau of rankforsales.com and may not be reproduced by any means without express written permission. Using my content without permission is a theft of my work. Please contact sthibodeau@rankforsales.com to discuss certain reprint options that would be acceptable.

You can read some of Serge Thibodeau's exclusive comments that are not posted on this website. Visit his personal blog by clicking here. For hardware, software or IT-related technology questions, it is recommended you visit www.techblog.org

We strongly suggest you bookmark our web site by clicking here.

Get your business or company listed in the Global Business Listing directory and increase your business. It takes less then 24 hours to get a premium listing in the most powerful business search engine there is. Click here to find out all about it.

Rank for $ales strongly recommends the use of WordTracker to effectively identify all your right industry keywords. Accurate identification of the right keywords and key phrases used in your industry is the first basic step in any serious search engine optimization program. The keywords you think are the best may be totally different than the ones recommended by WordTracker. Click here to start your keyword and key phrase research.

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.