In SEO, having inbound and outbound links on your site is one of the key methods to gaining viewership. But with thousands upon thousands of links on the web, how are you supposed to know which ones are the most important? Google uses a link ranking algorithm called PageRank to organize and determine which links are most important on different websites.
The Story
When Google was first founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin back in 1998, they needed a way to classify websites online. That’s when Page developed PageRank and overtook the competition soon after. The method was simple: If a website had a large number of backlinks, then it must be an authority. No other search engine had focused so much on links before, but Page recognized that links were a growing necessity for SERPs and high-quality websites. At the time, no other search engine had such an advanced method of organizing search content and this let Google quickly dominate the market and become the tech giant that it is today. Like all tech developments, the PageRank system went through multiple changes discouraging Black Hat SEO techniques from being used, and so PageRank began analyzing websites on a subjective basis rather than a numerical one. PageRank is still used today and it’s one of the most effective and efficient search engine approaches in the world.
Using PageRank to Your Advantage
PageRank focuses on links and anchor text, so function and placement are integral on your website. Using links to define the relationship between pages on your site helps the search engine know which pages are authoritative so users can find them. The more links that other sites have linking to your site lets the algorithm know that your content is being noticed and is viewed as important.
One Response
This is a very informative post! It is interesting to learn about the history of SEO, how it is evolved, and how we can apply this knowledge to our content.