If the 80’s was the Lousiannia purchase of the internet, then the 90s was the Wild West and PageRank was the smoking gun in the hands of outlaws and sherrifs . But has modern technology made the 6-shooter irrelevant to the SEO gunslinger?
History:
PageRank was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as part of their college project, Google. It is the algorithm that measures a webpage’s importance, mostly using links and backlinks. This “importance” helps Google decide if the website has valuable content, are well trusted and authoritative, and is relevant to search queries. PageRank places websites on a 0-10 logarithmic scale, the higher the number the better quality the page and the more likely it is to appear on the Search Results page. Search Engine Optimizers were always searching for ways to increase their rank and make sure they stayed on top. This caused rampant link manipulation, a black hat SEO tactic. In searching for the ever-loftier logarithmic goal they lost sight of the Google updates and ignored how the weight of Page Rank was changing. Eventually Google saw the hubris of SEO’s and in 2016 removed the ability to check the metric publicly. Page rank is still used by Google internally but SEO’s are now free to focus on other more important metrics than just letting it dominate their lives.
Obscurity:
The only reason it is know that PageRank is still used internally is from some leaked internal Google API documents. these documents showed what versions of PageRank are still in use but not their exact function or sway on the SERP. Some factors that still influence PageRank today are anchor text, likelihood of being clicked, internal links, and nofollow links. So the best way to improve PageRank is mostly unchanged, gain high-quality backlinks and improve internal links. However, PageRank is not the dominant factor in SERP rankings so SEOs need to optimize other areas of their website like the quality of their content and site speed. However, there are many tools out there to help estimate the “importance” of a website like Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMRush but they are just best guesses and not actual ranking info.
Though the revolver is no longer the weapon of choice for sheriffs and deputys, the classy SEOs will still recognize the value of PageRank and aim their SEO strategy accordingly.
Sources:
VERSIONS. (2023, March 25). Is pagerank still relevant for seo? VERSIONS®. https://versions.com/digital/is-pagerank-still-relevant-for-seo/
Google pagerank in 2025: What google search leak reveals. (n.d.). Semrush Blog. Retrieved May 6, 2025, from https://www.semrush.com/blog/pagerank/
2 Responses
Great breakdown of the evolution of PageRank and its role in SEO! It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come from relying on it as the main ranking factor to focusing on a broader range of metrics. While PageRank isn’t the main focus anymore, it’s clear that understanding its history and the importance of backlinks still has value for modern SEOs.
This blog cleverly ties SEO history to a Wild West narrative, showing how PageRank once ruled the frontier of search strategy. While the public obsession with PageRank has faded, it’s clear it still plays a role—quietly influencing rankings behind the scenes. The message is spot on: modern SEOs need more than just one “gun.” It’s now about a full toolkit—content quality, technical optimization, and user experience. But for those who know their history, PageRank still deserves a nod.