Not many weeks back, WebProNews ran a story concerning Google removing PageRank from Webmaster Tools. Susan Moskwa, a Webmaster Trends Analyst at the leading search engine said, “We’ve been telling people for a long time they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true,” she expounded. “We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look for it.” As it stands now, PageRank is removed from Google WebMaster Tools  but it still shows up in the Google Toolbar.

I don’t know why Google believes that we shouldn’t put too much weight on the numbers shown in PageRank yet it is apparent to every one that the majority of us lean on these statistics when examining the  outcomes of our search engine optimization and marketing strategies and since most of us agree that a high PR results in further popularity for a site then, Page Rank should be taken note of when evaluating the results of our efforts.

Titus Hoskins, a Search Engine Marketer and author of ‘Does Google Page Rank Count Anymore?’ disclosed in his article that, “For years, Google has been downplaying the importance of Page Rank and states that it’s only one of about 200 ranking factors which determine how Google ranks its index for keywords”, pointed out the results of  gaining high PR grade on  online  businesses, and I  feel that  a majority of  what he wrote  made a lot of sense.

Titus Hoskins talked about the effect of a better page rank stating that,  “Obtaining a high PR7 or PR8 simply means more business and revenues. Placed against a PR1 site, a PR8 will win more respect in the eyes of potential clients and can produce enormous profits for the site owner.”

So where does this potential client respect come from? It is borne out of their respect of Google indeed. Titus Hoskins discussed the  credibility and brand identification Google has by saying, “Google has established an unmatched credibility and brand recognition in the eyes of potential customers visiting your site. Web users trust Google for guidance and direction”, and as an web marketer, Hoskins is astonished at how Google affects the online community. Concerning this he stated, “I am completely amazed each day at the marketing power Google now commands with web surfers and with the general population.” Hoskins continued, “Google is the king of online search and no other search engine even comes close to Google.”

I translate that to signify that if Google, gives a web-based business a high PR, then  count on Google’s influence to have a positive effect on  the number of people purchase from that site. So how can we stop these  businesses from assigning such a big to Google PageRank figures?

“Regardless of what Google wants to happen,” added Hoskins, “PageRank is still extremely important to anyone marketing on the web, especially if you’re selling SEO services or operating a web business.” He sums up how people see PageRank as something that,  “still wields tremendous influence and power” and  by and large,  this comprehension  has  remained true up until  recently. “By default, PageRank is Google’s opinion of your site,” Hoskins stressed. “Web users can count (at least to 10) and if Google believes people are still not counting when it comes to PageRank, then they are fully mistaken.”

 

Despite what Google has said it is my opinion that there is still a value to Google’s PageRank feature. I am in agreement with the authors quoted above, and plan to continue to use Google’s PageRank in my evaluation of my own search engine optimization efforts as well as other people’s.

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