The Top Two Factors in the Google Algorithm The top factor in the Google algorithm is the HomePage PageRank of the website. The algorithm determines positioning on search engine results pages. N.B. It is the PageRank of the HomePage and not the page itself. When the HomePage of any website is competing for a keyword, it receives a boost to its PageRank. This is the 2nd factor in the Google algorithm. For anybody who is not acquainted with PageRank, you can easily see it in action for yourself by adding the Google toolbar and ensuring the PageRank indicator box is ticked. The PageRank indicator appears as a horizontal bar that fills towards the right with increasing PageRank. Hovering your cursor over the indicator reveals "PageRank is Google's view of the importance of this page and in the example below it is 8/10. Google's PageRank Indicator showing a PageRank of 8 for the HomePage of Wikipedia. If your webpage is not in the top 10 results on Google for a keyword, it will attract few new visitors. In the following Excel worksheet, I have entered the PageRanks of the top 10 web pages on Google.co.uk for the keywords "detox" and "detoxification". Three web pages have PageRanks of "0". All new web pages start with a PageRank of 0 and the most authorative pages, such as Google.com, have PageRank 10.PageRank is on an exponential scale. Each step up is greater. PageRank of the Top 10 web pages for two keywords - Google.co.uk - on Excel worksheet.   Looking at the PageRanks of the pages themselves has led many to conclude that Google's statement that PageRank is Google's view of the importance of this page makes no sense because some top pages have PageRanks of 0. For example, the web page in position 3 for detox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine) has a PageRank of 0.   Corresponding HomePage PageRank of the Top 10 web pages for the same two keywords - Google.co.uk - on Excel worksheet. However, when we look at the corresponding HomePage PageRanks, the results look very different. The HomePage PageRank for "Wikipedia", position 3 for "detox", is 8. Google's statement that PageRank is Google's view of the importance of this page now makes sense. Keyword SEPro Results for "detox" and "detoxification" - Google.co.uk Keyword SEOPro simplfies analysis of PageRank of the top 10 web pages for each kewyword and their corresponding HomePage PageRanks for your preferred Google Domain. So far I have just shown you how the top factor works. You will probably be wondering why some cells have light pink or green backgorunds. These relate to the second factor on Google - G-Factor-2 - Defining Niche Keywords & Keyword Difficulty - Development of a New Essential and Unique SEO Tool - EzineArticles.com Viniker DA July 2009.   Factor 2 in the Google Algorithm The top factor in the Google algorithm for web page positioning is the HomePage PageRank - G-Factor-1. The second factor in the Google algorim is the boost Google applies to the PageRank of HomePages that are themselves competing for a keyword. PageRank of the Top 10 web pages for two keywords and corresponding HomePage PageRanks - Google.co.uk - on Excel worksheet. In the above PageRank analysis, two pages have PageRanks of 0. They are themselves HomePages and so they appear as 0 in the HomePage PageRank columns. These 0s in the homePage PageRank columns are noticably out of keeping with the other results. It became apparent that Google is giving a boost in PageRank to HomePages that are competing for a keyword. When the first prototype Keyword SEO Pro module became available, I was able to set about trying to give numberical value to this boost. This is dicussed in detail on  Calculating G-Factor-2 To summarise, the boost is calcuated as add 4 to a maximum of 5. PageRank 0 becomes 4 PageRanks 1-4 become 5 PageRanks 5 and above are not altered. In Keyword SEOPro:- HomePages are indicated in the PageRanks for URLs columns in pink. HomePages that have their PageRanks boosted are indicated in green in the PageRanks for HomePages columns. The boost in PageRank received by a HomePage competing for a keyword - Keyword SEOPro dataset. In the above dataset the webpage in position 7 for "detox colon" has a PageRank of 0 and the same is true for the web page in position 4 for "detox colon cleanser".  Please compare this to the table "PageRank of the Top 10 web pages for two keywords and corresponding HomePage PageRanks - Google.co.uk - on Excel worksheet" above. Moving the cursor over a Keyword SEOPro result shows the URL and if it is clicked the web page is seen in your web browser.   Keyword SEO Pro In Action   Case Study 1 I want to show you how Keyword SEO Pro, and an understanding of the top two factors in the Google algorithm, can change SEO. On 30th December 2010, I received an email invitiation from WordTracker to view a video claiming:-   Wordtracker Invitiation to view video showing "how to find a profitable niche market" In the video there was some excellent SEO tips about on-page optimisation. Wordtracker found two keywords - detox and detoxification - and the video showed where to place these keywords in the coding including the title tag and the body text. The concept sounded simple:- Find some good keywords. Optimise a web page for those keywords. There will be a stampeed of traffic (visitors). Live a life of luxury.   Wordtracker and Keyword Difficulty Tools - Keyword SEOPro - Google top positioning Video 30 The wordtracker video left out a key element of SEO  - Keyword Difficulty.   Keyword Difficulty Keyword difficulty relates to the chance of a web page achieving top page positioning for a keyword on Google. It depends on:- The competitive strength of the web page. The competitive strength of the top 10 web pages on Google for the keyword. If your web page cannot achieve top page positioning on Google for a keyword, it will bring in few, if any, new visitiors.   The competitive strength of a keyword depends:- On on-page factors - use of the keyword and related words in the text and coding and in particualr the page title tag. Off-page factors - the number and quality of links from other web pages and also the anchor text - the text in the link.   Finding Niche Keywords - Keywords with acceptable number of searchers and in range for your web pages. My personal preference ikeyword suggestion tool is the Google Keywords tool. In the following example, I have input detox and detoxification and received a list of Google suggested keywords.   Keyword Difficulty Tools   Keyword SEOPro uniquely:- Analyses for the top factor in the Google algorithm - the HomePage PageRank. Factors in the second factor in the Google algorithm - the boost to HomePage PageRanks when the Home Page is competing for the keyword. A list of keywords can be analysed - currently 100. Colour coded indication of keyword difficulty with a key to show you  keywords in range for your web pages. Allows you to choose your preferred Google domain together with the other options available on Google:- For Google.com only English and the web would be available For Google.ch (Switzerland)  there are four language options and the choice of "the web" or  "Pages from Switzerland".   Keyword SEOPro dataset for "detox" related keywords KD Column indicates Keyword Difficulty Green Low competition keywords - in range for HomePage of new websites Blue Moderately difficult keywords Pink Highly competitve keywords - hundreds of thousands of inbound links required.   The Relationship between PageRank and Inbound Links The results are summarised in the following Table:- Returning to Wordtracker's recommendations on how to optimise a new web page for the two keywords "detox" and "detoxification", Keyword SEO Pro is showing us that the average PageRank required is 5.8 representing over 200,000 links.The keyword difficulty is such that there is no chance of the new web site achieving top page positioning! Keyword SEO Pro gives you the crucial information that will ensure that you do not spend your precious time and money chasing rainbows. Below is the key that indicates keywords that could be in range for top positioning on Google. Key To Interpretation of Keyword SEO Pro Output (Determine the PageRank of the HomePage of You Website and determine the keywords within range from a list of Keyword SEO Pro analysed dataset). HomePages that are optimised for a keyword receive a boost to their effective PageRank. The new HomePage for the "Detox" website will therefore function as a PageRank 4 whereas all other new web pages on the website will function with the true HomePage PageRank of 0. In the figure "Keyword SEOPro dataset for "detox" related keywords" above, some of these keywords have been anaylsed by Keyword SEO Pro. Three keywords - "weight loss detox", "detox foot spa" and "colonic detox" are in the green KD - Keyword Difficulty range. If the HomePage of the new "Detox" website could be appropriately optimized, it could successfully compete for top positioning. With a HompePage PageRank of 0 no internal page could compete for any keyword of note. The HomePage PageRank is crucial in determining keywords that are within range for a website. I have a medical website (www.2womenshealth.com) which has a HomePage PageRank of 4. Whereas a new website with a HomePage PageRank of 0 could only succesfully compete for the three keywords - "weight loss detox", "detox foot spa" and "colonic detox"  in the green KD with its HomePage, my own PR4 website could compete with an internal page. Furthermore, some keywords in the blue KD range would also be in range for my website. Keyword SEOPro dataset for "detox" related keywords - now with top web pages with HomePage PR of 4 or less  ringed  (Blue Keyword Difficulty Keywords). In the above table, successful web pages competing  for blue KD - Keyword Difficulty keywords with HomePage PR of 4 or less are ringed. This   demonstrates that  web pages with HomePage PR of 4 could be in range for top positioning with adequate optimization. Top SEO TIPs: The top priority keywords for a website should be optimised on the HomePage as it receives a boost. The keywords should be in the Page Title tag. This is the limiting factor as Google only includes 65 characters in this tag - approximately 10 words. The effective HomePage PageRank of a website with true HomePage PR of 4 is 5 when it is competing for a keyword. As a general rule, I recommend considering competing for a keyword if at least two pages in the top 10 have a HomePage PR equal or less than the HomePage PR of my website.   Currently Keyword SEOPro will accept a list of 100 keywords.   How can Keyword SEOPro improve my search engine optimisation? Web Professionals If you are a web professional, you will be able to use Keyword SEOPro to achieve better results for your clients than your competitors. Website Owners If you would  prefer us to use our program to maximise the potential of your website, we would be delighted to do this professionally for you. Video 14 explains this in a little more detail.     Keywords and SEO Articles by Author (David A Viniker MD FRCOG)   Defining Niche Keywords & Keyword Difficulty - Development of a NEW INDESPENSABLE and Unique SEO Tool  A Revolution in Keyword Research and Search Engine Optimization PageRank is the Best Indicator of Competition Strength For a Keyword in SEO - New Verifiable Theory (May 2010) The Relationship Between PageRank and Backlinks (June 2010)   I believe that Keyword SEOProTM and the theory behind it will demonstrate a completely new way to understand Google Search Engine Positioning. Boost your visitor numbers and website income by using Keyword SEOProTM now. I am convinced that Keyword SEOPro will remove most of the mist that surrounds SEO for you. Keyword SEO is hosted on our server. There is nothing to download. Access is immediate as soon as you subscribe. Be amongst the first to take advantage of Keyword SEOPro and be ahead of your competitors. Testimonial Hi David, We have found Keyword SEOPro easy to use and an excellent tool for determining the potential for achieving page one organic Google listings around strategic keywords. This program is amazing and it assists our clients to understand the concept of what is possible with their sites, once they review the results combined with our site audit summary. Thanks for developing an analytical program in such a way that most people can easily understand. http://www.2020impact.com.au 2020 Impact provides strategic web design and optimisation, online website marketing, email marketing, online advertising, search engine optimisation, SEO, search engine marketing, SEM, Google Adwords advertising, Google Analytics, xml sitemaps, graphics, graphic design, logos, brochures, business cards, strategic marketing plans and marketing coaching services for Brisbane businesses. Many Thanks Troy Miller I Marketing Director 13th September 2010 I am convinced that Keyword SEOProTM provides a ground-breaking development in search engine optimization. It will help to guide you to concentrate your work on  the achievable and help you to recognise keywords that are too competitive for you so that you will not lose time chasing rainbows. Top SEO Tips: Content is king, so you'll want to have excellent, well-written and unique content that will focus on your primary key phrase or keyword phrase. Create a network of top quality back-links utilizing your keyword phrase as the link. This the most imprtant tip. But use Keyword SEOPro to ensure that  you target keywords that fall in range for top postioning. Be sure you employ a unique, keyword focused Title tag for every web page of your site. Be sure links to your site and in your website use your keyword phrase. Target search phrases, never single keywords. Keyword SEO comes with this guarantee:- If you can prove that there is a factor that carries greater weight in the Google algorithm than the combination of G-Factor-1 and G-Factor-2, I will gladly give you a complete refund.   1.The Keyword SEOProgram presentation and the research that led to it are my own. I would like to thank Mr Alexander Goldstone - alexgoldstone.com who undertook all the programming for me. David A Viniker MD FRCOG

What is Google PageRank (PR)

Before the arrival of Google, positioning on search engine results pages was determined by on page factors such as keywords in the file name, page title, meta tags, and text in the body of the page.

Larry Page decided to factor in the reputation of a page by links from other related sites. For example, one health website has a link to another. The concept is that if it is making a recommendation then it must be good.

PageRank is a link analysis algorithm (formula) used by the Google search engine that assigns a numerical weighting to each page on the Internet, with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance. It was developed at Stanford University by Larry Page and later Sergey Brin as part of a research project for a new kind of search engine. Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, invented PageRank and it formed the basis for how Google became successful. Google didn’t become the best search engine in the world by chance; it became the top performing search engine because it provides the most relevant results.

PageRank:-

• performs an objective measurement of the importance of web pages by solving an equation of more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms.
• is the technology that gave Google its competitor-killing edge, a way to significantly improve the accuracy and validity of a search response to a user query.
• relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value.
• is one of many factors that determines where your web page appears in search result ranking, but if all other factors are equal, PageRank would determine search engine positioning.
• is also known as PR
• is obsessively monitored by millions of website owners and webmasters around the world.
• is largely based upon the number, quality (assessed by their PageRank and relevance) of backlinks a webpage has, is an important factor in how well a particular webpage ranks within the Google search results. A backlink is a hyperlink from one website to another.
• A PageRank of one or two should be expected for the homepage of a small and relatively new online shop website that has been live for around half a year.
• is measured on a scale of one to ten and assigned to individual pages within a website, not the entire website.
• may be unrelated to the relevance of the search terms queried. It is simply one single (admittedly important) part of the entire Google relevance ranking algorithm.

Link popularity often avoids good rankings for pages which are only created to deceive search engines and which don't have any significance within the web. Numerous webmasters create thousands of inbound links for doorway pages from just as insignificant other web pages. It is a "blackhat" technique that no longer functions. These irrelevant pages will have zero ranking and therefore zero voting rights.

PageRank can be compared to "Divisions" in football but in a "Cup" competition.

• Web page positioning on a search engine results page can be compared to cup competitions with nobody excluded.
• The top teams tend to compete in the more lucrative competitions - short-tail keyword.
• High PageRank can be compared to being allocated to one of the top divisions.
• The top international sides such as Brazil, Italy, Germany and England would be in the top division (PageRank "10"). Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona would be in the next division (PageRank "9"and the local village team would be in the lowest division (PageRank "0").
• From an SEO point of view, when you consider competing for top positioning for a chosen keyword, you have to look at the competition. Do a search for the keyword on Google and see who is in the top positions. If the big teams are your competition (PageRank 4-6 or more) then you have no chance.

How Important Is Page-Rank?

Pagerank is a fundamental guide to Google on the quality or authority of a webpage.

The Google algorithm almost certainly takes into account a combination of the PageRank of the page.

Google PageRank can be related to the authority of a website. Google establishes the "authority" of a website by the number of links to that site from other related websites. The value of these links is enhanced if they come from other authority sites (high PageRank)

From an SEO point of view, PageRank provides an indication of whether it is even feasible to try to achieve high position on Google.

Most of the short-tail keywords have pages optimised for them by the big players such as Wikipedia for general terms such as "solicitors", "accountants" and many, many more.

For more specialist keywords and keyword phrases, particularly if there is a commercial interest, the relevant big companies will be ahead of you.

How does Google know who the major players are? It knows by their PageRank.

Consider "flights London to New York" - all the major airlines and travel companies will be your competition. They will have high PageRank and however successful you may be at optimizing your page for this keyword phrase you will not beat the big guys.

• PageRank is considered by many experts, to be one of the most important factor in establishing the relevance of your web page for each particular search phrase typed into the Google search box.
• From 2003, latent semantic indexing (LSI) has possibly reduced the importance of pageank a little. LSI evaluates the content of a page quality of information suitable for people rather than search engines.

• It is unusual for low PageRank sites to rank higher than high PageRank sites in SERPS.

How can I improve the PageRank of my web pages?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the application of various strategies to increase the likelihood that your Web site will achieve top placement in the search results when someone searches on a keyword or phrase related to your product or service.

Any program available for SEO and if correctly utilised these should improve your PageRank. You need to undertake keyword research to find the best keywords. These should be included in your web pages and you should seek associated relevant words and phrases.

I recommend the following software:

Internet Business Promotor

Keyword Analyzer

Instant Article Wizard

Keyword Results Analyzer

Application of all the search engine optimisation techniques will improve PageRank.

What is the importance of backlinks?

A popular webpage will have many links pointing to it from external related web sites.

How often are Google PageRanks changed?

Google representative Matt Cutts has publicly indicated that the Toolbar PageRank values are republished about once every three months, indicating that the Toolbar PageRank values are historical rather than real-time values. 
PageRank is displayed as a green bar to the left of a webpage listing in the Google Directory, and also in the Google toolbar.
Pagerank is a little less important today as a factor in search engine positionings than it was prior to 2006 and it is not unusual for high PageRank sites to rank lower than low PageRank sites in SERPS.
Google recalculates PageRank scores each time it crawls the Web and rebuilds its index.

How can I find the PageRank of web pages?

You can see the PageRank of a site you are visiting by installing the google toolbar -

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an 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" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

An observation that I have made is that a inner page on a website can rarely achieve a PageRank greater than the index (home) page of that website. For example, if a the index page of a website is "3" then the best PageRank for any other page on that website is "2".

Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Important pages mean nothing if they don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank 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 methods make human tampering with results extremely difficult. Though Google runs relevant ads above and next to your 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 Web sites with information relevant to your search.

It should be emphasised that Google PageRank is a guide to the number of hyperlinks to a Web site and plays only a small part in the algorithm for ranking position for a given keyword. It is possible for top ranked pages for a keyword to have low Google PageRank and for high Google Ranked pages to be in low position for a given search.

Google PageRank - It is calculated by an exponential calculation?

PageRank is represented numerically from a low of PR0 to a rarely achieved high of PR10. It is logarithmic in its calculation. It takes one step to move from a PR0 to a PR1, it takes a few more steps to PR2, it takes even more steps to PR3, and many more steps again to PR5, and so on. Each level is progressively harder to reach.

• PageRank is only one of numerous methods Google uses to determine a page’s relevance or importance.

• Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.

• PageRank is based on incoming links, but not just on the number of them - relevance and quality are important (in terms of the PageRank of sites, which link to a given site).

• Bad incoming links don’t have impact on Page Rank.

• Content is not taken into account when PageRank is calculated.

• PageRank does not rank web sites as a whole, but is determined for each page individually.

• Each inbound link is important to the overall total. Except banned sites, which do not count.

• PageRank values don’t range from 0 to 10. PageRank is a floating-point number.

• Each Page Rank level is progressively harder to reach. PageRank is believed to be calculated on a logarithmic scale.

Many people believe that the values between PR1 and PR10 (the maximum) are set on a logarithmic scale, and there is very good reason for believing it. Nobody outside Google knows one way or the other, but the chances are high that the scale is logarithmic, or similar. If this is the case, it means that it takes a lot more additional PageRank for a page to move up to the next PageRank level that it did to move up from the previous PageRank level.

How Important is Google PageRank for search engine results page positioning?

Table showing Google PageRank for position 1 and 30 for various keyword searches:

Note that by optimizing for a keyword by locality, there is less opposition and the top ranked pages have lower PageRank making it easier to achieve high rankings. The number of searches is reduced. However if you are only interested in targeting the local community, this is all to your advantage.

Firstwebsitedesign.com aims to help you build a search engine friendly website with search engine optimized pages  that will receive large volumes of targeted traffic.

For information on website design, please visit our specialist site - firstwebsitedesign .com

David Viniker, the author and webmaster of SEO4us.com, believes that quality of content is a prerequisite to success. He is a clinician (consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist - ObGyn at Whipps Cross University Hospital, London - borders of London and Essex). He has research and teaching interests. His website www.2womenshealth.com receives 1.5 million visitors annually and is the most popular personal women's health website on the Internet. He has applied his clinical skills to researching SEO techniques.

We are based in Loughton, Essex and close to North and East London and Hertfordshire.