Google PageRank: Don't Split It Up

Don't split up your Google Page Rank.



Okay, you say.



What's Google PageRank? And what is splitting it up?



PageRank is Google's system for measuring the relative importance of a web page.



Note carefully that PageRank is for each individual web page, not the entire web site as a whole. Every page in the Google data base has its own PageRank. In other words, sites don’t have "rank." Rather, every separate page on your web site has its own PageRank.



Incoming links for web pages are, in the opinion of Google, votes in favor of that page. On the other hand, Google considers some votes to be more important than others. The simple number of incoming links to a page is calculated by Google, but the relative importance of the "voting page" is given even more weight in the mathematical formula.



The pages that are considered to be more important votes, in turn increase the importance of the page they link. More important pages pass along more voting power. This is measured numerically as PageRank.



The PageRank numbers range from 0 to 10. These numbers are usually expressed as PR0 (for PageRank 0) to PR10 (for PageRank 10).



The higher the number, the more more important Google considers a web page.



Be sure to always keep in mind that PageRank is not the same thing as your site’s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs). They are entirely separate items. PR is the relative importance of a page on the web, expressed as a number. The SERPs are where your site appears on a search for your keywords.



To read you PageRank, you need to download the Google Toolbar found at http://toolbar.google.com/. It is easily installed and provides a readout guage of every PageRank, of every web page you visit in your surfing.



You can also check the incoming links, for every internet web page, as recognized by Google. Note that Google only lists pages with a PageRank of 4 (PR4) or higher in its readout.



As you check your own blog's PageRank, you will see a number as you mouse over the gauge.



Note that the PageRank is for the page's URL.



When you make link exchanges with other blogs or static websites, be sure they use a consistent URL.



For example:



http://yourblog.com



is NOT the same URL as:



http://www.yourblog.com



in the Google calculation of PageRank.



When you check the backlinks of each version of your blog's URL, you will get a different total. You will also see some different URLs. Many of which are using the alternate form of your blog's internet address.



For this business blog, for example, I get entirely different totals and readouts for both URLs.



http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com



http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com



They are splitting the Google PageRank.



I always prefer the use of this URL, as the primary one:



http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com



Many of you will have a personal preference as well.



Some of you like the www included in your URL. Many of you prefer to list your blog without it.



The point is to remain consistent.



That way, your blog's PageRank will not be split between two separate URLs.



Your Google PageRank will rise much faster as a result.