Google PageRank: does it still matter and how

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The Web as we know it today didn't look the same in its early days. Authority of web pages based on links pointing to them is now seen as the norm. But it was groundbreaking in 1998, when Google introduced the PageRank algorithm to make outbound link assessment a valid ranking factor. While PageRank has definitely played a crucial role in the evolution of SEO and its techniques, it's unclear if it still matters after 2018 when the original patent expired. In this article, we'll look at the history of PageRank, explain how it's calculated, and find out if it's still applied to rankings.What is PageRankPageRank is an algorithm for ranking web pages based on the number and quality of links pointing to them. It was developed by pioneering Google engineers Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 and marked the first successful attempt by a search engine to gauge the authority level of a given web page. Basically, this meant that a page would rank higher with more backlinks.As the engineers explain in the original article, PageRank was meant to “bring order to the web” by distributing weight across pages.

They built the algorithm on the idea of ​​a random Internet user visiting a page and accessing other pages by clicking on links. The probability of a random user reaching a certain page is the PageRank of that page. The score is calculated based on a logarithmic scale between 0 and 10, where 10 represents the most reliable 特殊数据库 web source available.The principle of PageRankPageRank is an objective measure that corresponds to the subjective intentions of Internet users: the more sources pointing to a page, the more valuable the information on this page and the more likely users are to visit it. But referral sources are not equal - the number of pages linking to them is also measured: the more backlinks a referring page has, the more PageRank power it transmits to a page it refers to. Let's explore it in more detail.

For example, Page A has a PageRank score of 5 and it links to Pages B and C. Regardless of any other links Pages B and C might have, Pages B and C receive 85% of Page A's score ( 4.25) combined (the score multiplied by the damping factor). If page B cites page D, D's PageRank score will include 85% of B's ​​score, and so on.PageRank calculation exampleLet's look at a simple example of PageRank distribution made with a PageRank simulator: PageRank distribution examplePage 3 here has the highest PageRank score because it is linked to the most number. And because Page 3 has the highest score, the PageRank it passes to Pages 4 and 5 is also higher. Naturally, this calculation is performed independent of a real scenario, assuming that only these 5 pages exist on the web, but it shows, in a simplified way, how the PageRank value is distributed across web pages.