Gotta Love The Google PageRank System…

I’m not sure why I even look at Google PageRank anymore… I know it’s full of crap most of the time and really means nothing when it comes to search rankings.

But, I can’t help but see that big ol’ green bar in my Google Toolbar (I know, I shouldn’t have that toolbar… I’ll probably be taking it down shortly … everytime I go to a website.

So, this morning my real estate blog had a new post on it (that drove a ton of traffic to a webinar I put on last night) and I hopped on over there to check it out again.  Anyhow, I was almost blinded by the Google PageRank bar stretching across my toolbar.

My normal pagerank for that real estate investing website is 3 (for the past month or so anyway)… and I haven’t been able to break it past that (I haven’t really put in much of an effort though either).  Well… what do I see when I head over there today?

A PageRank 6!

I refreshed the page several times and cleared my cache just to see if it would change… it didn’t… it’s still a 6 (for the time being anyway).

So, right now I’m strutting around with a PageRank of 6 (it’ll probably be back down tomorrow).

This Sounds Cool… But It’s Frustrating As Heck…

While it sounds all cool and all to have a pagerank of 6 (even if it is temporary)… it’s really not.  Pagerank means nothing at all… at least I haven’t found a huge use for it other than when I sell advertising some people still ask “what is the PR of the site?”.

Pagerank is kind of like a fancy bra on a car.

Two cars might have the same fancy little sporty looking bra… like this Ferarri…

Or… this Kia…

The fact they both have bras that look similar doesn’t make a difference at all how the car performs.

The Ferarri is always going to kill the Kia.

PageRank Doesn’t Equal Performance…

If you’re deep into the SEO and internet marketing world you SHOULD realize that PageRank has little (or nothing) to do with actual performance in the search engines.  Actually, I’m not really sure what it does to tell you the truth.

Two pagerank 3’s can perform very differently in search results.

For instance, I have a ton of pages (internal pages within sites) that are pagerank 0 that outrank pages for targeted keyword phrase with pageranks of 3 and above.

Why?

Google sees my pages as more relevant to the search term.

Don’t Focus On PageRank… Focus On…

Don’t focus on PageRank.  While it’s cool to see your website out “PageRanking” your competitors… it doesn’t mean a thing because Google doesn’t pay you money based on how big your green bar is.

You’re paid when people find you in the search results… and search results are governed by how relevant Google sees your site to the specific search term.  Thats is.

So, shoot for continued improvement on relevancy of your website and pages within the website to the specific search terms you are going after.

If you’re going after the Green Remote Control Car market… make a blog post or entire page (or entire website would be even better) dedicated to ONLY Green Remote Control Cars.

Be more relevant than the next guy.

If you run a content based website (which is what I’m focusing more and more on w/ my sites)… and your topic is more broad than “green remote control cars” (or whatever your topic is)… make specific sections or specific articles optimized for your moneymaking terms.

I have a real estate site that gives out free information on real estate investing.  But, I also have a ton of very targeted pages and articles on VERY SPECIFIC products and markets. Then, I optimize each of these sections and articles with internal link building and social media.

Guess What??

I rank very very well for extremely targeted search terms (with low PageRank pages) over sites like Amazon.com, Bizrate.com, Business.com, and others with huge PageRank for the competing pages.

I’m just a bit more relevant than they are (in my title, my content, my incoming links, my media within the pages, etc.).

Shoot for relevancy… not high PageRank.

Buy the car because it performs and looks awesome… not because it has a cool looking bra on the front of it.

Capisch?