The PageRank algorithm is one of the most important and influential algorithms that Google used at the beginning of its activity to rank web pages. This algorithm was developed as an innovative solution to recognize the importance of web pages. The main purpose of the PageRank algorithm was to help users find the most relevant and valuable results among the mass of information available on the Internet.
PageRank works like a credibility rating system for web pages; So the more links a page receives from reputable sites, the higher its value and rank. This method allows Google to provide more accurate and higher-quality search results. Even though Google uses hundreds of different algorithms and criteria to evaluate pages, PageRank is still considered one of the main foundations of how to understand and evaluate web pages.
Understanding the basics of PageRank helps SEO professionals understand how Google has strived to provide the best search experience for its users from the beginning to today. For this reason, the review of this algorithm can be very interesting and informative for anyone interested in search engine optimization (SEO).
In this article from the collection of foreign SEO articles, we discussed what is the PageRank algorithm. What effect does it have on on-site SEO? What factors are involved in it? And how can we improve the page rank of the website?
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What is the Page Rank algorithm?
The PageRank algorithm is one of the most important algorithms of the Google search engine, which was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, during their studies at Stanford University. When Larry Page and Sergey Brin were developing Google, to find the best and most important pages of websites, they created an algorithm called PageRank, which gives each page a point or rank. This score shows how important and authoritative that page is.
How does the PageRank algorithm work?
The way the PageRank algorithm works is that if a page has received a large number of links from other sites, it indicates that the page has been useful to many people, so it should get more points. But this scoring does not depend only on the number of links; The quality of links is also important. In other words, if a page receives links from reputable and well-known sites, it will earn more points than if it receives links from less important sites.
The PageRank algorithm can be compared to a poll; Each link to a specific page is like a vote. But not all votes have the same value. Voting for a reputable and popular site is like the vote of an influential person in an election and has more value. Therefore, the more links a website receives from authoritative sites, the higher its PageRank and thus its better ranking in Google search results.
This idea helped Google to show pages with better content or recommended by more people higher in the search results. In this way, users who are looking for information get access to higher-quality pages. Although Google uses many algorithms and factors to rank pages today, PageRank is still one of the basic principles in how to analyze and rank pages.
Ultimately, PageRank made the Internet more efficient for users and played an important role in Google’s growth and success. This algorithm was the cornerstone of a solution that made web search smarter and more accurate and directed users to more relevant content.
The mathematical formula of page rank and the concept of random mutation (Random Surfer)
PageRank uses a mathematical formula, which is explained in simple terms: Suppose a random user clicks on links to go from one page to another. This user may click on links for a while and then accidentally enter a new site. This state is called “random mutation”.
The PageRank formula works by calculating a part of the score of a page based on the links that enter it and allocating another part to the probability that the user entered that page randomly. This way, even if a page does not have many links, it still has a chance to be seen.
For example, suppose we have three pages A, B, and C. If page A links to B and C, and B links to C, the PageRank score for each page is determined as follows:
- Because A has given links to B and C, it increases their score.
- Because B has fewer links, it receives fewer points from A but gives its points to C.
- Finally, C, which has links from A and B, has a higher score.
Meanwhile, the user’s random mutation should also be considered, which makes the algorithm work in a more flexible and intelligent way.
This process helps the PageRank algorithm to find more important pages and show them higher in search results. In this way, users get access to pages that are more relevant and useful.
History of the PageRank algorithm
The PageRank algorithm has changed a lot since its introduction in the 1990s and has found its place alongside other Google ranking factors:
Late 1990s – Initial introduction of PageRank
PageRank was developed in 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, at Stanford University. The main idea of this algorithm was that the number and quality of incoming links to a page can indicate its credibility.
Early 2000s – The use of PageRank expanded
In the early 2000s, PageRank became one of the most important Google ranking factors. During this time, many webmasters tried to increase their site’s PageRank by creating artificial and unnatural links (later known as “link spam”). For example, link-building networks, buying links, and using fake links were common practices of this era. This process caused some sites to achieve higher rankings in Google results despite having poor content.
2005 to 2010 – Google’s first updates and the fight against link spam
Google realized that relying only on the PageRank algorithm to rank pages alone cannot guarantee the quality of search results. Therefore, in this era, Google started to fight against artificial and unnatural links. One of the most important updates in this field was the Penguin algorithm, which was introduced in 2012. This algorithm specifically identified unnatural links and spam and penalized sites that used these methods.
These changes caused the sites to look for natural and high-quality links and to increase their PageRank, to focus on producing valuable content and receiving natural links from reputable sites.
2010 to 2015 – Combining PageRank with other ranking factors
During this period, Google started developing newer algorithms to provide a better user experience. These algorithms focused not only on links but also on-page content, user behavior, site loading speed, and user experience (UX). As a result, PageRank was no longer the only main factor for determining page rank but became one of several important factors.
Among the most important changes of this era, we can mention the introduction of the Hummingbird algorithm in 2013, which focused on a better understanding of users’ intentions in searches. This algorithm helped Google better understand what users are searching for and provide more relevant results.
2015 to present – PageRank in the era of artificial intelligence and machine learning
From 2015 onwards, Google switched to using artificial intelligence and machine learning in page ranking. The RankBrain algorithm update introduced in 2015 was one of Google’s first attempts to use machine learning. This algorithm helped Google understand exactly what information users are looking for and what pages can best meet their needs. This meant that Google no longer acted only on links, but also took into account the semantic understanding of the content of the pages.
These changes meant that the PageRank algorithm remained one factor, but Google now used a combination of hundreds of different factors for ranking. These factors included things like content quality, user experience, mobile-friendliness of sites, and site security (https).
PageRank Today: Focusing on User Experience
Today, the PageRank algorithm is still part of Google’s ranking algorithm, but it no longer plays the key role it once did. Google has officially stopped publicly displaying the PageRank score of sites and uses its internal tools for evaluation and ranking. Despite this, core PageRank concepts such as link importance and page authority are still influential in Google’s newer algorithms, but now alongside other factors such as content quality, page load speed, and user experience.
For example, today Google also places a lot of importance on Core Web Vitals, which include factors such as page load time and interactivity. This shows that Google’s focus has shifted from just the number of links to providing the best user experience for users.
The importance of the PageRank algorithm in SEO
The PageRank algorithm is one of the most important factors in ranking website pages, which has a great impact on SEO because it helps Google distinguish more important pages from less important pages.
A higher PageRank score means a better chance of ranking better. The higher the PageRank a page has, the more likely it is to rank higher in Google search results.
PageRank affects the distribution of authority between pages on a site. If a certain page on your site has a high page rank, it can transfer this credit to other pages of the site through internal links. This process of distributing link credit is called Link Juice. For this reason, webmasters often try to link from pages with high PageRank to more important and valuable pages so that they also get a better rank.
The PageRank algorithm not only affects the ranking of pages in search results but also plays a role in how pages are indexed by Google and manages the Crawl Budget. Crawl Budget refers to the amount of time and resources that Google devotes to crawling and indexing your site’s pages. Sites with more pages and a more complex structure require more crawling budget. The connection between PageRank and Crawl Budget is that pages with higher PageRank are usually crawled more by Google and have a better chance of being indexed faster. If a site has a lot of low-quality or low-value pages, these pages can consume a large part of the site’s crawl budget, and as a result, Google does not have enough time to crawl the more important and high-quality pages. Here, having the right PageRank helps Google identify and index higher-quality pages faster.
The challenges of the PageRank algorithm and Google’s solutions to solve them
The PageRank algorithm was a great innovation in its time and helped Google become one of the most popular search engines. However, over time, various challenges and limitations appeared in this algorithm, which forced Google to revise and update it continuously:
Too much focus on links
One of the biggest problems with the PageRank algorithm was that it focused more on links than anything else. This means that the more links a page receives from other pages, the higher PageRank it will be assigned and, as a result, it will rank better in search results. But this approach brought problems:
Incentivize link buying and selling: Some websites have found that by buying links from other sites or creating large networks of reciprocal links (linking to other sites in exchange for receiving links from them), they can artificially increase their site’s PageRank. Give This made the Google search results less reflective of the actual quality of the pages’ content.
Lack of attention to the quality of content: PageRank’s focus on links made the real quality of content on pages less important. For example, a page with poor content but lots of inbound links could rank better than a page with more valuable content but fewer links. Google realized over time that only relying on PageRank cannot bring the best results to users. For this reason, Google added new updates to its algorithms that not only pay attention to links but also take into account other factors such as content quality, user behavior, and user experience.
Vulnerability to spam links
Another challenge of the PageRank algorithm is its vulnerability to spamming. Spam websites and link farms tried to increase the page rank of their pages by creating unnatural links or using methods such as hidden links and hidden links in the text. These tactics caused pages with irrelevant or poor-quality content to rank higher in Google search results than pages with more valuable content. By introducing new algorithms like Panda and Penguin, Google started to deal with poor content and spammy link building. The Panda algorithm focused more on evaluating the quality of page content and downgraded pages with low-quality content. On the other hand, the Penguin algorithm dealt with unnatural links and spam and penalized sites that used artificial links.
Solutions to improve the PageRank of the website
To increase PageRank and improve ranking in search results, you can use the following strategies:
1. Producing high-quality and useful content
One of the best ways to attract natural links is to produce useful and high-quality content. When your content is valuable, others will link to it. These types of links, because they are natural and obtained from related sites, have a very positive effect on the site’s PageRank. In addition, regularly updating website content can help improve page rank in search results.
2. Internal linking
Internal links help different pages of your site so that Google can find them more easily and link credit is distributed among different pages of your site. For this reason, the credit of the pages that have a higher page rank is transferred to other pages of the site with internal links.
3. Get valid links
External links that point to the site from authoritative sites with high PageRank have a great effect on increasing PageRank. These links show Google that other sites trust your site and recommend it as a reputable source. But note that the quality of links is more important than their number. Links that come from reputable and relevant sites have a much better impact than links that come from low-quality or irrelevant sites.
4. User experience and site speed
Site loading speed is one of the important factors in page ranking. Sites that load quickly are more likely to rank higher due to a better user experience.
Also, the site should be displayed well on mobile devices. Google assigns a better rank to sites that provide a good user experience on mobile.
5. Removing or modifying spam and poor-quality links
Removing or modifying spam and low-quality links is one of the important steps to improve the site’s credibility and maintain its ranking in Google results. This process involves identifying inappropriate incoming links and using Google’s Disavow tool to tell Google to ignore these links in evaluating the site. Spam links can be from low-quality or unreliable sites that will harm your site and lower its ranking. By identifying these links through tools like Google Search Console and then uploading their list in the Disavow Links section, you can avoid their negative effects and show Google that only valid links should be considered in evaluating your site.