The Modern, Inside Scoop on Google PageRank In 2021

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If you have been in SEO for a while, you may remember the days of working hard to increase the PageRank of websites — it was the metric every SEO cared about and wanted to improve.

Improving PageRank meant improving your authority (usually with backlinks), which in turn could result in higher rankings and more traffic.

But what happened to PageRank? It’s rarely talked about anymore.

Believe it or not, PageRank is still used as a ranking signal for Google, even if you haven’t heard it mentioned in a while. Here, we’ll explore what you need to know about Google PageRank in 2021.

What is Google PageRank?

Google PageRank is a very complex concept, but we are going to try and break it down to make it easy to understand.

PageRank uses a mathematical formula to score the value of a page based on the quality and quantity of the pages linking it to it.

The PageRank formula will look at the number of inbound links, external links, and the PageRank of those links to determine authority. The formula will create a score using a logarithmic scale with values ranging from 0-10.

The higher the PageRank score of a page, the more authoritative that page is.

You can get more in-depth information about the PageRank formula in the original paper that was published back in 1997.

The PageRank Toolbar

Years ago, there used to be a toolbar that could show you the PageRank of any webpage you visited.

Unfortunately, the toolbar was removed by Google back in 2016 — and the mystery of what your PageRank is has existed ever since.

The problem with the toolbar was that it created an obsession and caused many SEOs to try and find ways to manipulate it.

Essentially, the Google team realized that making this score public was adding little value to website owners and decided to stop investing in it.

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Does Google still use PageRank?

Yes, Google does still uses PageRank.

While it may not be a metric that website owners have access to, it is still used in their algorithms.

A tweet by John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, solidifies that PageRank is still used as a ranking signal.

Yes, we do use PageRank internally, among many, many other signals. It’s not quite the same as the original paper, there are lots of quirks (eg, disavowed links, ignored links, etc.), and, again, we use a lot of other signals that can be much stronger.

— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu)
February 24, 2020