For those who use Google to boost their websites and companies, Google’s Page Rank system is something that is not unheard of. Google uses a series of statistics that rank different web sites. Although most know of it, very few understand the system. Page Rank was created by Larry Page, and Google uses it to assign a numerical weighting to each website. In other words, Google uses Page Rank to ultimately figure out the importance of each and every website in the world wide web.
The Page Rank system is quite simply a math equation, and when coming down to it, it is a simple algorithm. If this is the case, it is quite hard to understand why only those who are experienced in search engine optimization are the only ones to understand the system. The key to getting your page at the top, is simply figuring out the system.
Page Rank works by using a series of votes. When a page receives a certain amount of votes, they can work their way up the system. However, the votes count more if the vote comes from a page that is important and ranking high themselves. A vote is considered a simple hyperlink that is on another website. This, in essence, is probably why so many sites offer advertisement on their page, and it is probably the same reason why so many sites have their own banners that you can use to post on other sites.
In an odd way, Google’s Page Rank is not unlike politics, because it is all based on vote, and who has the better person voting for them. Technically, this is not the only thing that describes the Page Rank system. There are a series of equations that determine the votes, add them up, and obtains the end result. This is not the only factor that affects the determination of Google’s Page Rank.
Other things, such as the number of people that visit the site and the key word density also affect it.
Assuming that there are only four different websites in the Internet, then each site would start with a ranking of .25. The process of Google’s Page Link involves votes, or linking. If three of the sites link to one of the sites, that one site would have a value of .75.
This is simple enough, right? Remembering that the vote of each is also valued by how it is voted, as well, the equation changes a little bit. It is no longer A= B+C+D.
If each of these sites also link to one another, the outcome is a little different. The value of the votes are divided by the number of links that each site has on other sites. For example, suppose B has links to pages A and D, and C has links to all three pages. The formula would then be A= B/2 + C/3 + D/1. The page A would have a value of .375. Even though this seems simple enough, there is still the damping factor that is involved with the Page Rank system.
The damping factor has the theory that someone web surfing will stop clicking on links. This means that the damping factor is subtracted from one, and then divided again into the sum of the value. The damping factor is generally set to .85, and when subtracted, the equation will look like A= 1-.85/4 + .85(B/2 + C/3 + D/1). In some cases, the damping factor is divided by the number of documents. In this case, the value will be .338. The damping factor is meant to bring down the value, because, as mentioned, eventually someone will stop clicking. The problem with the damping factor, however, is the fact that the more websites there are, the lower the ranking drops for most of the sites.
There is so much more that factors in to Google’s Page Rank system. It is almost as endless as the web itself, with more and more equations to go along with it as the web changes. The previous equations are pretty simple, and it can give you at least a tiny idea about how Google’s Page Rank system works. It all depends on votes, or links. Essentially, each page helps out the other. Other factors may lessen the value or make it greater, but essentially, the page value is an easy thing to figure out. All you need to know is a little algebra.
