Understanding Page Rank?

[art72]

Hi All,

After months of studying, and applying some basic SEO practices, I am starting to notice my sites are ranking faster.

However, there's this weird fluctuation taking place when I check the status of my site(s).

Yesterday, my site showed a PR2 ranking in "G" search, and was nested in the 13th position overall. I tweaked some meta data, added a few links, etc... and today I see it at PR1 in position 2 (Wahooooo!!!)

But, when I clear my cache, and refresh the results page...I am now showing a PR1, but I am in the 7th position?

Naturally, as a beginner I am obsessed with ranking my site(s) high as I have virtually no list (yet) and need the exposure/traffic.

But could someone please explain why it is that every time I do a search, I get different results after clearing the cache?

Thanks in advance,

Art

[cripperz]

thats natural in google. Maybe you can try using private browsing mode in your browser and do the search. Rankchecker plugin in firefox is another handy tool that i use to check my ranking from time to time.

[webapex]

The Google dance happens periodically, be sure your not logged into G to avoid personalized search bias, I hear they might do some (from cookies) even not logged in.

Pagerank is certainly a separate beat from search results, since the page rank is not keyword specific, they say G is scaling back the authority of page rank, some SEO pros advise you just turn it off.

[art72]

Thanks for the insight cripperz. Just checked site using Private Browsing and it reveals the same results as when I clear my cache. Since I primarily use Firefox, I'll definitely add the Rankchecker plugin.

Art

[art72]

Originally Posted by webapex

The Google dance happens periodically, be sure your not logged into G to avoid personalized search bias, I hear they might do some (from cookies) even not logged in.

Pagerank is certainly a separate beat from search results, since the page rank is not keyword specific, they say G is scaling back the authority of page rank, some SEO pros advise you just turn it off.

That makes a lot of sense, as I am generally logged into my Google accounts (i.e. AdSense, Analytics, and Gmail) almost religiously.

I'll be sure to give it a go, after logging out of my accounts first. There too, I would image the private browsing mode should help get more accurate results as well.

Thanks,
Art

[charless]

Google PR isn't as important as you make it out to be.... in this case, any PR could rank for any keyword on the SERPs, therefore rendering PR as not #1 in case of importance.

[art72]

Forgive my terminology, my concern for PR was in fact based on 'targeted' keywords, and for the record, I agree it's not so much page rank I am after...it's targeted keywords getting ranked that I have a vested interest.

[MingJong]

You can use Google in pagewash.com to avoid the bias of google. Google will collect your information to make the browsing more suitable for you. So, if you repeat the search keyword everytime, you will gradually see your website rank higher. Try to switch to another PC or use service like pagewash.com to avoid the bias.


Cheers,
MingJong

[BlakeM]

Ya PR doesn't indicate where you're ranked on google. Most sites have a PR of zero but can be ranked in the first position of google. A high pr can help your rankings though for sure.