PR 1 to PR 3 - How Big a Deal Is It?

[KenTheriot]

Today my site went from PR 1 to PR 3, and I know this is a good thing, but I'm still a bit hazy as to exactly what this means in terms of improving my site's metrics, or any other benefits.

Any input from the experts?

Thanks!

Ken

[propooper98]

In terms of actual authority, this is a great step. Especially if it jumped 2 spots on 1 PR update.... I've noticed with many personal sites that this happens twice. So if you keep up the work, it can possibly jump to PR5 the next update (but of course, this is harder).
Overall, it simply worth a LOT more, and this tells you you are headed in the right direction.
A quick glance at the PRO's:
Your site has gained more authority. It is now harder to outrank major and inner pages on your site.
Your site has more value in terms of backlinks. A backlink placed on your homepage easily has 3 to 10 times more value then a PR1 link.
Your site is now simply more valuable. If selling on Flippa, it can sell for twice as more, easily.
New pages made will now automatically be indexed faster. Chances are, if it is a forum, a "permanent" google bot is now in place.
Less backlinks now required, (as well as less SEO) to rank for more keywords/ terms.
If competing for many, many keywords, it should slightly jump upwards for many of them (though this is not necessarily the case).
CON's:
There really aren't any.
Congrats!

George,
Backlinking Expert

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by KenTheriot

Today my site went from PR 1 to PR 3, and I know this is a good thing

Well done ...

It's definitely better than the other way round!

It might help your site to rank a little higher for some keywords. It's certainly no panacea, though (as can be seen from the regularity with which lower-PR pages outrank higher-PR pages in Google's SERP's).

Of course, strictly speaking, websites don't actually "have page rank" at all: only pages have page rank. But I'm guessing that you're referring to your site's home page, or landing page?

I think all my niche sites' landing pages are now PR-3 or higher, so I ought to be able to tell you what a wonderful thing it is, but I suspect the reality is that it may make less difference to anything than you expect.

Certainly the overall impression one gets of "what Google's up to" these days (including impressions gleaned from what they tell us openly) is that relevance matters more and more and page ranks matter less and less.

My guess, though, is that there might be some not-fiercely-competitive keywords for which your site may possibly now rank a little faster than it would have done without this happening. And it's a move in the right direction, anyway. And links from your home page (i.e. to other pages on your site, and/or to other sites you own) are now worth more (though, again, that's far more context-relevance-dependent than page-rank-dependent).

It's also even possible (though hardly relevant to most people, admittedly!) that new material on your site might be indexed a few hours more quickly than it would have been before - just a small "technical benefit" there.

Page ranks, I believe, were last updated about 4 months ago (unless this is something new today?) ... and the previous update was in April 2010, so they do seem to be pretty sporadic ... but the factors affecting sites' rankings in the SERP's can of course change all the time, without formal PR's, per se, necessarily changing at all.

[KenTheriot]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Well done ...

Of course, strictly speaking, websites don't actually "have page rank" at all: only pages have page rank. But I'm guessing that you're referring to your site's home page, or landing page?

Page ranks, I believe, were last updated about 4 months ago (unless this is something new today?) ...

Thanks Alexa, yes I was referring to my static home page. And yes, this was something new as of this morning (June 27th). I'm a bit obsessive about checking probably a bit too frequently.

Thanks Alexa and propooper!

Ken

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by KenTheriot

I'm a bit obsessive about checking probably a bit too frequently.

Oooh, maybe you're the first to notice a new PR update today, then? (I don't even look at mine twice a year because they're honestly not that relevant to me ).

Well done, anyway.

[palmer9999]

Hey Ken, Well done. My site has also gone from pr0 to Pr 3! So looks like were both in luck!

Also I believe that google updated the page ranking only today..

[JamesGw]

Yeah, Google updated its PR today. I had one jump to PR3 and another to PR4, then a bunch to PR2/1. I don't think PR on its own means much at all, but it is still a good indicator of progress and a solid way to benchmark your site. That said, PR on its own doesn't matter much.

[Hamida Harland]

I like to see my sites PR increase, but I can't say I've ever noticed any major benefits. It certainly isn't worth anything to my bottom line.

Unless of course I was selling a site - PR does help to increase value when you're selling a site on Flippa.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure it means jack squat.

I believe PageRank is something that Google wants you to think is important, but really isn't.

It's akin to a meaningless seal of approval.

I have a site that started at PR0 (obviously) then eventually moved up to PR3 or PR4. Then, I got kicked back down to PR0.

What has that meant?

Well, insofar as some sites that run ads on my site, it hurt me because they feel PR is important and, thus, my earnings from those sites went into the toilet.

However, traffic has increased. When I put new content on the site, it gets indexed within seconds. I don't have any problems ranking for things I want to rank for, and that includes getting ranked at #1 for certain keywords.

So, in my opinion, it's largely meaningless. And it goes to show that people who base ad rates on a site's PR are suckers. They may be paying more for virtually nothing.

[myseoclub]

Hi

My biggest point would be to say that when you are doing your search engine optimisation on your page rank of 3 it will take a lot less time to get its position on google.

so say if a keyword normally takes you 6 weeks you will achieve it now in 2.

[DireStraits]

Originally Posted by myseoclub

Hi

My biggest point would be to say that when you are doing your search engine optimisation on your page rank of 3 it will take a lot less time to get its position on google.

so say if a keyword normally takes you 6 weeks you will achieve it now in 2.

Huh?

Very "scientific".

Sorry, and not to sound impolite, but this is total nonsense.

To make such a generalised assertion without knowing what those keywords are, or what the strength of your SEO competition is, or anything about either the site on which you're conducting the SEO or any of the "SEO factors" of one's competition, is impossible.

I know you're probably just making posts to increase your sig-link exposure, but if what you're promoting is related to SEO, you might wish to at least give people the impression that you know what you're talking about, you know? Kinda helps with the owld credibility.