Link Valuation Technique - PageRank Table

[Chris Sweeney]

In an effort to better identify good linking opportunities, I decided to figure out a method of comparing the values that certain links hold. Of course a PR4 link is worth more than a PR 0 link, but how much? And is it worth it to build a PR4 link as opposed to a bunch of PR 0 links? Why or why not?

Here is the way I look at PageRank. This is based on the information in Google's patent for PageRank. I didn't come up with this PageRank Table myself, but I use it a lot for valuing links. Google the term "PageRank Table" for more information on how the table was devised.

PR Value
0 1
1 5
2 25
3 125
4 625
5 3125
6 15625
7 78125
8 390625
9 1953125
10 9765625

I basically give a PR 0 link a value of 1. So a single PR 0 link = 1. A PR1 link is worth 5 times as much as a PR 0. A PR4 link is worth 625 times that of a PR 0 link, etc., and PR10 link is worth 9,765,625 PR 0 links.

Then I think to myself, would I rather build 625 low quality PR-/0 links (many of which will never even be crawled/indexed/cached/counted) or should I build the equivalent to that, which is a single PR4 link. Well of course I'm going to build that single PR4 link. It's much easier, takes much less time, and is much more likely to be found and counted.

Now this table may not be perfect, and sure, there are other factors to take into consideration when using it, such as "indexed" age for the page and outbound links on the page (I don't get too worried about OBLs if there are less than, say, 100 links on the page), but I mainly just use this table to get a quick estimate of how much links are worth when comparing PR and determining whether certain linking opportunities are worth the time and effort.

Another use for this table, though, is in determining how many link value "units" you will need to build to your site in order to claim the top spot in Google for your keyword. Basically, all you do is look at your top competitor's backlink profile using a program like SEO SpyGlass. Then, add up the link values of each of their backlinks. For example, say your competitor has three PR2 links two PR3 links, a PR4 link, and a PR5 link. That's (3x25)+(2x125)+625+3125 = 4075 total link units. So in order for you to take over that top spot, you need to build links that equal or surpass a link value of 4075. So you need 4075 PR 0 links, or 815 PR1 links, or 163 PR2 links, or about 33 PR3 links, or about 7 PR4 links, or any combination of links who's link values total, well, 4075.

Again, this isn't 100% perfect due to other ranking factors and whatnot, and I'm totally aware of that fact, but it will definitely give you a good idea of the amount of work you'll need to do to rank for a given term.

[AymanGham]

Lol thanks you for this informative post I am sure that a lot of people will be interested about it. Most of the marketer discuss about this issue now that you reveal that it's better.

BTW, do you have any idea about the EDU or GOUV backlink. I know google take more seriously back link coming from those two type of site?

[Chris Sweeney]

Originally Posted by AymanGham

Lol thanks you for this informative post I am sure that a lot of people will be interested about it. Most of the marketer discuss about this issue now that you reveal that it's better.

BTW, do you have any idea about the EDU or GOUV backlink. I know google take more seriously back link coming from those two type of site?

Eh, to be honest, I don't have much experience in dealing with .edu and .gov backlinks, probably because my gut tells me that domain extensions don't matter that much, and I think many of the veteran SEO'ers would agree. If some people actually do think that more weight is put on .edu/.gov links, I want to see some proof. Again, I'm not saying those links don't work; I just don't have enough experience with them to say that they do.

[Larkive]

Great post. I was actually just wondering if there was something like this available a couple days ago.

Pretty cool to stumble upon it.

Lately I have been focusing on high PR links only. Hopefully it will produce great results.

[dp40oz]

You are not taking into account how link juice flows though. Yes a PR4 might be worth 625 times a PR0 link in theory but a PR0 link that is on a PR6 domain and 1 link away from the homepage can carry PR2-3 type of link juice but still be classified as a PR0. Then you factor in things like anchor text, content surrounding the link (up for debate) and link juice ect...

Before you get too into these numbers its important to really start seeing how link juice is the more important factor, its not PR numbers. If we both started virtual identical pages, your page got a home page link of a PR6 website and my page got linked from 3 separate PR0 pages touching PR6 homepages you'd be surprised at how similar our "link power" would be.

[Chris Sweeney]

Originally Posted by dp40oz

You are not taking into account how link juice flows though. Yes a PR4 might be worth 625 times a PR0 link in theory but a PR0 link that is on a PR6 domain and 1 link away from the homepage can carry PR2-3 type of link juice but still be classified as a PR0. Then you factor in things like anchor text, content surrounding the link (up for debate) and link juice ect...

Yup, I totally agree, and you're exactly right. That's because Toolbar PageRank is only updated every so often (used to be every 3 months, but now it seems to be much more frequent; but PageRank for a page itself is constantly being updated/calculated/applied, so yes, a PR 0 link on a PR6 domain 1 link away from the homepage can and most likely will indeed hold a PR2-4, even though it doesn't show it on the Toolbar/other PR tools. Sure I took how link juice flows into account

Before you get too into these numbers its important to really start seeing how link juice is the more important factor, its not PR numbers.

I also agree with you that we shouldn't get too into these numbers, because, as I said a couple of times in the original post, it's not 100% accurate/perfect due to a number of reasons beyond our control; however, it's a great start for evaluating competition and determining where/how exactly to start one's backlinking campaign. It's better than doing nothing, better than looking at the "number of competing pages (search term in quotes)" in Google, and better than looking at your number #1 competitors PR and thinking that you need to surpass their PR in order to outrank them (because, sure, they may have the PR, but they may not be optimized for the keyword you're targeting).

If we both started virtual identical pages, your page got a home page link of a PR6 website and my page got linked from 3 separate PR0 pages touching PR6 homepages you'd be surprised at how similar our "link power" would be.

Sorry, I don't agree with that last statement. Say 3 separate PR 0 pages are touching PR6 homepages. That means each of those 3 inner pages will have a PR2-4. I highly doubt that three PR2s or even three PR4s would equate to the juice that a single PR6 would pass. According to all the PageRank tables I've seen, a PR 0 page linked to from a PR6 page would have the same juice as that PR 0 page being linked to by twenty-five PR4 pages.

[sabbienielsen]

its really a great information, thanks for sharing it

[dp40oz]

Originally Posted by Chris Sweeney

Sorry, I don't agree with that last statement. Say 3 separate PR 0 pages are touching PR6 homepages. That means each of those 3 inner pages will have a PR2-4. I highly doubt that three PR2s or even three PR4s would equate to the juice that a single PR6 would pass. According to all the PageRank tables I've seen, a PR 0 page linked to from a PR6 page would have the same juice as that PR 0 page being linked to by twenty-five PR4 pages.

In my experience I have never found 1 particular link to affect rankings as dramatically as the tables would have you believe. Maybe its a cumulative thing but I've still found a few PR2-3 type links to be more valuable then 1 really high PR5-6 link, just my experience. Ive just seen too many people beg webmasters for 1 or 2 High PR links then see no SERP movement. Even though they have a PR 4 and a PR 5 link for the term "toaster ovens for 90 year old women" and they still aren't ranked compared to the site with 200 Xrumer links. (just an example)

I have many sites that have static links on legit PR4-5 homepages. When I remove 1 of those links I don't see any move in SERP's. When I build a handful of PR2-3 links I do though. I mean its all speculative with the math. Knowing Google and that algorithm it could have so many variables its insane.