Trying to figure out this PageRank thing...

Droopy Dawg · 03-31-2009, 08:55 AM

Yeah yeah I know that the Google algorithm is like trying to understand Chinese arithmetic... but I created a website for a friend a couple years ago. I just made a couple updates, and I noticed in my Google Toolbar there was a slither of green on the PageRank icon... a PageRank of 2 actually...

Really? (I thought to myself)

I've been the only person maintaining the site since I built it, so I know everything that's on the entire site. I checked the backlinks to see if maybe other people have linked to the site... NONE.

I only have about 6 links going outside of the site.

26 pages have been indexed...

Lewis F.A.S.T. Camp {FOOTWORK AGILITY SPEED TRAINING}

Maybe its the length of time the site has been up?

Anybody has an idea of how you get pagerank with no backlinks?

Droopy Dawg · 03-31-2009, 10:06 AM

Thanks folks

I figured its longevity was a factor.

Jill Carpenter · 03-31-2009, 10:14 AM

did you check it with and with out the "www" when checking the backlinks? Sometimes people forget to do that. Some backlink checkers will give you completely different results.

Jill Carpenter · 03-31-2009, 10:18 AM

Results for: lewisfastcamp.net

Pagerank: 2
Alexrank: 0
Backlinks in Google: 0
Indexed in Google: 24
Backlinks in Yahoo: 3
Indexed in Yahoo: 23
Backlinks in Msn: 0
Indexed in Msn: 10
AltaVista: 49
AllTheWeb: 49

Found 3 for you, but yes, likely a longevity issue.

03-31-2009, 10:23 AM

The site you listed definitely has back links to it.

Check these sites, for example:

The Playtime Express, Houston Area's #1 Trackless Train Rental
J. F. Kennedy Senior High School in New Orleans Louisiana - John F. Kennedy Senior High School - New Orleans
2008 Sponsors - Thank You!
Clever Web Solutions - Internet Marketing Solutions for your business - {Professional Freelance Web Design in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area}

The longevity of a site plays a role in how much "juice" is passed from one site to another through a link, but if a page has NO inbound links recorded in the index to it, the PageRank algorithm, which is at its core a linking metric, would give that site a score of 0.

dburk · 03-31-2009, 10:39 AM

Hi Droopy,

What you are referring to is toolbar PageRank. Google PageRank measures link popularity. It has absolutely nothing to do with the length of time your site has been up.

PageRank is simply a score given to represent the relative number of direct and indirect inbound links to your page compared to the web as a whole. A single backlink with high PR can boost your pages PR.

Before you get too excited about this, PageRank has very little influence on your rankings in search engine result pages (SERP).

By the way, I found 9 backlinks pointing to pages on your site using Yahoo Site Explorer.

MattRobson · 03-31-2009, 01:19 PM

Last time I checked, Google didn't report all known backlinks in their special operator search, so, just because that doesn't report any links doesn't mean you don't have any backlinks.

PageRank does not have anything to do with site age directly, and is only a computation of the connectedness of that page to other well-connected pages.

03-31-2009, 10:06 AM	#2
Droopy Dawg Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 925 Thanks: 67 Thanked 139 Times in 103 Posts	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... Thanks folks I figured its longevity was a factor.

03-31-2009, 10:14 AM	#3
Jill Carpenter aka Avenuegirl War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Right where I want to be... Posts: 5,423 Blog Entries: 23 Thanks: 1,337 Thanked 1,871 Times in 1,079 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... did you check it with and with out the "www" when checking the backlinks? Sometimes people forget to do that. Some backlink checkers will give you completely different results.
	IS YOUR WORDPRESS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE INVISIBLE? And more about Jill Carpenter and life on Nantucket [Designer Wanted] Click Here For Details

03-31-2009, 10:18 AM	#4
Jill Carpenter aka Avenuegirl War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Right where I want to be... Posts: 5,423 Blog Entries: 23 Thanks: 1,337 Thanked 1,871 Times in 1,079 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... Results for: lewisfastcamp.net Pagerank: 2 Alexrank: 0 Backlinks in Google: 0 Indexed in Google: 24 Backlinks in Yahoo: 3 Indexed in Yahoo: 23 Backlinks in Msn: 0 Indexed in Msn: 10 AltaVista: 49 AllTheWeb: 49 Found 3 for you, but yes, likely a longevity issue.
	IS YOUR WORDPRESS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE INVISIBLE? And more about Jill Carpenter and life on Nantucket [Designer Wanted] Click Here For Details

03-31-2009, 10:23 AM	#5
blackhatzen Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... The site you listed definitely has back links to it. Check these sites, for example: The Playtime Express, Houston Area's #1 Trackless Train Rental J. F. Kennedy Senior High School in New Orleans Louisiana - John F. Kennedy Senior High School - New Orleans 2008 Sponsors - Thank You! Clever Web Solutions - Internet Marketing Solutions for your business - {Professional Freelance Web Design in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area} The longevity of a site plays a role in how much "juice" is passed from one site to another through a link, but if a page has NO inbound links recorded in the index to it, the PageRank algorithm, which is at its core a linking metric, would give that site a score of 0.
blackhatzen Guest Posts: n/a

03-31-2009, 10:39 AM	#6
dburk Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 4,482 Thanks: 137 Thanked 641 Times in 553 Posts Contact Info	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... Hi Droopy, What you are referring to is toolbar PageRank. Google PageRank measures link popularity. It has absolutely nothing to do with the length of time your site has been up. PageRank is simply a score given to represent the relative number of direct and indirect inbound links to your page compared to the web as a whole. A single backlink with high PR can boost your pages PR. Before you get too excited about this, PageRank has very little influence on your rankings in search engine result pages (SERP). By the way, I found 9 backlinks pointing to pages on your site using Yahoo Site Explorer.
	Don Burk * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management * Get a Keyword Domain Name - www.SeriousNames.com

03-31-2009, 08:55 AM	#1
Droopy Dawg Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 925 Thanks: 67 Thanked 139 Times in 103 Posts	Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... Yeah yeah I know that the Google algorithm is like trying to understand Chinese arithmetic... but I created a website for a friend a couple years ago. I just made a couple updates, and I noticed in my Google Toolbar there was a slither of green on the PageRank icon... a PageRank of 2 actually... Really? (I thought to myself) I've been the only person maintaining the site since I built it, so I know everything that's on the entire site. I checked the backlinks to see if maybe other people have linked to the site... NONE. I only have about 6 links going outside of the site. 26 pages have been indexed... Lewis F.A.S.T. Camp {FOOTWORK AGILITY SPEED TRAINING} Maybe its the length of time the site has been up? Anybody has an idea of how you get pagerank with no backlinks?

03-31-2009, 01:19 PM	#7
MattRobson War Strategist War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: New York, NY Posts: 55 Thanks: 17 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Trying to figure out this PageRank thing... Last time I checked, Google didn't report all known backlinks in their special operator search, so, just because that doesn't report any links doesn't mean you don't have any backlinks. PageRank does not have anything to do with site age directly, and is only a computation of the connectedness of that page to other well-connected pages.
	webstrategist.com (matt@) SEO, List Building. http://twitter.com/MattCRobson http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattrobson