Linkback – not all that?
Everyone says you need lots of inbound links to rank well. And we know “everyone” can’t be wrong, right? So, the more sites that link to you, the better… especially for ”high demand” phrases.
Take the phrase “weight loss program,” for example. With 296,691 searches/mo (est) in the top 3 engines, you’d expect to need a lot of incoming links to rank anywhere near the top.
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And competition? With 23.5 MILLION competing sites, you’d think it would take serious link juice to get to spot #1. Amazingly, the #1 site has … drumroll…. 128 incoming links. The #2 site? 62.
Of course, if one doesn’t check the competition, it’s easy to believe all the folks insisting that the yellow brick road is made of inbound links.
But then, you know the saying…. advice is worth at least what you pay for it. Sometimes less.
Why PageRank is Over Rated
Because a picture is worth a thousand words…
1.8 million competing sites and the #1 site has a PageRank of 3?
And again… top slot goes to a site with PageRank of only 3…
Over 32 MILLION competitors and a PR4 site scoops spot #2?
How can that be?
Page rank is a measure of the importance of your website as pertains to the web as a whole. If you read the technical description of Page Rank – from back in ’98 or so - it says something to the effect that if a surfer started following links at random, the odds of eventually finding your site is roughly equivalent to your page rank.
How you rank, on the other hand, is a measure of the value of your site compared to other sites in the same market category.
So… the “little pampered pets” site might only have a web-wide value of 3 out of 10. (page rank) But compared to other pampered pets sites…? Tops in their category.
Sure PageRank is a factor in how you rank. But it’s only “a” factor, not “the” factor. PageRank is one of hundreds of variables Google looks at when indexing your site. Dupe content will get your pages dumped into the supplemental loo faster than low PageRank will.
The moral of the story is this; don’t lose brain cells over page rank. Instead, put them to work figuring out how to stand out in your market category.