Google PageRank
A high PageRank is one of the most sought after things on the internet, right up there with natural male enhancement and rich Nigerian widows. But how exactly is PageRank calculated? And how do you, the aspiring webmaster, raise it?
While Google's formula is a mysterious work of magick and myth, the principle behind it is relatively simple. It uses Google's technique of cataloging backlinks, and it relies on these properties of the internet:
- The internet is democratic. People can post whatever they want.
- People will post hyperlinks to sites they like or are interesting.
- People will give meaningful names to hyperlinks.
Every link to a website is like a vote. If lots of people link to slashdot like I have here, then it must mean that people regard slashdot highly and they like it. Slashdot will have a higher pagerank because of my little vote (not that it can go much higher). Another example is when people name their hyperlinks. Let's say I write:
I don't like TV news stations, especially if they're a Republican surrogate.
Google will look at it, and go, "Oh look, this guy thinks that the phrase 'Republican surrogate' describes Fox News." This can bring new meaning to websites. Search for "miserable failure", and you'll get George Bush's biography. Not to say that Google is a crazy left-winger, but that enough people think that George Bush is indeed a "miserable failure".
So does this mean you should start putting your link on every website you find? Well, not necessarily. When deciding PageRank, Google gives more power to sites with higher PageRank. Consequently, if you get linked to from Slashdot, you'll get more PageRank than if you were linked to from Joe's Car Site on GeoCities. Also, Google knows what places are "bad neighborhoods". If you try to participate in some kind of link farm or other undesirable hood, then it'll hurt.