If you have been surfing the web for a while, or have a site on the web you have no doubt heard the term PageRank. If you own a web site and have not heard about PageRank now is a good time to learn.

What is PageRank?

Essentially PageRank is a link analysis algorithm, named after Larry Page and used by Google. PageRank was designed to make search results more relevant to the person using the search engine. It works by assigning a value to a web page based on what sites link to it. However it goes much deeper than that. PageRank also looks at the weight it has assigned to the linking pages. From the number of links to web page and the value of the pages linking to that site, PageRank determines the value it assigns for that page.

Sound complicated? That is because it is complicated. In fact my brief description does not really do it justice. Plus add in the fact that the engineers at Google are always updating the algorithm to prevent it from being abused. Not long ago Google rolled out a few changes that had dramatic effects across the web. Sites that had a PageRank of 7 (PageRank is out of 10) went to a PageRank of 3 overnight. needless to say it was a shock to a lot of people.

How does PageRank Affect a Website?

Well firstly PageRank will affect where the web site shows up in Google search results. As you probably already know the higher up a site appears in search results the more traffic it will get. But if you have or want to have advertising on your site it is also important. A lot of advertisers look at a websites PageRank when determining if they will advertise there or not. I also believe Google AdSense takes into account a sites Pagerank when determining which adds to place on the site.

At one time TenaciousCreations.com had a PageRank of 4. At the time I was upset that it was only 4, but now not having any PageRank I would gladly go back to having a PageRank of 4. However when this site had some PageRanking I consistently had Google placing higher paying ads on my site. As my PageRank decreased so did the price per click of the ads Google Adsense placed on my site.

How Do I Improve My Websites PageRank?

Okay so now we know what PageRank is and why it is important us. But how do we improve our sites PageRank? Well if you have followed my site at all you will know I always stress good content. If you have good content, that people can benefit from and want. You will have other websites deep linking to your site. More relevant links == more PageRank. Link exchanges can also work. However I feel Google has got smart on this and now puts less weight to a link exchange than they do a deep link with in another site. When ever i created a new Photo Shop tutorial I always submitted them to a bunch of tutorial sites. Most of these tutorial sites are nothing more than a collection of links. For a while I enjoyed a very good PageRank, however at the time of writing this article I have a pretty dismal PageRank.

You have to remember search engines are always trying to improve the way they work in order to provide better search results for their users (ie customers). A search engine wants to make sure when a user enters his or her search terms, the search engine will turn up the results they want. If you keep this in mind and provide quality content I am very confident that will also improve your PageRank.

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 Are you blind when it comes to seeing ads on websites? Do you just read the content and not even see the ads? This was me before I started to run AdSense on this site.

 I would just surf along ignoring ads left and right. I did not need to run any specialize ad blocker for fire fox. I would just naturally turn a blind eye to any advertising. In fact I do the same thing while watching television. I even have an entire strategy for not watching commercials while watching TV.

 I find the program I want to watch, then I find another one that interests me and quickly turn the channel there. Then I can use the last button on my remote to switch between the two. When commercials start on the program I am watching I quickly turn to the other program. Most times this works well and I end up watching a bare minimum of commercials. Sometimes I get caught and there are commercials at the same time for both programs. It is then that I drive any one else watching TV with me nuts by channel surfing.

 I think this is a pretty common thing out there with people. You see the advertisements just do not provide any value for you. So you do other things while they are on or don’t even watch them at all. This was generally my mode d operandi while surfing the web too. Then I decided it would be nice to make a few bucks from this blog and I installed Google’s AdSense. Like many people new to AdSense I would check my stats every couple hours only to be disappointed that I had not made any money.

 Then came the day I had few clicks and made a whopping $0.45. I was excited and over joyed, even though I hadn’t made enough to buy a cup of coffee. That’s when I started to think about these ads in a whole new light. I thought to myself if this made me excited I bet it would make another blogger excited. Plus what really is Google selling from my site with these ads. It was then that I resolved I would from now on click on an ad if the site it was displayed on interested me.

 Clicking on these ads actually gave me a really good feeling. To me, I feel as though I am rewarding the blogger for a good post by clicking on their ads. Kind of like giving them a tip. An Adsense publisher cannot come out and ask you to click on their ads, its a big Google no no. Almost as bad as clicking on your own ads. So you will never see an author asking you click on their ads. But let me tell you by doing so, you are showing your support for that author. Plus what does it cost you? Just a bit of your time and who knows you may even find some great deals.

 I live in a small town and there is really no where to buy computer hardware. So I am used to having to order it online. Well I have noticed I am actually saving money by clicking through these ads on websites I frequent. Hopefully this is generating more revenue for the blog owners that I find the ad on. In order to spread the wealth I have changed how I buy computer hardware. First after I identify what I need/want I will research it to make sure it is indeed what I am after. Then I will check prices and write them down in my note pad (I always have a notepad on my desk). During my daily surfing if I find ads for these items, or ads for places that sell these items I will check the price. If I come up with a good price I will use that online merchant to make my purchase. There by giving some revenue to the blog or site I was reading when I found the ad.

 I don’t know maybe I am crazy or just turning into a hippie as I age. But I really like the idea of supporting the blogging community this way. My father was a small business man and during summer break from school I would accompany him to work. My father and a bunch of his friends who were also small business men got together every morning for coffee. It was a community of small business men, and they supported each other. If one sold an item the other needed, they would always buy from with in their community. My father would tell me that you have to support the community if you want the community to support you. Basically what goes around, comes around. That is what I feel I am doing by clicking on ads and buying items from them with in the blogging community.

 Hey maybe I am nuts. I am really interested in what you, other bloggers, think on this issue. Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

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