Why we shouldn’t forget about PageRank in 2019
As discussed in class, the PageRank algorithm is how Google ranks pages in regards to their importance which is determined by the inlinks of a page. The idea is to show Google’s users the best and most relevant information at the top of the search, making it a more efficient search process. However, for various reasons, PageRank was removed from the public viewpoint in 2016. The article claims that there is a possibility that PageRank is still used behind the scenes, as a patent update was issued recently.
Barysevich writes in the article, Why we shouldn’t forget about PageRank in 2019, that there are 5 ways to improve our PageRank score, tying into the belief that Google is still using the algorithm.
- Build quality backlinks
- To build quality backlinks, Barysevich suggests to run backlink analysis and make sure the link juice coming into your site comes from higher ranked pages.
- Maintain a shallow site structure
- Barysevich suggests to keep your most important pages closest to the highest ranking pages.
- Follow best-practices for links coming out of a page
- Barysevich suggests to consider where links are on a page, links within content are better than navigational links.
- Tell users where links lead
- Barysevich suggests that using anchor text will help users reach content more efficiently.
- Leverage linkless mentions
- Barysevich believes that linkless motions will grow in importance in the future.
Barysevich argues that using those techniques to improve our PageRank score will likely lead to more traffic and an overall better experience for the consumer using the website and the organization hosting the website. While this is not a direct application of the processes learned in lecture, it shows the effect of PageRank in the real-life world, taking a concept and showing how it is applicable to a real life situation. As emphasized in class, these overall networks are everywhere in society.