Importance of Backlinks in Page Ranking

Guest Post

Google Backlinks
Google uses complex mathematical algorithms to guess which websites a user seeks. Since website B is the recipient of numerous inbound links, it ranks more highly in a web search. And the links “carry through”, such that website C, even though it only has one inbound link, has an inbound link from a highly popular site, website B. Note: percentages are rounded.

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As a caveat, we have to understand that Page Ranking is altogether different from the search engine ranking. The search engine ranking of a particular webpage translates to its emplacement on the results generated by major search engines after a query is made for a certain keyword. Good search engine ranking is the ultimate goal in SEO. Page rank, on the other hand, is one of the many contributing factors to improve search engine ranking.

Page Ranking

Not so long ago, search engines based their indexing chores on the amount of keyword incorporated on a web page. That means the larger the keyword density of a page, the higher it would rank on search engines. I surmise you know what happened next. Yes, foxy web users, at the time, figured out a way to rig the search engine results to their advantage. The concept of keyword stuffing, or the use of frequently repeated keywords in the content, was conceived. It did not take long before search engines were able to come up with updated algorithms to fend off this gambit.

During the late 1990’s, page rank was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin— Stanford students at the time and eventual founders of the internet behemoth Google Incorporated. Page ranking is the designation of a numerical value to an individual page, not a website in general, to determine its web importance. Page Rank is judged on a scale of one to ten- ten being the highest.

Backlinks

In contrast to the defunct keyword density rule, Page and Brin believe that it is the backlinks or the number of links directed to the page that really matters. Just like in the concrete world, a voting system must be conducted in order to come up with a clear winner. Webpages cast their votes for a page by linking into it.  In this virtual election, however, votes are not created equal.

Backlinks or inbound links from pages with higher page rank or PR hold more gravity. The number of outbound links made by a page is also taken into consideration. The more outbound link pages have, the less gravity is carried by each of their links. We can all see the logic behind these rules. Web pages with higher PR mean that they are given more importance relative to others. These pages are more authoritative and credible, and that is why Google grades links from these pages as having more weight. Meanwhile, pages with a lot of outbound links are deemed as those that are less discerning when it comes to linking to other sites.

The Importance of Backlinks

The importance of backlinks in page ranking is tantamount in effect to the importance of page ranking in the search engine rankings. Many web sites depend largely on the volume of traffic they receive. They know all too well that in order to attract traffic they must rank well in the search engine results for a better chance of getting noticed. One of the major keys to attaining this success is getting higher PR. We already know that this is where backlinks would come into play.

About the Author

Krystine Joy Sitjar is a full time freelance writer who enjoys researching and writing various topics on the web. One of her favorite niches is internet technology and she loves sharing knowledge with other Broadband Expertvia online discussion boards and forums.

5 Comments

  1. The algorithm still makes my brain hurt, but thanks for the breakdown!

  2. To me this is so hard to really understand well, but I’m trying, lol! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  3. Thanksfor the info, it’s such a thing to get backlinks 🙂 I don;t know the secret.

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