ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS column: Part 006: Why Google PageRank hardly plays a role in B2B

The PageRank of a website is probably the most talked about. However, PageRank is just one of many measures and no longer even necessarily one of the most important signals. This is particularly true in B2B internet marketing.

PageRank is now just one factor among many. Google's "master of the algorithm", the Indian Amit Singhal, recently told the N. Y. Times that more than 200 factors (which we have categorised into 65 categories in the iROI strategy), called signals at Google, are incorporated into the ranking of a page.

What is this PageRank that motivates many webmasters to optimise day and night just for it and then often give up in frustration when, after various actions, there is no improvement in the ranking? Well, it's quite simple: PageRank as such doesn't even exist!

It is wrong to speak of "the" PageRank, because there are 2 different ones: the first one, which is displayed in the toolbar, for example, and the real PageRank. How do they differ?

While the real PageRank is recalculated every time a page is evaluated, the small green bar in the toolbar is only updated approximately every 3 months: Google then updates its index and calculates the real PageRank for all websites and writes this to the database.

A good PageRank does not mean more sales

It is then retrieved from this database for the next three months by the PageRank toolbar and displayed as a green bar. Unfortunately, far too many webmasters and web designers worry about PageRank and forget about really valuable strategic components that affect more than just the ranking of a website.

That's why I often encounter a lack of understanding from web agencies and semi-informed people who simply cling to PageRank and whose customers still don't feel any increase in turnover. It's a real shame that many agencies make their customers feel insecure.

So: Give up the hysteria about PageRank and start thinking clearly in the world of internet marketing - just because you have a good PageRank doesn't mean you're making sales!