Not many weeks ago, WebProNews wrote a report on the subject of Google taking out PageRank from Webmaster Tools. Susan Moskwa, a Webmaster Trends Analyst at the top search engine said, “We’ve been telling people for a long time they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true,” she explained. “We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look for it.” As it stands now, PageRank has been taken out of Google WebMaster Tools but it still shows up in the Google Toolbar.

I can’t figure out why Google recommends that we shouldn’t count so much on the information shown in PageRank when it’s unmistakable to every one that the majority of us bank on these numbers when reviewing the outcomes of our search engine optimization and marketing strategies and given that we agree that a high PR results in added traffic for our website then, Page Rank should be given considerable weight when evaluating our efforts.

Titus Hoskins, a Search Engine Marketer and author of ‘Does Google Page Rank Count Anymore?’ wrote in his article that, “For years, Google has been downplaying the importance of Page Rank and states that it’s only one of about 200 ranking factors which determine how Google ranks its index for keywords”, emphasized the effects of gaining high PR popularity on online companies, and I feel that a majority of what he wrote made a lot of sense.

Titus Hoskins spoke about the effect of a better page rank saying that, “Obtaining a high PR7 or PR8 simply means more business and revenues. Placed against a PR1 site, a PR8 will win more respect in the eyes of potential clients and can produce enormous profits for the site owner.”

So where does this prospective client respect emanate from? It is borne out of their respect of Google indeed. Titus Hoskins examined the respect and brand recognition Google has by saying, “Google has established an unmatched credibility and brand recognition in the eyes of potential customers visiting your site. Web users trust Google for guidance and direction”, and as an online marketer, Hoskins is astonished by how Google affects the web community. Regarding this he said, “I am completely amazed each day at the marketing power Google now commands with web surfers and with the general population.” Hoskins added, “Google is the king of online search and no other search engine even comes close to Google.”

I translate that to indicate that if Google, gives a web-based business a high PR, then count on Google’s influence to have a positive effect on the number of people purchase from that site. So how can we stop these businesses from assigning such a big premium to Google PageRank numbers?

“Regardless of what Google wants to happen,” wrote Hoskins, “PageRank is still extremely important to anyone marketing on the web, especially if you’re selling SEO services or operating a web business.” He sums up how people see PageRank as something that, “still wields tremendous influence and power” and by and large, this understanding has stayed valid up until recently. “By default, PageRank is Google’s opinion of your site,” Hoskins stressed. “Web users can count (at least to 10) and if Google believes people are still not counting when it comes to PageRank, then they are fully mistaken.”

In spite of what Google has said is their opinion I am still of the opinion that there is some benefits to be obtained from Google’s PageRank feature. I go along with the writers quoted above, and plan to continue to use Google’s PageRank in my evaluation of my own search engine optimization endeavors as well as other people’s.

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