Google PageRank and Link Analysis

PageRank is a link analysis algorithm used by the Google Internet search engine that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of “measuring” its relative importance within the set. The algorithm may be applied to any collection of entities with reciprocal quotations and references. The numerical weight that it assigns to any given element E is also called the PageRank of E and denoted by PR(E).

Link Analysis and Google PageRank

No single element is more important to a Web page’s Google ranking than the perceived quality of the links that point to the page — the so-called back links. It is crucial to understand that Google cares less about the quantity of the back links than about the quality of each individual link. The link quality is determined by reviewing the importance of the site that contains the link.
Google does not disclose the specifics of its ranking algorithm to the public. However, the Google Web site states the following:PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the Web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Thus: As you get more quality links pointing to your site, your PageRank will increase.
The bottom line is that effective link building is critical to gaining an opportune Google ranking. Convincing a number of “important,” topic-similar Web sites to link to yours ultimately will prove more useful than any other technique to optimize your site. The tricky part, of course, is to figure out which sites you would like to link to yours and, more important, how to convince their owners to do so.
Effective link building requires patience and persistence. Lots of it. The first step in the link building process is to find out which links are currently pointing to your site. To do so:
Go to the Google Web site.
Type in “link:”+ your Web site URL.
Click “Google Search.
Google will list your Web site’s back links.
If you are using the Google browser toolbar, you can check the back links by pointing your browser to your Web site; then select the “Backward Links” option from the site information drop-down menu.
You should then visit and review the content and PageRank of some of the sites that point to yours. That will enable you to determine whether or not the current back links are beneficial to your site’s Google ranking.
The next step in the link building process is to build more of them…

To learn more about linking strategy and how to improve your PR visit  Link Analysis and Google PageRank web page.