Google PageRank Calculator
Google PageRank Calculator - carefully explained and what you can do with it - written by top SEO experts

Google pagerank calculator The Page Rank Calculator is a script written by Chris Ridings entitled, "PageRank Explained". In this paper, Chris describes how Page Rank - a multiplying factor which is assigned to all web pages when Google is deciding which documents are most relevant in response to a search - is passed from page to page depending on the link structure of a web site. For search engine optimizers, the principal benefit is to reveal how a webmaster can influence how Google views the relative importance of pages on his or her site by carefully modifying the site's link structure.
The Page Rank Calculator is designed to model the behaviour of the Page Rank algorithm used by the Google search engine as described by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the originators of Google, in their research paper, "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hyper textual Web Search Engine." By entering the link structure of a small web site of anything up to 50 pages into the calculator, you can get a good idea of which of the pages on the site Google will be viewing as most important.

The SEO (search engine optimizing) business has emerged as a major player in the Internet business marketplace. Webmasters and website owners always arrive to a stage where they wonder why their business fail in making money, despite catchy domain name, excellent design and amazing Flash animation in the home page. The first one to blame is the webmaster, which is always at hand because he only has to deal with servers, hosting features, market analysis, programming languages, HTML design, art, copywriting, customer support and related tasks.

When the webmaster realizes the need for visibility and SE free traffic, usually looks for SEO services. Selecting a SEO company is not easy, because their methods are secret, and their results difficult to compare. It is common to detect SEOs that are not available because they are busy selling their own stuff and enjoying the results, and SEOs ready to sell services in order to collect some money while learning how to do the job.

Most of the SEOs charge a fixed fee, which can depend on the number of pages, number of keywords, languages in case of bilingual sites, and maybe words, in extensive websites. Internal links are another pricing factor, because linking usually goes together with complexity.

If we need to make a SEO quote we also assess the current SEO status, because is easier to work with a new site, where any result will be welcome, than optimizing an established website, with decent Page Rank, many incoming links and a structure that needs to be respected to avoid loss of existing traffic. It is also likely that someone had started doing SEO work, and the obvious steps are already taken, forcing us to concentrate on subtle, controversial or hard-to-implement changes. We made a first attempt to an online SEO cost calculator based on number of pages and keywords, but we still use a lot of guessing and risking for our budgets.

The client very often wants us SEO to work on a SE-positioning-results basis. So, if we do not get results, we do not collect any payment. Inexperienced site owners are an easy prey. I can offer them a first screen in Google under Joe Average Butcher store, and get away with it. However, when clients demand a first screen under sex site or mp3 CD we are in some trouble.

Measuring the difficulty and/or merit of a given positioning status can be useful for:

- charging SEO customers on a results basis - establishing the value of a SEO technique, tool or company - appraising domains or developed websites - choosing keywords before starting a SEO campaign, in order to pick up reachable targets (not to easy, not to difficult)

The existing competition for a keyword has two meanings in this context. One is the probable difficulty of ranking, because it is likely that good SEOs have entered that market. The other is the possible value for the client once we manage to rank at the top, since a lot of searchers will probably mean a lot of traffic as a prize for any good ranking.

Contrasting with the strategic value of SE Positioning, there is no published index or method for measuring SE positioning results. We did not find any such measure, while searching for these and related terms:

measure SE positioning 'SE positioning measure' 'SE positioning results' 'SE positioning index'

So, if someone created some wise SEO Rate or Index, he did not know enough SEO to make it appear in Google... Bad sign.

(I might be including relevant keywords in this article for indexation sake... sorry for that ;))

SEO companies do not share a standard, and when they need to compete, they run positioning contests with a fixed, arbitrary keyword. So, if you search under mangeur de cigogne (stork eater) you will be surprised to see 153,000 results, mostly arising from a well known SEO contest. The real world SEO contest is the word SEO, which is the top prize for most SEO companies, and has 28 million Google SERPs. Getting to the 20th post of those is much harder than being on top of the 10 million that search for optimized page, as we are. Or getting first out of the 2 million that search in Spanish for promocion de sitios (site promotion), which was comparably a piece of cake.

As you see, I am using the number of Google indexed pages as a measure of popularity. If you are 1st among one million that is good. But, is it better to be 2nd among 2,000,000? How about 10th among 20,000,000?

What we all know is that being 20th among 100,000 beats being 50th among 1000 million, just because nobody ever cares to search for a 50th positioned website.

So, we first suggested:

Keyword SEPI - Search Engine Positioning Index = Total page number / Position ^ 2)


The Google Positioning Index for my page positioned 1st under Google First Place would be:

185 / 1 ^2 = 185

This is a usable index, but it is still incomplete.

It happens that being first under improve womanhood (240,000 results) seems to be quite easy for experienced SEOs, while improve manhood (500,000 results) seems almost impossible. Why? Because the first 100 results under Womanhood are there by pure chance, while the first 100 under Manhood are there because savvy SEOs trying to sell Viagra made a hard-to-beat effort to be there.

For a quality estimation of positioning difficulty we need to analyze the first 10 sites in the SERP, look for PageRank, backlinks and optimization status, among other factors.

To detect if a keyword is very competitive and searched for we have several methods. We can count the number of AdWords, which reflect the interest of webmasters for that keyword. Also, when SEOs fail positioning a site in the organic (free) SE results, they pay a PPC campaign such as Adwords. We also use the Overture Keyword Selection Tool, which provides statistics on monthly searches.

The market variables are a different story. If our client wants to be first among 'stork eater' we will have a very hard job getting him there, although there is not commercial value on that keyword whatsoever.

The best estimating of Keyword Difficulty is a complex formula deviced by the authors of seomoz.org . It is free, and it takes into account many the factors, like:

# of results in Google, Yahoo and others # of results with and without quotes # of paid ads Alexa ranking

Keyword Difficulty goes from 0 to 100%, although I never found any keyword higher than 0.5. Sex, hosting and Brittney all are around 0.45. Very weird keywords are usually 0.2 or so.

Thus, Total Results and Keyword Difficulty are used to calculate our new index. These factors influencing positioning difficulty were chosen because they are relatively easy to calculate. However, I wish I knew all what it takes to be always first in SERP. Of course, that is a valuable commercial secret.

A good Search Engine Positioning Index should be:

- Reproducible - Consistent - Non-manipulable - Easy to calculate - Accepted - Non-proprietary - Free (or cheap)

Then, I propose:

Keyword SEPI = Total page results for the keyword searched between quotes in Google * Seomoz.org Keyword Difficulty ^2(to the square) / (Position ^2)

Keyword SEPI is: Keyword Search Engine Positioning Index

To analyze multi-keyword results, such as those coming from a campaign, a tool or a SEO company, we consider the sumatory of the partial SEPIs.

Google has a comprehensive and highly developed technology, a straightforward interface and a wide-ranging array of search tools which enable the users to easily access a variety of information online. Google users can browse the web and find information in various languages, retrieve maps, stock quotes and read news, search for a long lost friend using the phonebook listings available on Google for all of US cities and basically surf the 3 billion odd web pages on the internet! Google boasts of having world's largest archive of Usenet messages, dating all the way back to 1981. Google's technology can be accessed from any conventional desktop PC as well as from various wireless platforms such as WAP and i-mode phones, handheld devices and other such Internet equipped gadgets.

The web search technology offered by Google is often the technology of choice of the world's leading portals and websites. It has also benefited the advertisers with its unique advertising program that does not hamper the web surfing experience of its users but still brings revenues to the advertisers.

Google's Web Search Technology When you search for a particular keyword or a phrase, most of the search engines return a list of page in order of the number of times the keyword or phrase appears on the website. Google web search technology involves the use of its indigenously designed PageRank Technology and hypertext-matching analysis which makes several instantaneous calculations undertaken without any human intervention. Google's structural design also expands simultaneously as the internet expands.

PageRank technology:

PageRank technology involves the use of an equation which comprises of millions of variables and terms and determines a factual measurement of the significance of web pages and is calculated by solving an equation of 500 million variables and more than 3 billion terms. Unlike some other search engines, Google does not calculate links but utilizes the extensive link structure of the web as an organizational tool. When the link to a Page, lets say Page B is clicked from a Page A, then that click is attributed as a vote towards Page B on behalf of Page A.

Quintessentially, Google calculates the importance of a page by the number of such 'votes' it receives. Not only that, Google also assesses the importance of the pages that are involved in the voting process. Consequently, pages that are themselves ahead in ranking and are important in that way also help to make other pages important. One thing to note here is that Google's technology does not involve human intervention in anyway and uses the inherent intelligence of the internet and its resources to determine the ranking and importance of any page. Hypertext-Matching Analysis: Unlike its conventional counterparts, Google is a search engine which is hypertext-based. This means that it analyzes all the content on each web page and factors in fonts, subdivisions, and the exact positions of all terms on the page. Not only that, Google also evaluates the content of its nearest web pages. This policy of not disregarding any subject matter pays off in the end and enables Google to return results that are closest to user queries.

Query-handling - The Google Way: Google has a very simple 3-step procedure in handling a query submitted in its search box.

1. When the query is submitted and the enter key is pressed, the web server sends the query to the index servers. Index server is exactly what its name suggests; it consists of an index much like the index of a book which displays where is the particular page containing the queried term is located in the entire book.

2. After this, the query proceeds to the doc servers, and these servers actually retrieve the stored documents. Page descriptions or "snippets" are then generated to suitably describe each search result.

3. These results are then returned to the user in less than a second!

The Google Dance Approximately once a month, Google update their index by recalculating the Pageranks of each of the web pages that they have crawled. The period during the update is known as the Google dance.

Because of the nature of PageRank, the calculations need to be performed about 40 times and, because the index is so large, the calculations take several days to complete. During this period, the search results fluctuate; sometimes minute-by minute. It is because of these fluctuations that the term, Google Dance, was coined. The dance usually takes place sometime during the last third of each month.

Google has two other servers that can be used for searching. The search results on them also change during the monthly update and they are part of the Google dance. For the rest of the month, fluctuations sometimes occur in the search results, but they should not be confused with the actual dance. They are due to Google's fresh crawl and to what is known "Everflux". Google has two other searchable servers apart from www.google.com. They are www2.google.com and www3.google.com. Most of the time, the results on all 3 servers are the same, but during the dance, they are different.

For most of the dance, the rankings that can be seen on www2 and www3 are the new rankings that will transfer to www when the dance is over. Even though the calculations are done about 40 times, the final rankings can be seen from very early on. This is because, during the first few iterations, the calculated figures merge to being close to their final figures.

You can see this with the Pagerank Calculator by checking the Data box and performing some calculations. After the first few iterations the search results on www2 and www3 may still change, but only slightly.

During the dance, the results from www2 and www3 will sometimes show on the www server, but only briefly. Also, new results on www2 and www3 can disappear for short periods. At the end of the dance, the results on www will match those on www2 and www3.

This Google Dance Tool allows you to check your rankings on www, www2 and www3 and on all 9 datacenters simultaneously. How to maximize Google's Search Features?

- Find It ASAP: The Google Web Directory works in combination of the Google Search Technology and the Netscape Open Directory Project which makes it possible to search the Internet organized by topic. Google displays the pages in order of the rank given to it using the PageRank Technology. It not only searches the titles and descriptions of the websites, but searches the entire content of sites within a category, which ultimately delivers a comprehensive search to the users. Google also has a fully functional web directory which categorizes all the searches in order.

- In case you are feeling lucky: The I'm Feeling Lucky™ search button is recommended when searching for a highest ranked web page for a particular search. This saves time in searching for a webpage.

- The multi-faceted Google Toolbar: The Google Toolbar™ can seamlessly integrate with a user's web browser and be of quick assistance. - Pandora's Box: Google enables its users to search for U.S. street maps immediately by just typing the street name in the query box.

- Latest stock quotes are just a click away. Just type in the company ticker symbol or the name of one of the stock indices stock and mutual fund information and Google will return the relevant information in association with high-profile financial and trading concerns.

Cache me if you can: Google takes a snapshot of each page it examined as it crawls the web and stores or caches them as a back-up in case the original page is unavailable. This cached link always displays the page in the same manner as it was indexed and this is used by Google to match the relevancy of the page to the query submitted by the user. The "Cached" link will be missing for sites that have not been indexed, as well as for sites whose owners have requested Google not to cache their content.

Google Web Search Features: Google offers a variety of special features which helps users to find exactly what they are looking which is all in addition to providing easy access to more than 3 billion web pages. The following is an overview of its key features:

- Calculator: Google has a built-in calculator function which can be used to calculate mathematical expressions involving basic arithmetic, more complicated math, units of measure and conversions, physical constants and even hexadecimal and binary numbering systems. You can simply enter the expression you'd like evaluated in the search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.

- Dictionary Definitions: When searching about any particular term, if the Google database has a definition or meaning for the term, then it will be highlighted with an underline on the results page. This definition is derived in association with a reliable dictionary source.

- File Types: In addition to HTML files, Google search also supports 12 other formats such as PDF, Microsoft Office, PostScript, Corel WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and others. Additionally, Google also offers the user the ability to "View as HTML", which allows users to view these files in case the corresponding software is not installed on the user's PC. It also eliminates the hazards of opening a virus-infected document.

- News Headlines: While searching for a particular term, if that term is also in any of the current news, it is displayed as a separate news link on the results page. This is derived from various news providers who work in association with Google and who let Google monitor them.

A new offering - Advanced News Search:

A new offering from Google - Advanced News Search, allows visitors to scour headlines by date, location, exact phrases or publication. People can use it retrieve articles from more than 4,500 news outlets publishing on the Web. Advanced News Search lets visitors search for headlines using several parameters. Among other features, people can locate stories that contain an exact phrase, within the Unites States or abroad, or written by a specific publisher.

Similar Pages: The results page also displays a link for 'similar pages' which uses the GoogleScout technology to explore the web for similar pages. This is particularly helpful if you have hit upon a page which has relevant content, but you want something similar but more.