PageRank is the algorithm developed at Stanford University by Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that calculates the importance of a web page based on the number and quality of incoming links. Its name also comes from Larry Page.
The basic logic of PageRank:
- Each page is initially given a certain amount of “voting” power.
- When one page links to another page, it passes a portion of its vote to that page.
- Links from authoritative pages are far more valuable than those from ordinary pages.
- As the number of outbound links on a page increases, the amount of vote passed by each link decreases.
Since 2016, the PageRank score has not been shown publicly (Toolbar PageRank was removed), but variants of it are still used in Google’s internal algorithm. Modern PageRank also evaluates link quality, topical relevance, and spam signals.
Tip: Understanding the logic of PageRank is critical for your internal linking strategy: if you give lots of internal links to your important pages, you will have effectively funneled authority to them.