It is a method employed by the Google search engine to help rank the importance of web pages for the search engine. Pages are ranked on a very wide scale, which is then converted to a rough scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most important pages on the internet.
One way to find an estimate of what any page's PageRank is, you can first install the Google Toolbar to your Internet Explorer Web Browser (Sorry, Netscape and Opera users, you are happy with your browser, even though you are not using the industry's leading browser. To change this, take up the issue with Google!) Here's how to install:
1. Go to http://toolbar.google.com (Do it now, it will open in a new window, so you can read here and proceed!
2. Select your language, and then click on "Get the Google Toolbar!"
3. Continue following the screen instructions, and you'll have it!
That was the first part, now you need to make sure that the "Advanced Feature" is activated, so:
1. Click on the word "Google" that is now on your toolbar, and select "Toolbar Options" about halfway down the list.
2. Make sure that "PageRank display" is selected / enabled.
3. Check or uncheck any other features as you want.
4. Click "OK" and you are done.
Now, you will always have the PageRank displayed for every page you visit. To get more details, place the cursor over the PageRank bar.
Lot's of good if you have a website and you want to increase your traffic! While your PageRank readout is not 100% accurate, it is an indicator of how important the folks at Google think your website is! So, how do you increase it?
1. First, forget about it. Have a page that is worth visiting. Make sure you have quality content, not just a list of links.
2. Now that you have some meat on the bones of your website, go through the process of listing keywords in a meta tag. While their value is certainly decreasing, this list of words will be very helpful to you! You will use them to find websites similar to yours, so that you can visit them! Once you do you will:
3. Check them out. See what they are doing. See how they did their website. Check their PageRank, how high they list, etcetera. You will then decide if you want to link to them or if you want them to link to you.
4. Wait. This stuff takes time. Many pages need to be up anywhere from 3 to 6 months before the search engines will give them credibility. Don't move pages around in your website, it hurts you because your website then appears unstable!
Get that traffic!