PageRank™ can be one of the most confusing aspects of search engine optimization (SEO). Frankly, to some it looks like Greek. Don’t believe me? Below is the PageRank formula value for any page where in u or PageRank is expressed as

Confusing? Yes. Does it have to be? No. A few simple tweaks to your site can greatly increase your PageRank.

Understanding Page Rank – Rank Pages Not Sites

It’s important to remember that search engines are ranking pages not sites. So optimizing your index page for twenty different keywords and phrases will not raise the rank of your entire site. In fact, this kitchen sink approach will actually dilute your keywords and phrases, lessening your PageRank.

Instead, look to optimizing different pages of your site for singular keywords and phrases. While it’s best to have the keyword or phrase in the domain name, if that’s not possible ensure that it is included in the URL. For instance, if you are optimizing your page for the keyword phase “New York web design” name your file “new-york-web-design.html. This is a clear signal to search bots that the keyword phrase is relevant to the page content. After all, search returns show the entire URL, the full path, not just the domain name.

Improving Page Rank – Design & Code Optimization for SEO

Although the web is a seductively visual image, it remains a textually driven application. While web graphics, Flash, and JavaScript applications can increase the beauty and usability of your site, it means nothing to search engines.

Use Alt Tags

Search Engines only know what you tell them. Therefore, if you want a search engine to understand that a graphic is an ad or coupon for your services you have to tell it. You do this via ALT (alternative) tags. ALT tags should contain a description of what the image is. It is a labeling device to translate your image into text for search engines. It also translates your image into a textual reference for users with visual handicaps. Finally, if a user has images turned off or a slow connection, they are presented with your textual alternative so your page remains relevantly contextual.

Use Title Tags

Where alt tags are from older html based standards, title tags are a new addition to web applying xhtml standards. Title tags perform the same basic function as alt tags. However, title tags can apply to almost any page element, not just images. Title tags can serve a variety of functions, for instance, they can explain a link’s relationship.

Using alt and title tags, which correspond to a visual graphic, are informative to both your reader and search engines. This is particularly evident in IE, where rolling over a tagged image displays a tool tip.

So which should you use? For images, use both. Because title tags are based on newer standards, older browsers ignore them. Because Firefox attempts to maintain the most current standards, it ignores alt tags all together. If newer IE browsers are given both options, it too will ignore the alt and display the title tag.

JavaScript & SEO

JavaScript faces the same issues as images. It means nothing to a search engine. The other issue is size. Search Engines actually have a limit to how much page content they will crawl. For instance, Googlebot has a 100KB limit. Even though the Googlebot directive is to search for keywords and phrases, any placed after the 100 KB limit are invisible to it.

Get into the practice of not overloading the HEAD section of your page with styles and scripts. Instead, you should link to external files.

Proximity & Hierarchy

Another way to optimize individual pages is to consider the proximity of keywords and phrases to the beginning of a page. A perfect example to explain the difference between your two audience considerations is menu placement. While human visitors see left-handed menu in general they tend to focus immediately on the content. The menu almost ceases to exist until needed. However, the search engine spider will read the menu BEFORE the content. To a search engine spider the menu content is more important.

Search Engines also consider textual hierarchy. Just like writing a term paper in high school, a search engine looks for code clues to understand the outline of your page. To a spider, text in heading code is more important then plain text. The same is true for text that is bold, italicized, or underlined.

How Search Engines Work

Again, search engines only know what you tell them. When your page is crawled for the first time, the spider does not know which words are relevant. It has to read your code and, based on its algorithm, make an educated guess as to what is relevant an important.

Once it has made this guess it compresses your page, picking out key elements and creates and associated index. Think of this compressed index as an enumerated outline of all the words found on your page with specially applied parameters associated with each word: proximity, hierarchy, repetition, etc.

While each search engine’s actual parameters and algorithms are secret, SEO experts can also make educated guesses. Words that are high in the parameters’ determined returned list are considered keywords. In reality, the algorithms are quite complex and include off page factors such as what words are used by other pages to links to your page. Therefore, there are many factors in play to calculate the relevance of keywords and phrases.

When a user queries a search engine it looks to its indexes and returns all pages in the database containing the user’s query string of words. This return is called a SERP or Search Engine Return Page. This is where PageRank begins.

Each page has been indexed according to the on page factors discussed above. However, again, there are off page factors in play as well. These page independent factors, including who links to you and what words they use to link to you, is the basis of how well your page will rank.

Understanding Off Page Rank Factors

Links to and from your site are an important off page factor for determining PageRank. Links to your site are called backlinks. You can always check out your backlinks by querying Google using its link operator.

Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. Google looks not only at the sheer volume of votes; among 100 other aspects, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote.

Although PageRank is based on incoming links, sheer volume is not enough. Many other factors determine how much credence or “votes” each link gives your website’s individual PageRank.

Not All Inks Are Equal – Quality, Relevancy and Quantity of Links Effect PageRank

Quality of Links

Links with high PageRank, who link or vote for your page, carry more weight than links with equal or less PageRank. Therefore, a link from the Big Man on Campus is more important than Joe Average.

Relevancy of Links

However, relevancy of links is equally important. After all, if you’re not into football having the quarterback thinking your great is nice but isn’t relevant. Google looks to title tag an on page criterion of incoming links to determine relevancy and similarity. Pages whose relevancies are equal or similar to your page are given more weight.

Another relevancy criterion for incoming links is how pages link to you. Ideally, you want the incoming link to use your keyword in its anchor text. For instance, when pages link to our site they link it as “New York Web Design” not “ForeScene.”

Quantity of Links

If a high-ranking page links to your page, it has value. However, if the high ranking page links to you and a hundred other pages it has less value. Essentially, the voting weight of the incoming link is divided among all the links on that page.

Another quantity issue is “link mills” also know as “link farms”. Although Google does not explicitly state, they do employ filters in their algorithms. One of these filters directly affects link mills or link farms. Many unscrupulous SEO companies will utilize link mills in attempt to increase backlinks. A link mill is a page with nothing but links on it. Linking to link farms or mills can be extremely detrimental. These “bad neighborhoods” are often banned sites. If you link to them yourself, you tell Google they are relevant to your site. Google may take the appropriate negative action. In fact, some SEO experts believe this filter to be so restrictive that search engines do not index pages named “link.html.”

The final quantity issue is timeliness of links. Too many links to your site too quickly sends a flag to Google.

PageRank & Your Business Website

While PageRank formula is extremely complex, there are some simple things you can do to positively affect your rank. Remember, while it is important to create an attractive website and web page for users it must be attractive to search engines. After all, if users cannot find you in a Search Engine then it is if you don’t have a website at all.