PageRank is one factor among many in the algorithm. It also has something to do with how deep Google will crawl your site. There is some value in having more PR, but...

The PR you see is toolbar PR (TBPR) and it's not the PageRank Google us using to calculate anything. It's also not something you should overly concern yourself with. Lower PR pages outrank higher PR pages all the time.

If you build links where it makes sense to build them then your PR will go up. The trap people fall into is in thinking that PR is the end goal, when it's not. Chasing after PR for the sake of PR isn't going to lead to a successful site.

It's like trying to win a race where to get to the finish line you need to pass three different stages en route. Someone somewhere observes that all the previous winners were among the top 5 people to reach stage 3. So you decide that you need to be one of the top 5 to reach stage 3 in the next race. But in your rush to complete the first 3 stages you forget to pace yourself and run out of energy before you cross the finish line and finish last.

Stage 3 wasn't the goal. The finish line was the goal. PageRank is not the goal either of SEO. Targeted traffic is the goal of SEO. You can get that with or without PR. If you focus on getting targeted traffic, say by getting links on pages where people might also be interested in your page, then your PR will end up going up. But your PR going up doesn't necessarily lead to targeted traffic.

nice one Steve, Hopefully we can finally put this PR thing to bed (fat chance, But it's worth a go).

People need to realize that PR is the effect of a good site, Not the cause of it.
Good sites get high PR, But not all high PR sites are good.

http://www.brianwhite.org/2007/06/25/i-have-pagerank <--- this says it all about PageRank...and it comes from a Googler.

(I'm gonna cram that link down every PageRanker's throat until they choke on it.)

Originally Posted by vangogh

PageRank is not the goal either of SEO.

I agree that it's not the goal, but I do think that it is a goal...

Case in point, many niche directories list sites according to PR, hence exposure to targeted traffic is being directly influenced by said PR.

Originally Posted by BreaktheSilence

I agree that it's not the goal, but I do think that it is a goal...

Case in point, many niche directories list sites according to PR, hence exposure to targeted traffic is being directly influenced by said PR.

Many directories list sites alphabetically, but that's no reason to only buy domain names that begin with 'a'.

I'd rather choose my own (more meaningful) goals anyway

Originally Posted by BreaktheSilence

I agree that it's not the goal, but I do think that it is a goal...

Case in point, many niche directories list sites according to PR, hence exposure to targeted traffic is being directly influenced by said PR.

And this is precisely how myths and BS get spread about SEO. The "traffic exposure" only comes from those who believe external PR is a valid unit of measure, thus propagating the myth.

Very good point raised. I had sort of got myself lost in the PageRank goal but this brings back reality. I do think it is still somewhat important however, but you're right, it's not the be all and end all

Originally Posted by gringo

Many directories list sites alphabetically, but that's no reason to only buy domain names that begin with 'a'.

Actually it is. Especially when you go back in time 20 years to when the only directory there was was the yellow pages. Anyone would tell you that you need to start your business name with an a.

I think it's idiotic, but that was the prevailing wisdom.

Basically it is. I agree with the opinion of vangoogh that targeted traffic is the goal of SEO.

I agree with You guys. Toolbar PageRank only looks good and help you when selling links. There is no connection between PR and SERP in my opinion.

PR is just for entertainment (gimmick)

Google found a way for people to install their toolbar

Originally Posted by lajocar

PR is just for entertainment (gimmick)

Google found a way for people to install their toolbar

Another conspiracy theory

Page Rank has been much used and probably more misused by webmasters . But here are my reasons why I think Page Rank is still important

1) PR is one among several criteria to rank well in search engines.

2) In the absence of any well known metric to judge the quality of the webpages .. page rank will continue to act as a important criteria.

3) For a given keyword similar kind of websites will rank differently .. the pages with high PR comes on top( I have seen this for products and services in my industry .. However I am not sure about other industries)

4) Page rank is not the ultimate aim of any webmaster .. building organic links and good traffic is ....If you are able to build the two successfully there is no reason why you wont get PR .

5) While I agree PR is not the be all and end all of a website .. It is something we all would love to have some day .. big or small

1) Totally incorrect. Only ONE search engine has PageRank

2) Only among those who know no better!

3) Then you should do more searching because this is absolutely NOT the case generally

Nice post chrishirst.

Yes, PR is not as important as it was before, Google has been pay the most attention to the content all the way. but, seldom believe it.

Hi,

Well, search engine ranking is always more important in SEO in comparison to Page rank. Higher rankings on search engine give you traffic and make your site popular (if you have really good stuff).

Most of the time better optimised sites with Lower Page rank outrank higher Page rank sites.

A better optimisation of your site can give you higher rankings quickly and you do not have to wait longer but in case of Page rank you must have to wait at least 3-4 months after optimisation.

Page rank only becomes important in case of indexing and reliability as webpages of sites with higher Page Rank get indexed earlier by search engines in comparison to lower Page rank sites.

If you focus all your time on PR and nothing to the content PR will mean nothing anyways. Google puts a lot of things into account such as how often your content changes, how old the pages are, what parts of the page have change, whether people go to your site through favorites, how often your site gets clicked on over others in the search results and so on and so on.

Think of this, you have lets say 100 different ways to market yourself, they are each are equally important, why then spend even 25% of your time on one thing.

Targeted traffic rules all the time. PageRank is nothing more but a mere feature of Google toolbar.

Targeted traffic is what matters.

http://www.google.com/technology/
this says it all about PageRank...and it comes from a Google.