They’re everywhere…

Blog posts, forum questions, emails, website articles, etc… all about improving your PageRank.

Google is clearly the front runner in driving free, targeted website traffic, so everyone wants their site to rank well in any measuring tool Google produces.

First of all, I’ve seen no indication that your PageRank affects the amount of traffic Google sends you.

My site, 2 Create a Website, has gone from a PR5 to a PR4 in the last year, yet the traffic I receive from Google has doubled.

PageRank merely reflects the number of quality backlinks to your site (in Google’s eyes). Of course it would be great to have a site with a PR8, but if you don’t, it’s not a reason to stress.

It’s reasonable to believe PageRank is one of the factors Google uses to determine rank and relevance, but that’s just one piece of the gigantic ranking puzzle.

Continue to build useful content, market the heck out of your site, stay away from linking schemes, find ways to reinvent your site and you’ll be fine.

Keep an eye on measuring tools like PageRank and Alexa for informational purposes, but it’s not the end of the world if those numbers aren’t as high as you’d like them to be.

If I stressed or panicked every time my PageRank or Alexa numbers dropped, I’d be in a loony bin by now.

Focus on things you can control, and let the PageRank numbers fall where they may.