Okay – criticise me on this. I think PageRank is bad for your health.

Come on now. Every now and then you and I are always worrying about your PageRank – Is it going up? Is it going down? Will Google slam my site to PageRank 0? When will the next Google PageRank update? How to increase PageRank? How to cheat PageRank? How to find loopholes in PageRank system? And many more questions in our head.

Do you really want to improve your PageRank? OK. Here’s how:

1. Build your backlinks – increase the number of sites link to your site.
2. Get a link from a higher PageRank website – If you can’t get them link to you naturally (or because they wanted to), pay for it!
3. Ask related website’s owners to exchange links with you – this is called a reciprocal – Google view reciprocal links more important than the regular one way link.
4. Buy traffic – hopefully, many visitors will link your site.
5. Get listed in directories – the more, the better.

It’s all legitimate, often-implemented, ways to improve your PageRank. But then, there are one problem with those suggestions – no matter how hard you try to deny, great content is paramount. Period.

Sure, you heard a lot of people, including pro bloggers, suggest you to be persistent in writing content; to be able to find what’s an interesting read for your targeted audience; to be able to write engagingly. But, to be honest with you, there’s no other way that is as cost-effective and powerful as writing great content.

Considering the 5 how-tos above, here’s my arguments why you should rely on great content more than anything else:

1. Build your backlinks – is not easy. Unless you pay for it, there is no other way that works except providing great content.
2. Get a link from a higher PageRank website – technically, this is what PageRank all about, isn’t it? A link is a vote to your site – more important website linking to you feels like a celebrity refer you to the community – big impact, it is. However, how to get their links? Only two ways – buy them, or let them come naturally. I read in forums that people are willing to pay hundreds of dollar PER LINK from PR 6 sites. Great contents cost you zero dollar.
3. Exchange links – it’s actually working, if you have the time for it. I think it’s better to spend your time creating good content than exchanging links one at a time.
4. Buy traffic – It’s generic and not everlasting – and expensive.
5. Get listed in directories – similar to the ones above, the main consideration is time and money. If you have them, no problem. Alas, most of us don’t have them.

There are endless ways to improve your Google PageRank – as long as you have the time and money, it’s all fine. But Google themselves admit – the best way to get more traffic and better PageRank is to create valuable content.

Moreover, why bother PageRank? In many cases, PageRank is for your ego, not for your visitors! Your visitors don’t really care what PageRank you have – as long as you have useful content for them, that’s all that matters. Do you think having a PR 5 site will make your site more useful – NO. Does having a PR 5 site will guarantee you to earn money online? NO.

I’m not stand up against Google PageRank – it IS important for your site to be placed higher in the search engine, thus more easy for visitors to reach your site. But, in my humble opinion, too many people consider PageRank as the most important factor in creating value for your website.

It is not.

Having great content often means a higher PageRank – not the other way around. You can pay all money in the world to get a better PageRank – but as soon as you stop paying, your PageRank drops! This is a common practice in the world of web master and web developing – although common is not by all mean ethical. A typical case – You pay for a sum of money to increase your site to PR 6. You stop paying, your site’s PR drops to 1. That’s fact.

Do you know what make Steve Pavlina having a great personal development blog? Great content. With zero advertising – he uses word of mouth to spread his great content – today his blog is visited by more than 24,000 visitors PER DAY. Of course, as a result, his blog has a high PageRank.

So, stop worrying about Google PageRank – get out of the rat race of chasing high PR – and start producing great content!

Ivan Widjaya
Great content is king

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