Page Rank is part of Google's system of evaluating the importance of pages of websites. It is really quite simple to read Page Rank numbers. A Page Rank of 0 is listed as PR0 and means the page is a zero, it has no rank, nothing to see, please move on. A PR of 10 is just about ideal. It is written PR10.

In the real world there are very few PR10s. A PR8 or so is what most people aim for. Although a PR6 or PR7 or PR8 is not ideal, it is good enough to impress most viewers. Which also means it is good enough to sell products, if that is what the page is about. And that is what most pages on the internet are about.

For years increasing PR has been one of the major goals of SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. A lot of time and energy and money have been spent focused primarily on increasing Page Rank so that the page gets more views.

Well, folks, that party may soon be over. Officials at Google, such as Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa, recently said things like, [people] "shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true." Put away your Page Rank tools and go to work elsewhere, news like this seems to say.

Except some people do not believe the Page Rank party is over.

Read the quote carefully. Ms Moskwa says some people think Page Rank is the most important, which is simply not true. OK, if it is not the most important that does not stop it from being the second most important or third or similar. In other words, it might still be important, even if not the most important.

Which means the chase for high PR will not be over. Think of it this way: Many people have built into their browsers a kind of meter which measures the Page Rank of pages they view. Let us say you want to buy a product. You go to three websites to compare prices. One page is PR0, one is PR3 and one is PR8. With the meter readings staring you in the face, who will you buy from? Sure, the PR8 page. Because you know the page owner is more reliable and trustworthy. Higher PR will still earn customers.

Google may not consider PR at the very top of the list of factors they weigh in putting pages on search page 1 and 2 and so on. But it helps a lot to pay attention. Notice that Google did not spill the beans by announcing what is the most important factor they look for. Unless and until they do, keep that Page Rank up.