JanFer - 8:03 pm on Apr 12, 2006 (gmt 0)

That's a good point, Oliver. Average pageviews can represent opposite statistics.

A site with poor navigation, and/or empty content would have a higher average pageview than a site which gives its visitors exactly what they're looking for within a click or two.

Conversely, lots of pageviews can mean a site has a lot of interesting pages, which encourages visitors to dig deeper.

So, lots of pageviews can mean a site is crappy, but not so crappy visitors leave immediately, or it can mean that the site is relevant and has a lot of interesting content.

Low page views can show that a site is well organized and gives vistors exactly what they're looking for in an easy-to-find format, or that the site has nothing much of interest.

Therefore, pageview statistics should be taken with a grain of salt.

Wouldn't the rate of return visits be a more accurate demonstration of a site's relevance?

If google were to put emphasis on pageviews as an indicator of relevance, would that not encourage webmasters to make their sites harder to navigate?