Is page rank really that important.

#1 in all favorite keywords with a page rank of 5

[lgn]

I have never really worried about page rank. We have a page rank of 5, and we are listed as #1 for all my important keyword searches, beating out all the PR6 and PR7 spots. And I have been their for years.

Im getting the impression that your orginal google ad copy (which I was very happy with) plays just as important as being listed near the top, as Page Rank does.

Is Page Rank just and EGO trip, once you make it to PR 5, or am I am just dog gone lucky.

[TWhalen]

I agree with you about the copy meaning more.
To me, PageRank means absolute squat.

I even posted a topic asking this same question a few weeks back, and still feel the same way.

It's just a pretty green decoration in my Google toolbar.
Doesn't seem to help one way or the other.

[kris]

I dont think that PR is a factor when determining rankings. Links pointing to your site from sites with high PR is what matters.

[europeforvisitors]

All other things being equal, the page with higher PageRank should have better placement in Google's search results.

"All other things being equal" is the tricky part. The words on the page can make a big difference, regardless of pagerank. I have a page with PR6 that's #7 for "widget" but #1 for "widgets." Same page, same PageRank, nothing different except the plural "s" (or the lack thereof) in the search string.

[martinibuster]

It's not just

Links pointing to your site from sites with high PR

but themed links. This is just one factor out of many, that are considered when a search engine determines how RELEVANT your site is to a particular set of keywords.

[AkanDian rain]

PageRank becomes important in relationship to the Web sites you are competing with in the SERPs. However, even under that context it is still just one variable for determing ranking.

[WebGuerrilla]

We've been down this road many times in the past, and I don't think much has changed since the last time we discussed it. [webmasterworld.com]

[Bentler]

I don't think Pagerank is an ego trip-- but it's most important in differentiating results for general searches. Almost every general keyword I've tested returns results in Pagerank order. Even for specialized keywords and combinations, pages with lots of in-links top the list most of the time. I have plenty of regional PR 5 pages that ooze keywords and they suck in comparison to weaker continental pages with higher PR.

Keyword density of content, anchor text and in-link theme, alt text, and page size factor in, but Pagerank and theme seem to me to be the main differentiators.

[McMohan]

PR does play a very Important role. In my site I have a page with PR 5, which lists all the case studies, only by title. The actual case studies pages have PR 3. When you search using the title of a case study as Key Phrase, the actual case study page with PR 3 rank much below than the page with PR 5, though in the former pages the Keyphrase is used several times more compared to the latter which mentions it only once. Summing it up, keeping the KD and other features of page constant, one can go up the ladder of ranks by simply investing in PR. It does pay to ivest in PR, and a site with PR 7 or more and intelligent sharing of PR with sub-pages, can work wonders with Google. After all isn't Google a tough nut to crack?!