For those of you not yet aware, Google is currently updating
the PageRank they are displaying in their toolbar. Each update
causes a stir among the SEO community and webmasters trying to
get their websites to the top of the Google Rankings.

What Is PageRank?
Without getting into
too much detail, PageRank is essentially a score out of ten as
to the "value" of your site in comparison to other websites on
the Internet. It is based on two primary factors; the number of
links you have pointing to your website and the value of the
links pointing to your website. The value is calculated based on
the PageRank of the page linking to you and debatably the
relevancy of the page linking to you (there is no hard evidence
to back up the relevancy factor in regards to PageRank that I
have seen however it definitely is a factor in your overall
ranking).

If you are interested in more information on
PageRank you would do well to visit the many forums and articles
on the topic and also visit Google's own description on their
website at target="_blank">http://www.google.com/technology/ where
theygive a brief description of the technology.

What's New?
The most current PageRank
update will undoubtedly cause a larger stir than usual in that
many sites have shown drops in their visible PageRank while at
the same time showing significant increases in their backlinks.
This fact reveals that one of three things has occurred in this
latest update:

1. Google has raised the bar on
   PageRank, making it more difficult to attain a high level,
   or
2. The way they are displaying their backlinks has
   changed, or
3. The way they calculate the value of an
   incoming link has changed.

Any of these are
possible and has been noted in the past as something they are
willing to do. Additionally, it is possible for all to occur at
the same time.

As we don't like to use client's as
examples I will use the Beanstalk site, backlink counts, and
PageRank changes as the meter by which the following conclusions
are drawn, however this information was attained through looking
at a number of client website, and their competitors.

Google Raising The Bar To Lower Yours

In the past few PageRank updates it has become quite apparent
that Google is continuously raising the bar on PageRank. In
their defense, with all of the reciprocal link building, link
renting, etc. going on this was a natural reaction to the
growing number high PageRank sites that attained those ranks
simply by building or buying hundreds and thousands of
links.

There is no doubt that this is a factor in the
changes in this current update. If your site has maintained it's
PageRank, and the PageRanks of your second-level pages then you
have done well in holding steady and if your competitors have
not been as diligent their positions will slip.

New Backlink Calculations
I mention this
one only to bring to light that it is a possibility for your
future consideration during other updates. The Beanstalk website
went from 750 shown backlinks on Google to 864. it should be
noted that Google does not show all backlinks (if you want a
more accurate backlink count go to Yahoo! and enter
"link:http://www.yourdomain.com" (don't forget the
http://)).

When the Beanstalk site showed 750
backlinks on Google we were showing around 12,000 on Yahoo!
(about 6.5% showing on Google). The Beanstalk site is now
showing 864 on Google and 15,500 on Yahoo! (about 5.6%). If
anything then, Google is showing less links than before which
negates the possibility that a website's PageRank is dropping
due to a decrease in links but being hidden by an increased
number being displayed.

In short, while which backlinks
Google chooses to display has certainly changed over time it
does not appear to be a major factor in this update. If you see
an increase in your sites backlink counts during this update you
undoubtedly have an increased number of links.

The Value Of Links
Separate from the
number of links you have is their value. This appears to be an
area of significant change in this update. Areas that appear to
have reduced value in regards to affecting PageRank are:

1. Multiple links from the same site or run-of-site
   links
   Intelligent and relevant reciprocal links do not
   seem to have been penalized, probably due to the increased
   relevancy factor. If you reduce the value of irrelevant links
   and raise the value of relevant ones then there is no need to
   penalize reciprocal links as, done incorrectly, they will
   penalize themselves.
2. Links with text around them
   that indicate they are purchased such as "Partners",
   "Advertising", etc.
   Google has and is actively trying
   to reduce the value of paid links. This appears to have been
   moderately successful where there is clear indication that the
   link is paid for.
3. Links from sites that hold
   little relevancy (this factor is based on educated speculation)
   
   The relevancy factor appears to have become more
   important. Links from sites with content related to yours is
   showing positive results while sites with larger numbers of less
   relevant links are showing drops in PageRank.

What Does This Mean?
For those of you
who have been proactive in your link building, and focused on
relevant sites using the Google Directory, searches or a tool
like PR Prowler it means, "stay the course". Those of you
who have been building or buying links based only on PageRank
with little concern for it's location, or how it is presented -
you will need to adjust your link building efforts
accordingly.

What Do I Do - My PageRank Dropped
?!!?
The first thing not to do is
panic. Take a deep breath, PageRank is one factor of dozens that
Google uses to determine the ranking of your page, it is not the
only thing. Now, visit your main competitors sites - there's a
good chance you'll see that they too dropped in PageRank. The
plus side to these kinds of updates is that they're universal.
It's not as if Google has it in for you specifically and so when
they do an update, the positive and negative impact is felt by
all.

Now, if you've noticed that everyone around you has
stayed the same or increased in PageRank try to remember this,
there's nothing you can do about where you're currently
positioned in regards to PageRank and it will probably be
another 3 months before Google updates the public PageRank again
so ... start building some good quality (high relevancy, solid
PageRank) links, work towards and increase in the next
update.

Panicking now won't help, intelligent reaction
will.

What Happens Now?

Traditionally the search engine results will begin to fluctuate
based on the new visible PageRank 3 to 7 days after they are
visible. This does not have to be the case as Google's had these
numbers all along but it's worked this way in the majority of
cases in recent history. So monitor your search engine positions
over the next week or two and watch for changes. Try to hold
back on making major changes to your site during this time as
often the final positions will differ from those that can be
viewed during the shuffling. In a couple weeks time evaluate
where you stand and tweak your site as necessary but don't spend
too much time on that ... you have a solid link building effort
to undertake.