Five years ago, popularity in the personal website community was judged solely by hits. Whether you want to admit it or not, the majority of us with personal websites were all about the hits. We threw up counters and invisible trackers, and checked on our hits every single day. We commented on other sites, left messages on tag boards, hit up plugboards to leave behind our button, and signed guestbooks left and right. We also did link exchanges and affiliate exchanges with everyone we could find that was interested in doing the same with us.

Now, the tide has shifted, and website popularity now isn’t so much about hits (though it’s a big part of it), but about Google Page Rank. What is Google Page Rank? It’s a number from 0-10 that is assigned to your blog. That number, while seemingly meaningless, can say a lot about your site’s supposed “worth”, especially to any potential advertisers who may be looking to market their products and/or services on your website in exchange for providing you with monetary compensation. 0, or N/A, is the lowest rank, and 10 is the highest. For a bit of reference, CNN has a Page Rank, or PR, of 9. Most new sites to hit the web scene are ranked at 0 until Google does its update, which happens, on average, every three to four months.

I personally dislike Google Page Rank because I don’t feel it provides an accurate judgment of a website’s worth. Google uses a bunch of complex calculations to determine a website’s worth, and most of them boil down to the high school way of things: you’re judged by the company you keep, and by who likes you. If you’re friends with A, B and C (in this case, websites A, B and C link to you), then you get a good PR. But if you’re friends with X, Y and Z (in this case, websites X, Y and Z link to you), then you’re a nobody and don’t get a good PR rating.

Unfortunately, until more and more advertisers and marketing companies are willing to overlook Google Page Rank and take into account other methods of tracking a website’s worth — by traffic, who is coming, where they’re from and how long they stay, and inbound and outbound links, we’re stuck with trying to make the best of it, and grasp at the not always successful methods in upping and keeping a good PR.