Understanding the way Google ranks websites is critical to being able to serve up just what Google wants. In more ways than one, Google controls who has access to your website. Of course if someone has the link, they can easily go to your site. But Google is the most used search engine, so it’s the way that most people will find your blog or site.

Google’s ranking algorithm is a complex mathematical combination of a variety of formulas designed to determine which sites are useful or important and how they compare to other sites with similar topics, keywords, or traffic. Ranking is dependent on a wide range of ranking factors but in this post we’ll talk about Google Page Rank, Google site rank, and Google places ranking.

Google Page Rank

The importance of Page Rank has been overstated for a few years. Google Page Rank is one of hundreds of factors considered when deciding how important a website is for people searching with Google. Google has stated that Page Rank is no longer critical for SEO purposes. You may find page ranking tools which help you compare your site to other sites.

Google Site Rank

Google site rank tools are created by third parties as well. Google doesn’t display rankings of websites. However, just like Google Page Rank, you may be able to determine how much traffic your site is getting and how it’s moving up and down in search results for particular search terms, keywords, and phrases.

Google Places Ranking

Google places ranking is much more important. Local search has been deemed a critical factor, since most people search for services or businesses that they can easily visit in person. Of course not all blogs and websites have a local business, so Google Places Ranking may not be as important for some as for others. In addition, even if a business doesn’t have a website, if they’re listed in Google Places, they may be ranked in a listing.

It’s important to note that location does not need to be part of a keyword phrase. Because Google Places Ranking uses country, city, or neighborhood names to determine location separately from other keywords, it’s not necessary to bundle them together all the time. Also be sure to include an address on your page if you have one, as Google will pay close attention to listed addresses.

As you can see, it’s important to know what will give you information you can use to improve your page ranking during a Google search.