The end of May 2009 saw another update to the Google Page Rank, the second update of 2009 which indicates Google is sticking to the afore mentioned quarterly updates (as oppposed to the previous monthly updates). As with every Page Rank update, we have seen many sites gaining and losing rank. No doubt many SEO companies are getting calls from their clients asking them to explain why they have dropped from a Page Rank 5 to a Page Rank 1 overnight. Some of them might have inexplicably lost rank, whereas others may be being penalised as Google continues to crack down on websites that have purchased inbound links to their site. It has been common practice with some SEO companies to purchase links to websites in order to try and manipulate the search engine results, which has always been a ‘grey area’ in terms of ethical SEO practices. However Google is now cracking down on websites with paid links, and as such these sites are losing both Page Rank and dropping in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages).
Many people are now talking about the relevance of Page Rank, and how important it actually it is now. The general consensus is that Page Rank is now more of a guide, and that having a Page Rank 7+ is really more SEO vanity than anything else. During analysis of a website, Page Rank is taken into consideration however you should always investigate the inbound links to the site to get the full picture. What is more important at the moment, is domain trust and domain authority. More on this to follow soon… 
