PageRank is an important concept to be familiar with if you are trying to improve your SEO. Here we're going to discuss how you can use the Business Directory page of your iMax site as one way to build PageRank, but first let's have a brief refresher on PageRank itself:

What is PageRank?

Much of Google’s formula is built upon their “PageRank” concept. PageRank is based upon other web sites indicating to Google whether your web site is valuable. How does this happen? Basically, if another web site links to yours, Google gives your web site one vote. If a really important web site links to your web site, Google might give you 10 votes. A higher number of votes signifies to Google that your web site has value and you will be moved up the search results accordingly.

Here is Google’s own explanation of PageRank:

“PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves ‘important’ weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important.’

“Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.”

So increasing the number of web sites linking to your web site is important if you want have better search engine results. 

Build PageRank with your iMax Business Directory

You already know your iMax Business Directory is a great referral generating tool in keeping with the principles taught by Brian Buffini. But did you know your Business Directory can help you improve your SEO? Here's how: Your Business Directory, of course, is a web page where you provide your customers with the names and contact information of people and businesses you recommend. Part of the information provided for each business that you add is a link to their web site. What we recommend is that once you have added a business to your web site, call them and let them know that you are recommending them to your customers and have added a link to their web site on your site. Ask them if they will reciprocate by adding a link to your site on their web site. The more businesses you work with that will add links to your site, the more it will help your PageRank. This is what's known as a "link exchange." Many web sites have to build a web page from scratch to do this, but the iMax Business Directory makes it easy to do with its built in features.

To start taking advantage of the Business Directory today: Login to your web site, click the "Web Site" button in the upper left, then choose "Business Directory" in the right hand column. Once you're finished creating your Business Directory, don't forget to add a link to it on your homepage or sidebar or web site navigation.