Google PR update in progress

[DangerDave]

misty3k,

Google page rank - an abitrary measure assigned by Google to single page - http://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html

It is visible via the google toolbar - http://toolbar.google.com/ - which needs to be installed in your browser.

PageRank Explained

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.

http://www.google.com/technology/index.html

Do you find you get more sales with a better page rank?

Yes and no - Google has reduced thje "value" of PR, and it is only part of what you need to get geood search engine traffic.

Good content
Good keyword structure
Good incoming and outgoing links
and multiple other aspects dictate the true "value" of your page to Google.

HTH

DD