How a Link Exchange Can Help Break the PR5 Barrier

Despite all their efforts, many site owners still find themselves struggling to break a PageRank barrier: their sites seem to get "stuck" at a PageRank (or PR) of 5. Unfortunately, there's no simple step-by-step process to achieving top rankings. If it were that easy, every site out there would be number one for a given search term!

One common complaint is that a site with a few links from high ranking sources could have a higher PR than a site with thousands of links from lower ranking sources. How is that possible? Because PageRank doesn't just depend on the number of external backlinks (links pointing to your site) but also on the quality of those links. Theoretically, if you participate in a link exchange, a link from a site with a PR8 is going to be better than a link from a site with a PR3.

However, internal links (links within your site) and outbound links (links pointing to other sites) are also taken into consideration.

How can the number of pages in a site affect PR? It's believed that if you add a page to a site, that page "inherits" 85% of the original page's PR divided by the number of outbound links on the page. In other words, the new page will have a lower PR than the original, although the site's maximum PR will increase. Of course, adding a page and not linking to it will not affect your PR because the search engines won't be able to find the new page.

If a site links to multiple pages, the PR value it passes on is equally shared between those pages. The more outbound links, the less PR each site gets from those links. Therefore, a link from a PR5 site with only a few outbound links might be worth more than a link from a PR7 site with several outbound links.

If you want to get REALLY technical, read this study by Achieve Web Design and Internet Marketing, which tests how many links it would take to reach a desired PR. The company concluded: "If you want to increase your PR you need a few links from pages with equivalent or higher PR, or a great many links from sites with lower PR." This seems to be a common theory among search engine optimization specialists.

A recent eight-month study conducted by WebRankInfo also had some interesting results: every month, it generally took more backlinks than the month before to increase PR. If the study results are any indication of how PR actually works, then the quantity of backlinks is extremely important.

Participating in a link exchange program such as MyLinksNetwork.com could greatly benefit your site by giving it a higher number of backlinks and helping boost its search engine ranking. Proof of the benefits of link exchange programs can be found in the PageRank of some of MyLinksNetwork's highest ranking members:

http://www.MyLinksNetwork.com/highestranked.asp

Because there are so many PR factors, there is no magic number of links it will take before you achieve a high PageRank. Search engine experts say it's best to exchange links responsibly, taking time to focus on finding link exchange partners with a high PageRank and sites with relevant content. You should also make sure your site is well optimized for the search engines. The MyLinksNetwork link exchange program offers optimization information here and here. Remember: high rankings take time and effort, but with a little patience and persistence, your site can become a success story. Good luck!