PageRank
In one line
PageRank is the foundational algorithm Google was built on — modelling links as votes between pages — and it remains the etymological root of how the SEO industry talks about backlinks.
Going deeper
PageRank is the original algorithm Google was built on. The core idea — that links act as weighted votes, with links from authoritative pages counting more — became the conceptual foundation for how the industry has thought about backlinks ever since.
Live PageRank scores haven't been public for years, and Google describes today's ranking system as hundreds of signals that include descendants of PageRank. So 'optimising for PageRank' isn't quite the right framing; 'PageRank shaped how backlink SEO is reasoned about' is closer.
Its value as etymology is still substantial. Domain Rating from Ahrefs and Domain Authority from Moz both trace back to the PageRank lineage, and you can't really teach backlink SEO without invoking the original idea.
Related terms
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is the umbrella for everything that builds your domain's authority and trust outside your own site — backlinks, press coverage, brand mentions, citations.
SEODofollow Link
A dofollow link is a regular hyperlink without a nofollow attribute — meaning search engines treat it as a normal authority-passing link by default.
SEOLink Velocity
Link velocity is the rate at which a domain acquires new backlinks over time — and whether the curve looks organic or suspiciously spiky is itself a signal search engines watch.
SEOGoogle Algorithm
Google's algorithm is the layered system of hundreds of ranking signals that decides what shows up where in the SERP — periodically reshaped by core and topic-specific updates.
SEOGoogle Penalty
A Google penalty is any drop in visibility imposed for guideline violations — split between manual actions taken by a human reviewer and automatic algorithmic adjustments.
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