PageRank is a component of Google’s search algorithm that assigns a value to a web page based on the number and quality of its inbound links, a term sometimes referred to as “link equity.”
Google offers many tools to help you manage PageRank. Some transfer equity from one page to the next, others prevent it. All tools are requests, not instructions, to Google.
Here’s how to use the tool correctly:
301 Redirect
301 redirects are Google’s strongest signal for passing link equity. In 2013, Matt Cutts (then head of Google’s Webspam team) confirmed that 301 redirects pass most, but not all, PageRank to the destination page. In 2016, Google’s Gary Illies tweeted that 301 and 302 redirects preserve the destination PageRank. all PageRank.
However, Google has repeatedly stated that 301 redirects may go through. no Anything other than a 1:1 URL replacement, such as a redesign or replatforming, will not pass link equity. If the landing page is different from the original page, Google may treat it as a soft 404 (i.e. a 200 OK response code for a non-existent page) and not pass link equity. Google’s John Mueller tweeted as much in 2017:
In a 2017 tweet, Google’s John Mueller said that 301s are best for 1:1 URL replacements.
Rel=”canonical” tag
From rel=”canonical” A link tag that points search engines to the original URL of your content without redirecting users. Often used for content syndication and internal duplicate content.
From rel=”canonical” It passes PageRank to the original page, but like 301 redirects, Google may ignore it and choose a representative URL based on other signals.
Nofollow Attribute
Search optimization tools No Follow The link attribute, which prevents links from sponsored posts, ads, etc. from passing PageRank. It used to be a strong directive to Google, but is now a request, similar to 301 and canonical tags.
However, your website must also include one of the following: rel=nofollow or rel=Sponsor Attribution of paid or affiliate links. Similarly, ask for links to your site to be removed from low-quality or spammy sites, even if they are nofollow.
but, No Follow Meta tags (not link attributes) apply to the entire page and are strictly respected by Google, so links to your site from the following pages will not receive any value: No Follow In the header code:
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow’>
Disavow File
Search optimizers use disavow files to prevent spammy sites from passing PageRank to their site. Disavows are requests to Google and are best used only if your site has received a manual link-related penalty.
