Is Google PageRank Actually Important?

When Google first appeared as a internet giant one of its main features, alongside its search engine and pay per click program, was its idea to calculate the importance of a webpage/website through grading it from one to ten. Google PageRank has been at the centre of SEO and bloggers for quite a long time now because bloggers perceive it a great way to rank their website. However, with Google constantly updating their search engine algorithms, it begs the question exactly how important or significant is a website’s Google PageRank any more?
My first reaction to this question is that it is still quite important. If you are using Google’s Adsense to monetize your website, you will know that the CPC of the adverts being displayed on your website will increase if your website’s PageRank increases. This is because if your PageRank is higher, your website is more valuable and of higher quality and therefore more useful to advertisers. From this, PageRank can be deemed important to bloggers/publishers out there that use Google Adsense.
On the other hand, what can a blogger use their PageRank ranking for? AskWillOnline.come’s PageRank is currently at 2 and to help get guest bloggers  interested in writing articles on the website, I tell them this. So its good if you want to outsource some of your blogging to others. This brings me onto the point that it would be a great persuasive tool to attract private advertisers and banner advertising programs to advertise on your website. I’ve been a long time member of BuySellAds.com which I believe to be the biggest banner advertising program out there. You will find if you look at a marketplace listing of a website of BuySellAds that they display some of the key statistics of the website such as it’s Alexa Rank, Compete Rank and Twitter/Facebook follower numbers. Around about a year ago, BuySellAds also gave the option to publishers to include their Google PageRank too. Why have they removed this option? Doesn’t this make clear that BuySellAds does not think PageRank is important anymore and the Alexa rank of the website is more important?
I tend to look at Google’s PageRank as something which was important for search engine rankings and generally important overall. However, as Google has changed their algorithms (such as Panda and Penguin) the way in which Google ranks websites in their search results is much more complicated process than to count the number of back links the website has. Take Google PageRank now as one of the many building blocks that completes a website’s rank. You should not threat too much if you have a low PageRank because if you think of it, the consequences of a low PageRank are not overly bad:

• Your CPC may be lower as your website is considered lower quality.
• It will be harder to gain private advertising deals.
• You won’t be able to get many guest bloggers as who would want a link from a website with a PageRank of zero?
• You may find it harder to get higher placement in Google’s search results.

I stress the may  in the last bullet point because there are many other factors that will decide your search ranking. Ultimately, PageRank is important. However, if you find yourself with a low PageRank, do not stress too much. The chances are it will have little impact to the overall success of your website. Natural growth of a website through unique quality articles will help push your PageRank up.