Every time a Page rank updates, the same common issues arise, creating confusion regarding your web site’s Page Rank. What the Page Rank and its fluctuations mean cause confusion to the site’s owner. Some usual themes are the following:

1. If, during an update, your PR goes down, it is not necessarily a penalty. The PR is found in the Google toolbar, and is simply the grade that Google assigns your site. Losing powerful links or if a site that links to your site loses PR, will result in your PR lowering. If Google alters changes the way they determine PR, you can also lose PR. Keeping your content fresh will ensure your PR remaining steady. There are a lot of reasons for PR lowering, but none of them are penalty related. Being penalized will only occur if you disobey Webmaster Guidelines, and you will see that penalty in removal from the index or drastic drops in rankings.

2. PR that is displayed is not current. The PR is only current after an update. You could have made a well rounded link profile, even added an interface for user generated content, and still have a PR4 after a couple months. Do not worry about it, because you do not know your actual PR.

3. Higher rankings are not equal to higher PR. Focus on your traffic, rankings and conversions instead of your PR. many searches have PR0-3 that outrank PR4-6, so it is not the only method in the Google algorithm that measures your sites ranking. unless you are selling your links on your site, and need to show your PR as high to sell, do not worry about the PR. Be sure to keep that in perspective, while not completely ignoring it. PR is the general snapshot of your site in the eyes of Google. Generally, you will rank higher with high PR, but that is just one piece of the puzzle.

4. PR juice flows. Without obsessing about your PR, understand that acquiring high PR links will flow PR to your site as well. Worrying about your own site’s PR may not be as valuable as making sure that your incoming links are from high or mid PR sites. If you are working towards obtaining links, high PR pages mixed in, naturally, will greatly benefit you. If you look at PR as a trust snapshot, then obtaining a link from a more trusted site, at the same time being relevant to your industry, will not only boost your PR, but your ranking as well.

Usually, a drop or increase in PR that doesn’t coincide with traffic or search results should not worry you. It is an awesome thing to see your PR rise, but traffic is what really matters.