Does it really matter if you have a high PageRank?

About a year ago, I started with a PageRank of 1 and now I'm at a PageRank 5...other than looking cool on a google toolbar - I really don't see the point in having high PageRanks?

I'd like some opinions on this...
http://www.rebelnetworks.com

my web traffic hasn't really increased? that is the most important KPI for my business.

so why all the fuss with high PageRanks??

PR is not important in relation to placement in the serps.

In addition, tool bar PR is only updated once every 3 months so what you see on the toolbar today is already out dated.

but why do so many people put so much emphasis on Page Rank?
It doesn't make any sense!

They don't any more...

Well, some do, but only because it used to be that way, and they just don't know any better (kinda the same reason people still think a Mac is the sh*t for doing graphics work - when it's no longer true).

Thanks for clearing that up...

I was speaking with a reputable search engine optimization company...don't want to name names - but they said that PR was EXTREMELY important

and I didn't think it was...in terms of driving better search engine results

I take it back...I had the rare opportunity to speak with a google engineer that will remain nameless

without divulging what he said - pagerank is in fact a GOOD thing to have.

but i saw the calculation involved - needless to say that it way beyond my comprehension!!

however, what i did take away in laymens terms is that pagerank gives you in the longer run more stability in rankings and you will be higher in search results all things being equal.

as most of you know the basics of seo - it isn't as easy as a 1,2,3 step process

it is only now that I managed to get one of my top key words in the 2nd rank position within google - and i'm reaping HUGE rewards and traffic as a result

I think I have a good recipe which has proven to work for 5 clients of mine - and I won't charge $20,000 to get you there either!

As far as I can understand it, decent Pagerank is just a byproduct of good solid SEO these days, not an end goal. In older days PR used to rank higher.

Pagerank is what makes a website valuable. People who run sites for a while and then later sell them to other webmasters call sell them for a lot more if it has a high pagerank.

Wow, I just realized how old this thread is.

Hi...
Yeah Page rank or PR is much neccessary.
PageRank is a patented method to assign a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set. The algorithm may be applied to any collection of entities with reciprocal quotations and references. The numerical weight that it assigns to any given element E is also called the PageRank of E and denoted by PR(E).

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

Page rank is totally different concept. It is not anyhow related to SERP. You may find many sites having PR 7 on 10 page of google search for any particular keyword.

So dont rely on the PR for better SERP.

Higher the PR, more Google will visit your site , thats it.

Regards

Of course PR is important. Maybe less important now, but still need some concentration is needed on this when you are doing SEO.

However, with that said, too many people are concentrating solely on PR (backlinks) and thus this is bad.

PR does sets the credibility and reputation of your site.

Regards