Inexperience webmasters and linkbuilders hoping to quickly build backlinks and increase their search engine returns tend to focus too much on misleading factors such as Google's Pagerank, which is only one of many indicators used to represent "value" for a website. While at one time high pagerank (PR) was once coveted by website owner wishing to earn valuable links (whether for traffic, SERPs, or their own PR), now it is just one of many factors which can be used to measure a website's total worth.

However, due to the still apparent significance propagated by text link sellers and other marketing agents who have little else to use (Alexa being another source that offers questionable value in determining a website's worth) to measure their web product, pagerank continues to be a commodity that beginners use to purchase or exchange links.

Webmasters need to realize that there is much more to be done in order to build their own website and earn higher positions in the search engines, like the results of hard work, steady creation of unique and relevant content, and pertinent backlinking from reliable, relevant partner websites.

Text link sellers with high PR will tell you that PR means something, which it does if you base the value of your links on PR (higher PR can mean higher prices charged for text links), but the majority of us will tell you that backlinks, content, age, and relevancy are much more important factors to target if you expect your website to earn decent traffic from search engines.

Don't waste your time pursuing PR, in the hopes that it will gain you greater traffic. The truth is that it won't; your content, your links, and the quality of your networking will be much greater influences on your success. Pagerank is only one small factor in a much larger game, and you would be better off knowing know that buying PR isn't going to win you the game.