Have you ever wondered how applying the proper Google PageRank principles can turn your website from a side street to a major highway? Let me explain. While there are countless SEO tools you should incorporate in your bag of tricks, some are more important than others.

What is Google PageRank anyway? PageRank refers to the frequency of visits to a particular page. Put briefly, it determines page importance in relation to other pages like it. It emphasizes the importance of a given site in relation to the inbound and outbound links of sites with similar content or themes. Google PageRank principles serve two common purposes: to check the popularity of a site and to evaluate competition, respectively.

As far as Google PageRank principles go, there are three SEO tools in particular that you should master, as they will have a direct impact on your Google PageRank.

Principle number one, and the most important, is to have useful, relevant content. Never underestimate the fact that content is king. In other words, develop worthwhile content or don’t create it at all. Article submissions should be specific to your subject or cause. Forget the fluff; it just doesn’t pay off. Mega-sites, ones that create new content almost constantly, have higher Google PageRank numbers and for good reason. Mega-sites create thousands of links that point back to their main page, giving a sense of importance. If you're building your site and adding pages on a regular basis, make certain to use links that return to your homepage. Good quality links are a necessity.

Google PageRank principle number two involves manual directory submissions. Directory submissions are one of the best ways to get Google ranking. They create incoming links from sites with related content. It's a repetitive and boring, but worth the time and effort. If you don’t want to take on the task yourself, hire someone to do it. There are companies out there that are eager for your business.

The third Google PageRank principle involves creating appealing page descriptions for search engine robots. Meta tag descriptions and top ranking go hand in hand. It's important to note that although a good Meta tag description is important and may get you top ranking, it does not guarantee a website's success.

For example, let’s image that you've done everything right and included a series of Meta tag descriptions, but the chosen descriptions are dull, basic and boring. Now let's say that a competitor, ranked directly under you, has displayed informative, exciting and enticing descriptions for their site. Which site will get more clicks? The number of clicks to your website is highly dependent on effective Meta tag descriptions; it can determine just how many potential customers take the time to visit your site.

When all is said and done, it comes back to website traffic; and as you can see, Google PageRank principles, when applied effectively, can turn your website from an unpaved gravel road into a four lane interstate.