As you can see from the following list of people with the highest PageRank achievable of 6 and their number of followers it certainly is not in the numbers. Looking closer you might notice that most of this select few are not active in massive circle-shares, nor in kissing up to their peers.
If you want to check your own Google + profile page rank just go to http://www.prchecker.net/ and enter https://plus.google.com/112352920206354603958 (that´s my profile id, so substitute yours there).
+Joshua Berg suggests in his latest post on PR )https://plus.google.com/u/0/110133760398936676625/posts/7zmCRMP7Uro) that you need to engage with these high ranking users to get a higher PR yourself. I say forget it.
For one, there is no proof at all that this would in any way help you, for two chasing Google´s algorithmes has never been very fruitful. it would be best if people just engaged with whoever they like and let all those ranking indicators just for what they are: crude measurements of a value we don´t know based on indicators we don´t have access to.
Oh, and in case you are still inclined to start hanging out with these high and mighty do realize that these PageRank scores are only updated a few times a year so you could well be hanging out with yesterday´s news. You have been warned….
+Justin Cutroni 7233
+Nikhyl Singhal 9514
+Brian Gardner 11208
+Martin Bryant 14160
+Chris Coyier 14317
+Dave Mosher 14467
+Steven Vaughan-Nichols 17485
+Teresa Wu 18289
+Mitch Dobrowner 19830
+Lisa Ding 22553
+Whitson Gordon 22833
+Alan Henry 26889
+Timothy Jordan 30035
+Henry Reich 32775
+Amit Singhal 34095
+Euro Maestro 45030
+Jennifer Van Grove 67796
+Stephen Harper 74857
+Chris Messina 95633
+Lance Ulanoff 108198
+Anthony De Rosa 114162
+Avinash Kaushik 130789
+Natalie Villalobos 185539
+Stephen Shankland 410220
+Ed Yong 476783
+Noah Diffenbaugh 664122
+Ray William Johnson 809705
+Carl Zimmer 897326
+Rosa Golijan 929707
+Ezra Klein 1041262
+Philip DeFranco 1185899
+Billy Wilson 1353601
+Jamie Oliver 1400372
+Bruno Mars 1407504
+Steven Levy 1569025
+Pete Cashmore 1587041
+Danny Sullivan 1784955
+Jeff Jarvis 2215566
+Tim O'Reilly 2218969
+Sarah Hill 2627585
+Harvey Levin 2758068
+Robert Scoble 3354616
+Sergey Brin 3434336
+Guy Kawasaki 3987963
+Vic Gundotra 3998356
+Larry Page 5263208
+Lady Gaga 5925676
These are all I could find; there are G+ PR´s higher but these are all pages. The limit there is 8.
The question remains how these people got such a high PR value: do you see a pattern I missed? Could it just be that they are just authorities in their field, something you can only achieve by hard work and knowledge?
p.s. This is the follow up post with the ranking of G+ PAGES
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112352920206354603958/posts/EoL6Siino19 #SocMed
What I've learned from years of chasing PR and doing SEO, is that unless you're one of the insiders or have lots of money to spend on buying a reputation, you might as well just forget it all and have fun. Great post +Max Huijgen.
+Max Huijgen Connecting with these profiles may help.. but not much. It does help grow your own circle of influence and authority simply by engaging with these high level profiles.
When I write a thoughtful comment on a post by someone like +Guy Kawasaki or +Peg Fitzpatrick I get a boost in traffic to my profile and my website because of the massive audiences these people reach. That reach and growth in my reach or influence is way more valuable to me that anything else.
As you said.. be yourself.. but do it strategically. 🙂
The one photographer I recognize on this list, +Mitch Dobrowner is certainly more established in the "real world" (as opposed to social media) than all those with 6 & 7 figures followers on G+
+Brent Fishman +Ishant Sharma has over a million followers and just like you a PR of 3, No bad or good here.
Ah +John Ellis but that´s just about being visible. No need for PR for that, just the raw number of people who actually read comments.
I can recommend my own posts for that goal, usually well commented 🙂
+Max Huijgen you and +Euro Maestro both now how to work your posts to get maximum comments. Call it good customer service, or SEO, but you both stay active in your posts and involve your circlers. That's a skill more valuable than chasing PR.
+Max Huijgen I guess I do not see visibility and PR as exclusive terms. Both affect each other. 🙂
Interesting list! I would guess that your profile PR is based mostly on how many people link to your profile with your name in the link, right? So people who are well-known and written about on various websites will have a higher PR, and as the list shows, that has nothing to do with G+ follower counts. Just like I have a ton of followers but it's only because I was added to the suggested user list a while back, not because anybody knows who I am!
+Max Huijen I'm happy being in circles with people like you. I don't need or want to interact (yeah right) with Bruno Mars. Only two people on the list follow me that I know of and that's okay. I'm also not here for business at the moment so I suppose it's not relevant to me as it is to others.
In my Personal Ranking system you went a nod down +Mark S by not noticing it´s the same profile photo 😉 Sucking up is a skill i guess.
My point +James Barraford is that even if you are here with a goal, please pursue that, but ignore all these rank things. If your goal is fun, subscribe to people who offer that. If you want to develop a business case, go and talk with the people who matter over here, but never follow the wane of the day.
Dunno.. Im "only" a 5 … till google tells me what or if these mean anything.. i dont care either.. 🙂 Could be pulling from the profile linked fields…?
I think they already have a reputation on what they do. They can be on any platform, and still rank up high with the exception of perhaps a couple –those who've had their exposure only through G+. Yes, stop chasing numbers!!! Just be yourself. 🙂
+Liz Krane I can assure you that I circled you only because of the interesting content of your posts – not because of any particular list. I try not to circle anyone who does not have a series of interesting things to read.
+Michelle Cameron Surely one can increase one's visibility quite a lot even without being an insider or having money? It seems like every time I try doing something to get followers, I get a few new ones. Usually, I try to just take things easy, though.
Mine's only 3, with 15722 followers, most of whom probably wont buy my books when I publish.
+Max Huijgen really… I don't care for page ranks… I don't care about how many people follow me…… It is about the interaction between people that counts. to me it is not about quantity.. it about quality. I may not have posts about techy stuff and I may not have the greatest photo's to oo and ahh about… I am just me……. That's it!
You´re a failure then +Matthew Graybosch 😉 Time to reshuffle your followers and at least get the ones you deserve.
+Amanda Blain from a first glance I would say the profile links don´t play a role. +Joshua Berg argues that they are no-follow.
We agree +Sheila B. DuBois but sometimes it´s needed to counter-balance some trends on G+ especially if they would lead to more sucking up.
Messing around with my "platform" isn't going to get Without Bloodshed published, +Max Huijgen . Besides, does my posting history look like that of a person looking to pick up followers?
Nope +Matthew Graybosch it looks like the profile of a person, not a seller.
+Magnus Lewan Thanks, that's great to hear. 🙂 But as it is, I'd say 97% of my followers never actually see any of my posts. lol.
And for PR of G+ profiles, people who talk about tech and social networks, especially people who talk about G+, will definitely have a higher PR because they appear in articles that are much more likely to provide a link back to their G+ profile.
+Max Huijgen I believe you seriously misread +Joshua Berg's posts. He did NOT say "suck up to celebrities." He DID say you should build a useful network with other people with high authority in your areas of expertise. As someone who writes primarily about search marketing, I am going to get both little engagement from and even less authority from Lady Gaga than from +AJ Kohn
I need sucking up to. Any volunteers?
Oh.. so i dont comment on enough other famous peoples posts? Cause im pretty sure Guy K, Larry P, Ray W, Bruno M. etc doesnt comment on anyone posts 🙂 interesting conversation but i'll spend my time on other things folks 🙂
I didn´t say that +Joshua Berg said ´suck up to celebrities´ nor did I warn for it. I advise people to steer away from all natural interactions on G+ in the (idle) hope it will bring them more than a good exchange +Mark Traphagen
I for sure am not going to and SUCK to up anyone……. it doesn't matter to me…. trend or no trend.
Thanks for the tag +Max Huijgen. Once again I find myself in full agreement. The only question that I would ask is why it matters for the majority. A business or sector specialist using G+ as a promotion forum, this I understand. For the rest? Hmmm.
If i look at engagement on the posts of these people on the list, it's not that uniform. So to me, engagement does not explain their PR. I think the most important factors for PR are:
1) who mentions you or refers to your profile otherwise
2) what other sites refer to your profile.
If a person with PR8 mentions you, that's a fairly good input into your PR. This might take your PR to 5 or 6 instantly.
Each profile is a pretty typical web page as far as I understand. So if a high PR page references this profile – that should at least make the same input as a mention on G+ in terms of PR.
That could probably explain why some people don't seem to have too much engagement yet they ended up on the list.
As to sucking up – some people are pretty good at it and make their ways in the pyramid.
Nevertheless – being myself rings the bell better for me 🙂
+Max Huijgen how long did it take you to come up with this list? What was the process like?
Debunking the myth that socializing with the high and mighty in PR will bring you any advantage, is a goal in itself +Colin Lucas-Mudd
SEO is serious stuff,but it can be overdone within the context of a social medium. Defensive post actually.
I'm a 4… I am an expert in sarcasm and bitchiness only.
+Max Huijgen You say in your post above that +Joshua Berg says that we "need to engage with these high ranking users," implying the ones in your list. Again, he says NO such thing. Page Rank is transferred from relevant links to your profile from other high authority profiles. Following these people and commenting on or sharing their posts does nothing for you if they don't do the same for you. The strategy both I and Joshua recommend for building ranking authority on G+ is to spend your time buidling relationships with high authority people who are actually interested in you and will end up mentioning you and your content, and resharing it.
Again, merely following someone or throwing comments at them just because they are high authority does you no good at all. You've got to build a mutually beneficial relationship where you naturally engage each other.
I'm trying to be crystal clear here. There is NO set list of "users who will give you more PageRank." Unless they are someone who links to you regularly and engages on your posts, they add no SEO value to your profile.
I´ve got a pagerank of 4 as well… I think it´s kind of weird though since I only have like 470 followeres….
+Mark S Klout? what's that? HA I haven't looked at my score in a very long time. as it keeps going down… maybe I am not engaging enough. and fact one has to sign in with twitter and facebook doesn't help things
+Mark Traphagen actually I do have several high ranking people who engage and link to me on a regular basis. Maybe that's the reason. I knew it wasn't the thongs.
It should, +Max Huijgen . I haven't got much to sell, and little enough to offer. 🙂
+Mark S It is holding at 65 .. Facebook at at 68 , Twitter is like 1.76 I don't use twitter much at all. GOOGLE IS 29.19……… Go figure???
I understand well +Mark Traphagen but I try to counter the simplistic argument here which leads to ´sucking up´ as it´s generally understood to work both ways.
I published this list to show most of them never engage in these activities anyway.
+Mark S HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA bribery? yah You share my stuff I will share yours LOL
+Max Huijgen that's fine. I agree with that. So would Joshua, I'm quite sure. Just don't put words in his mouth. Neither he nor I are advocating "sucking up." We are advocating relationship building and networking. There is a huge difference between those and "sucking up."
+Mark Traphagen that is more important….. the relationships that one builds
You can build real solid relationships and be thinking in a strategic way for your business. It's not black and white. Focusing your efforts on a high influence plusser is just smart. Being honest and not an ass kisser is a personal preference and a tactical choice.
I wouldn't know how to suck up… I mean really. The uber popular probably have notifications set so suck ups outside of their circles don't register. The trick is to get them to circle you and to value your feedback. What use does the average user have for ranking anyway. Too much effort for no return.
Well said +John Ellis – it's not either or. I can be intentional about building a relationship with another "power user" but it will only work if it is going to be mutually beneficial. I have to have something of value to offer in the relationship. If it isn't yet my authority-power, than it might be my content or ability to help her with something.
And +Pam Adger – if building influence has no personal value for you, then don't sweat any of this! just use Google+ however you like and enjoy. This isn't necessary for everyone, but for some of us it's important for our livelihoods.
I'm living life in the Google+ fast lane at 3. That's cool by me. I have to admit that I probably would have more than 10k who have circled me but for the fact that I like to post on topics of the day and politics that are hot topics. I'm aware that not everyone likes that and for six months I almost stopped posting controversial, but I found that it wasn't enjoyable worrying about everyones reactions. If I never get to 100k followers and a 5/6 on ranking then at least folks like +Matthew Graybosch make my stream better.
One thing though… for those of us using real names it's hard to "undo" the past and shift gears in an attempt to gain a broader network. Have people successfully done that here?
+Mark Traphagen if I could give you my 4 points and it would help you out financially I would. I personally don't see the benefit because I don't have a stake in Google benefitting me financially. So you are right. If you think I can help you by sharing the occasional post then add me to your notify list and I will certainly do that for you.
+Mark Traphagen Thanks… Your mention of me is a real time example of the value I get from engagement. You and I chat on plus. As far as engagement tactics go, I consider you a peer / god in my industry. You have much greater influence than I do. I think very carefully about what I say to you. That's tactical engagement… It's also just being thoughtful.
This response could be considered sucking up. Or.. it's a business owner capitalizing on a mention by a high influence plusser in a good comment thread… Or.. I'm just feeling chatty…
+Pam Adger thanks for the offer. Really. That's very sweet. But I'd rather have you follow me because you like my content and/or find me interesting than to "get points." And I don't have a notifications list, but if you want to get notified of my or anyone else's posts regularly, you can put is in a special circle and then slide the slider at the top of that circle's view all the way to the right.
I consider all of my G+ circle friends "high authority" and influential experts each in their own way.
+Mark Traphagen I rarely miss one of your posts.
I have a 3. I guess that means I'm active and sharing and engaging, but not all the time.
Sounds good to me.
I also don't recognize most of the people in your 6 list. I have maybe ten of them in circles, if that.
Thanks, +James Barraford .
Google+ is a new opportunity for everyone to be who they want and start fresh on social media. I know I did. I had a lot of baggage from the old Digg days (novenator), and this site has been an excellent chance to turn it all around. Don't like someones posts? Don't add them. Simple as that. Make this your experience.
I would like to counter with "why does this even matter?" Every page with an URL on the internet has a PR but what does a high PR G+ profile page get you? I have never googled for something and had a G+ profile come up as a result.
And the way I use G+ (from my smart phone mostly) I just read things from people I follow.
I find new people to follow from interesting comments and the occadional trending post in what's hot or a community. How does profile PR feature in this work flow except for being a dick waving contest?
In fact even for "real" web pages PR hasn't counted for much in SEO for a long time. Relevancy is king.
Mine is 4?
(If you're not in businesss or marketing skip this comment)
Yes G+ profiles and posts can rank in search. I could give many examples, but try searching (logged out of Google to blunt personalization) for "google+ page analytics." I've had a Google+ post ranked #1 or 2 for that for over a year now.
Another example of "why this matters" (if you're in business). Last year my company released a new product for a hot, much-searched for service. We launched it on its own site with its own Google brand page. Three days after launch we held 8 of the 10 first page results for our most important keyword. Half of those were Google+ posts by me, two high-PR Google+ friends who shared my post, and our company brand page. We held that for almost a week, and now a year later still have 3 of 10 positions. The 8 of 10 gave us huge market share right out of the gate for our product, and the competition has never caught up.
+Johann Du Toit it is always a mistake to project the way you use something on to everyone else. We have proven time and again that influential Google+ profiles and brand pages have a significant effect on search, and that is where the money is.
And it is totally inaccurate to say "PR hasn't counted for much in SEO for a long time." What would be more accurate to say is: "PR is now only one of many factors that influence rankings, but it remains an important one." PR is important as a measure because it is one of the few that we can see. Yes, of course, it doesn't tell the whole story. But other things being equal, it is still true that a link from a high PR page is worth much more than one from a low PR page.
You'd be mistaken if you think I'm advocating chasing PR. That's foolish. But it would be equally foolish to pretend like high PR profiles don't have more SEO weight than low ones.
Whenever someone enters a debate with "why does his matter," always add the words "to me?" on the end. If it doesn't matter to that person, it does not mean that it doesn't matter to others. "It doesn't matter to me" is never an effective argument (by itself) for or against the value of something.
BTW, for those wondering, a PR of 3-5 is really quite good. PR is a relative scale, and very few sites (or profiles in this case) have a PR of 6 or more.
Not in business of any meaningful sort, have way more followers than makes sense (more than some of those people up there) and a pr rank of 3? What the hey. I'm just a newsie who writes stuff I give away…and cantankerous at times, and contrarian at times. Content with my mid-levelness….and contrariness, too.
+Max Huijgen I really think this is a key statement that you made
"For one, there is no proof at all that this would in any way help you, for two chasing Google´s algorithmes has never been very fruitful. it would be best if people just engaged with whoever they like and let all those ranking indicators just for what they are: crude measurements of a value we don´t know based on indicators we don´t have access to."
or If I could put it a different way, don't chase the Klout score, just do what you do, provide value and build relationships.
Seems like +Mark Traphagen has summed this up best. Also seems as if there is a general misunderstanding about what page rank is. A PR of between 3 and 5 for a personal profile is not in any way an "only" 3 to 5 but on the contrary is really quite good. I also have not seen any evidence that a page rank can be artificially inflated by the means suggested here by some. +Max Huijgen was quite right to recommend to people to just be themselves.
+Michelle Cameron Thanks.
Well said +Euro Maestro. The 'Master' as always.
Thanks +Colin Lucas-Mudd You are too kind.
Apologies – but I have Not read all those comments.
Ah, where to begin?
PR = PageRank : A primarily link based metric that is meant to represent popularity due to quality/value.
Though the publicly accessible PR score is only occassionaly updated (4 times a year typically), the internal PR that G use is apparently updated far more often and is more granular.
PR may or may not hold much influence in regards to profiles/ranking of content.
We have no idea how G are handling the inclusion of G+ content in the SERPs.
They may be injecting a set number of posts, they may be treating it as any other domain, they may be doing both, or something else (this of course discounts/excludes SPYW).
The idea of interacting with specific individuals in an attempt to gain PageRank is, to be honest, somewhat strange.
If you want to increase your profiles PR score – get some links to it.
(Remember, we don't know if Profile PR is part of what influences G's decisions or not – so your judgement on whether it's worth it or not :D)
The idea of interacting with specific individuals in an attempt to gain prominence, benefit from association/proximity, increase audience reach, be perceived as important, get a few moments of glory, possibly show as more relevant/important to an algorithm etc. – not so strange.
+Mark S
They offered me a wireless Sony Walkman sports headset so that was pretty nice.
We are in agreement +Lyndon NA
Could someone confirm something for me, I just checked my PR using prchecker.net, and right now it seems to think I have a pagerank of 5, yet a few days ago I'm sure it was n/a
This is my profile URL
https://plus.google.com/102095974757663829654
+Max Huijgen feel free to delete my comment if you don't want links to profiles in your post 🙂
That's always a bonus +Max Huijgen 😀
+Michelle Cameron – I see it as PR 5
Thank you +Lyndon NA, now what can I do with that. Does it help me in any material way? LOL
If you mention it at Starbucks you get a free latte +Michelle Cameron just tell them i said so
+Michelle Cameron
I think it's 5 now because of all the pr 6 love I'm giving out.
ROFL, are you a secret 'major' investor in Starbucks +Max Huijgen ?
Awwww, +Euro Maestro you love me?
Correct me if I'm wrong though, a PR6 linking out doesn't automatically raise the linked to profiles to a PR5? I thought the 'link juice' is spread across all links, so each only gets a fraction of a PR inrease, if at all. It must be my Amazon author profile etc that helps me 😛
+Michelle Cameron
Yes, I love everyone.
I wasn't seriously suggestions your score could be raised like that.
It would make SEO so much easier though, wouldn't it?
Very interesting via +Salva Castro (thnx Salva)
This is the follow up post with the ranking of G+ PAGES
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112352920206354603958/posts/EoL6Siino19
Wait what I'm nobody and don't even have 4 digits of followers and I got a 3? That's fascinating.
I don't see +Trey Ratcliff or +Thomas Hawk or +Robert Scoble on there as well as others I know have HUGE followings. They must still be Today's News!
Scoble's down by.
Does anybody else notice the ratio of men to women in this list?
+Jo Dunaway +Robert Scoble is in the list. The two photographers have a PR of 5.
Yes +Laura Wallis G+ is a male bastion.
It's also important for people to understand that PR is impersonal. It simply reflects what the link graph is telling it. So PR isn't "prejudiced" in favor of one group or another; if it appears that way it is because real people are prejudiced that way.
In my opinion, the most useful piece of information out of Max's lists is to get across that follower count is, at best, only loosely correlative to your true authority in Google's eyes, whereas most people unfamiliar with how search algorithms work seem to assume that follower count would be the #1 consideration.
I say "loosely correlative" because, while I believe that Google pays little attention (if any) to follower count as a direct signal of authority, it is true that the more followers you have, the more likely you are to have pointed at you the kinds of signals that Google probably does count as authority signals.
But understanding this might help explain why a popular photographer with millions of followers has a lower PR than a popular tech writer. It may be the case that the photographer does not have a lot of other people with high authority in photography linking to, mentioning, resharing, and engaging with his posts and profile. So while he has a lot of followers engaging him, most of those followers have low authority for photography, so they don't really do much to build his authority in that topic.
On the other hand, our theoretical tech writer might have a lot fewer followers, but she has attracted a network of other tech writers who have high authority in that topic and who regularly link to, mention, reshare, and engage with her work. So she ends up with a higher authority for her topic.
It is crucial to understand that in the social graph, search engines are increasingly interested not as much in how many follow you as in who (in terms of their relevant authority) engages with you.
I guess I should have written a disclaimer like yours +Mark Traphagen but yes authority comes more easy with numbers,but is not derived from them.
I published the list as study material to show instead of tell that follower count won´t determine your PR ranking and as a help to others to dig a bit deeper . What sets these people with a PR of 6 apart.
Really good post +Max Huijgen.
I would say that building up "Good" links with Higher PR people is good. Obviously a reciprocal follow is better than a follow. As a Reciprocal link is better than a single link.
So from the list of PR6 people above those who have most followers probably have very little engagement with the people that follow them.
They probably have thousands of inbound links but few reciprocal.
However the people with a smaller following probably engage a lot more with people of a similar page rank. Generating a stronger link structure.
Or at least that's my two pence 😉
+Mark Traphagen
That's why I think engagement is better correlated with page rank than follower count is.
I've noticed on my weekly engagement list, there are often many people highly ranked that don't have large followings.
I'll start doing a statistical analysis to see the correlation between my weekly list and page rank.
That would be interesting to see +Euro Maestro
It's also important to bear in mind;
1) G reccently made alterations to G+ links and included NoFollow
2) Many more recent links in G+ are unlikely to be in the current PR count
3) Some profiles will have a number of Inbound Links, whilst others don't.
So any examinations should take those points into consideration.
Which is a shame, as I'd love to see some tests on posts that were shared alot 😀
+Lyndon NA there is an extension I found recently called "simple no follow" which I've been finding really useful. It basically just surrounds any no-follow links with a dotted red outline.
+Euro Maestro if you take a glance at these profiles and their posts. engagement is not uniform at all. It's very different in numbers and quality for each profile.
I have a feeling that external links to profile (possibly even authorship markup) make decent contribution to profile page PR.
+Timothy Coxon – there's a couple of plugins/toolbars that do that – saves a lot of highlighting and view selections 😀
+Sergey Andrianov – indeed, I think that may skew more than a few results … as would certain commenting practices, references to posts etc.
Attempting to discount such skewing/exceptions will be a pain 🙁
Can ytou mention a few of these plugins +Lyndon NA?
+Sergey Andrianov I had that same feeling but f.i. +Euro Maestro s case suggests that internal links are predominant.
http://goo.gl/fyweW this is the simple no follow one I mentioned 😉
http://tools.seobook.com/seo-toolbar/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/searchstatus/
http://www.seomoz.org/seo-toolbar
There's the most common 3 that I know of 😀