Topic Sensitive PageRank - The Value of Incoming Links
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In the currently used PageRank system, incoming links have a fixed PR value. For example, a PageRank 6 page passes along that PR value to the receiving page, regardless of the themes of the pages. A PR6 page about cats can pass strong PageRank along to a page on travel, whether related to the subject or not.
In a Topic-Sensitive PageRank environment, the same PR6 page about cats would be weighted in many ways, against the various categories used in the Open Directory Project. The amount of TSPR would vary from one receiving web page to another. The travel page would not receive as much passed along PR, from the cats page, as would a page on animal care.
Incoming links would require an examination of the relationship of the sending page's theme to that of the receiving page. In other words, the value of an incoming link can vary widely from page to page. A PR6 page unrelated to your page's theme would carry far less TSPR value than a PR3 page more similar to your theme.
For webmasters seeking reciprocal links, the value of a page would depend heavily on the type of site under consideration. A page on cats would not get very much TSPR value from a link exchange with a travel page.
In order to build a strong PageRank, and become an "authority site," incoming links would need to be from similarly weighted pages. The need to find links with pages that are in your website's area of interest becomes very important under the TSPR calculation. Not just any old links would work anymore.
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