Most professional search engine companies agree that the green PageRank display has little to do with the actual performance of a website in Google yet many customers focus on a high PageRank as the ultimate barometer of their web presence.

Yet this barometer can easily be faked to provide the illusion of a higher page rank on a website.

How PageRank Faking Is Done

The PageRank can be faked by using a combination of cloaking and employing a 301 redirect.

1. A search engine spider visits your web page, your server is set up with a 301 to redirect the spider to aanother web page with a higher PageRank.
2. The search engine assigns the higher PageRank to your page with the redirection.
3. The 301 is then removed and you navigate to your web page.
4. The PageRank of the your web page now displays the PageRank of the faked site. It now appears as your web page has a higher PageRank when it fact it doesn't.
   

There are techniques to identifying if this practice has been employed on your site. More importantly, be suspicious of anyone that produces almost instantaneous PageRank results.

Keywork ranking is the key and the PageRank meter has little to do with the success of your rankings as related to what you actually sell.