Google likes to offer all kinds of neat little tips and clues regarding how it views sites. Google PageRank is one such tool, but with questionable value.
The Red Herring that is Google PageRank
Google is a highly secretive beast. If you are trying to optimize your site to obtain high rankings, Google will provide you with little or no information. It even fails to show all of the links it is counting to your site, a negative step that no other engine takes. What Google does provide, however, is the Google PageRank for sites.
In my opinion, Google PageRank is a bit of red herring. I dont believe it tells you much about how Google views your site. Instead, it is a bit of bait designed to get you to download the Google Toolbar. Yes, you can only see your PageRank if you download a Google program on to your computer. And you thought Microsoft was bad!
Assuming you have downloaded the toolbar, the PageRank is the little bar in the middle that should be partially covered in green. The green represents your PageRank and is out of ten. You can run your cursor across it and the actual PageRank number will appear. Most sites have a PageRank of 3 to start...