Page Rank in regards to link structure

Do "splash pages" help or hurt?

[stuntdubl]

In reading the complete descriptions of hypothesisized page rank algo's.....I am curious to know how the link structure of a site can effect PR. It seems to me that a heirarchal type "splash page" would attain the best pr, if used as the root of a site. I know 'doorway pages' have got a bad name because of the abuse of them, but can they ever be of benefit to a site? I'm sure there have been discussions on this, but I have not found them.

[4eyes]

As I understand it, a splash intro page would harm the PR of the other pages on the site.

Most of your incoming links will come to the splash page, which passes this on to your interior 'home' page minus a 'damping' factor.

I don't use the phrase 'doorway page' any more - 'information page' is more descriptive of what they need to be.

If you make them right, they offer useful information to the visitor and perform well enough on Google.