Domain authority versus number of links

[member22]

Hello,

What is more important as far as ranking a webpage on google is the domain authority a TOP ranking factor ? or should I worry more about the number of links on the webpage I am going to have a link on.

The issue I have is that there is a website that wants me to put a link for them on my home page where I have 0 links and a PR or 4 ! and he want to put me on its internal page where he has a PR or 3 and about 20 links already on that page but his domain authority is very high

I am wondering who will win that link exchange ( my guess is him more than me ? but maybe I am wrong and what should I do.

Thanks,

[tedster]

I'd say that it takes a MAJOR reason to place any outbound link on a home page - and getting a reciprocal link is not nearly major enough.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry too much about equity in the links. The specific strengths of the pages will change over time anyway. Here's my criteria - 1) Do I want to recommend their page to my visitors, and in this spot? 2) For the inbound link, will a link there bring me any targeted traffic.

If you look at it this way instead of worrying too much about PR, you'll make good decisions. This is pretty much the approach that Google at least tries to mirror in their link juice algo, from what I can tell.

Now about your specifics. A PR3 vote split 20 ways (is that a total link count, including internal linking?) is clearly less powerful than a single vote from a PR4 page. But as I said, the strengths of the page will evolve, and sometimes just having a link is a good thing.

And finally, consider all the factors, especially WHERE on the page the links will live. Links from the content area are more important to Google than, say, links in a footer. And links on a page that is little more than a list of links may have no value at all.

[aristotle]

In terms of pagerank transfer you would obviously lose out very badly. An outlink from your home page could also be an invitation for people to leave your site. Whether the other site's authority could make up for all of this is difficult to answer because we don't know much about how Google measures authority or uses it as a ranking factor. I suggest that you mention this and use it to try to bargain for a better deal.

[TheMadScientist]

I would think about whether it makes sense for your visitors or not and go from there. I would probably not 'exchange' links this way, unless somehow it benefited visitors... The 'outbound link from a home page' debate is interesting to me, because there are highly respected SEOs (speak at Pubcon and other major conferences) who have live links out on their home page, which says to me it's not bad in all cases, so an 'automatic no' because it's going on the home page doesn't seem to be the consensus opinion, but the links I'm referring to seem to benefit visitors and are to authority, topical websites.

[aristotle]

I'm sorry, Tedster. I didn't see your answer until after I posted.