1 Link from PR8 Page or 100 Links from PR4 Pages

Which is best?

[HIPO]

Is it better to have 1 link from a PR8 site [the only external link on that page] or 100 links for PR4/5?

[aspdesigner]

The problem with that idea is that the combined outbound PageRank credit that a page can pass to it's links is less than the it's own PageRank (due to the damping factor). A page can't pass more PageRank than it has itself.

Thus, a bunch of internal links from PR 0 pages won't do you much good!

[steveb]

"why do you say never to buy links for pr?"

Because Google doesn't like it. It is the definition of a "link scheme". It isn't genuine. If you care about following the guidelines, don't do it. If you don't care about the guidelines, then you're on your own.

[newwebster]

Page rank should be the last thing you should worry about. I would first concentrate on making a good theme site with several on topic pages as well as pages that link to on topic pages. Then begin a link campaign and get links from on topic pages. Make your site a hub for your topic keywords. Only after you do that, will page rank be a benifit to you as far as postioning. So, I think 100 on topic links is far better than 1 page rank 8 link. However, if your site is already got several 100 on topic inbound keyword anchor text links, then the Page rank 8 will enhance your site. It is icing on the cake, but the cake has to be good in the first place or they will not taste right together.

[rfung]

it's a very fine line between buying a link and a banner/text ad at another site.

[steveb]

It's a fine line for a search engine to judge, and they might even judge wrong.

It's not a fine line in your head. You know what you are doing.

From a practical standpoint, buying an ad on a niche site is a fine and sensible thing to do. Buying a link on an off-topic site just to game the system is gaming the system.

[aspdesigner]

I would not advise the "sale" of PR. The danger is if they are promoting it on that basis, Google sees that, and that PR8 site suddenly becomes a PR0!

On the flip side, however, I don't think you should limit yourself to only buying advertising links from low-PR sites! LOL

I think it makes perfect business sense to consider the traffic levels and PR of sites you are considering purchasing advertising on as part of your decision on where to allocate your advertising budget.

If you are considering purchasing advertising on one of two sites, which are otherwise identical except one's a PR2 and the other is a PR8, I don't think you are cheating the system if you decide the second site is a better use of your advertising dollars.

However, I would not advise buying advertising on sites promoted on that basis (i.e. - selling PageRank), due to the danger I referenced above.