Do deep backlinks affect PR for site URL?

Does a deep backlink add to the PR for a site? Or only links to homepage?

[dblobaum]

We regularly produce standalone content on our site and we always try to get links directly to these subsidiary (third-level) content pages. The URLs for these content pages take form like this: [press.exampleURL.edu...]

We have gotten about two dozen Yahoo links to pages of this type and about 30 similar ODP links. Plus there are numerous links to such pages spread across the web.

Do such deep backlinks contribute directly to the PR of our homepage at [press.exampleURL.edu?...] Or is there no connection?

To state the issue more generally, does the PR algorithm at least in part create the PR of a top-level URL from the totality of backlinks to all pages on the site, no matter what level the pages are within the site? Or does the PR of the top-level URL depend solely on backlinks only to the top-level URL?

Thanks for your thoughts.

db

[vitaplease]

dblobaum,

Pagerank is "generated" through external and internal inbound links "per webpage".

Your index page will benefit from the inbound links to your deeper pages if these deeper pages link back directly or indirectly to your index page.

[taxpod]

And that's why a smart system of navigation is critical.

[turk182]

A good interlinking system within your site is critical (that's one of the reasons for "big sites" with hundred of thousand pages to commonly have good PR. Other is because they have a lot of external inbound links). One page with PR, may it be low or high, with no links to other pages of your site is a waste of PR. If that is the case, would you mind to put a link from that page to my site? ;)

[dblobaum]

Thanks, this has been helpful. I will think more strategically about the links we put on those pages. We always link back to our homepage via a standard navigation include. And we usually have a small number of other links to internal (and sometimes external) pages of similar content.

DB