Hypothetical: given two web sites, A and B, in a similar niche. they are both PR1 and recently registered domains. A offers a backlink to B, provided B writes an orignal content article of 100 words. so A ends up with some free original content, and B ends up with a nice backlink Who is getting the better end of the deal? A or B?
I've been doing this for only about a year and I'm not really an expert on SEO, but I think you need to read up a whole lot more before you start asking these questions. Recently registered domain would not be PR1, it would be PR0. 100 words content is more like an excerpt and not an article. With that said, I have seen sites with very little content get ranked on the first page of google for a pretty competitive term. According to yahoo, the backlinks for these sites ranged anywhere from 500 to 5000. It is not an exact science though, because it’s dependant on number of different factors such as the quality of links your site is getting and the relevancy counts as well. At the end of the day though, whether your site is built for google or for your readers you’ll need to have both content and backlinks if you want to have any kind of success.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Your insights are well certainly something to consider. however, I dont feel like the main point of my question was answered. I understand that you may not be PR1 for a recently registered name. (I suppose it depends on your def of recent) The purpose of the hypothetical i was trying to set up is to make both sites basically equal. So all things being equal what is better, 100 words of orignal content, or a link back from a PR1 site? Also, how does it change for PR2? PR3.. ext... Or, how does the equation change for 200 words of content... or 1000? I guess im trying to figure out the balance between what is more valuable, backlink or content? Thanks again for your response! Hope to hear more from you and other members! Cheers