Anyone have a good set of criteria I should really focus on meeting to get from noname page to a PR of at least 1? I have site with about 35 pages of content, I've tried getting reciprocal links (probably have 25 so far), and I've applied to the free directories (including DMOZ without result yet). Anything else I should really concentrate on?
Nope... It's all about links. When PR updates You will have a PR (As long as the sites you have done exchanges with have a PR).
Thanks! Also wondering, does a links page significantly drain PR, and do most people here consider it unethical to give reciprocal links in JavaScript or some way that wouldn't count as an outgoing link?
Any webmaster with decent PR is likely to turn down any exchange offer with a site that uses the strategy you mention. Don't worry about PR draining away until you have at least a pr5+ untill then focus on developing your site, linking out freely in a way that is useful for your readers and getting links from pages that are of a similar topic/s to yours.
i have over 1000 back links, some with good page rank, i still do not have a pr on my site. any suggestions?
PR on the toolbar only updates every few months. The last update was at the beginning of september, so if your site is recent, you just have to wait until the next update (hopefully around New Years).
Just wait, if you have link to your sites its almost sure you get some pagerank. Google just needs his time