How to make your site in the top of free listing search result? Does PR also affect it? Why some sites has a lower PR but it's the first in search results?
Some new sites appear immediately on serp then dropped, some remains... Irregardless of PR, serp depends on quality of your content, site structure and how you build your links, study how to do them effectively.
Yeah and you can also do some research on such websites having low PR and on top of search engine list. If that site is not new, then certainly worth checking from where its getting backlinks and which specific keywords are targeted by that website.
it's all about building backlinks to your site. You need to find sites in a similar niche to your own which allow "Do Follow". then create considered and thought out posts on that web page and include an anchor text link back to you site with the keyword you want to rank in SERPS for. over time your search ranking will improve, it takes time and effort but patience brings rewards