We have been getting a lot of questions lately about Google Page Rank, and why it looks like most web sites never get above a page rank of 1 or 2.
First and foremost, if you have the Google toolbar installed, the Google Page Rank on the toolbar is not correct. It's out-dated by at least 3 months, and is not a good indicator of how Google is really ranking your site anyway.

Our main web site was a page rank of 5 for many years, when it suddenly (and without reason) dropped to 3, and has stayed there for over a year now, even though we have done nothing different than before.

Here is an interesting quote from SEOBook’s Aaron Wall :
Since Google is demoting PageRank’s viability as a site’s global authority score perhaps this is a time for Yahoo to bring back WebRank, or Ask to launch something like CommunityRank. The Google-webmaster relationship is fraying. This presents an opportunity for whoever wants to take it.

There are many, many (too many) so-called SEO "experts" out there that will say things like:

• Use the "nofollow" tag in your links
• Don't have any outbound links on your web site
• Use different keywords on every inbound link to your web site

Let's debunk those. The web was created, and expanded, by links. The search engines find new sites by links. The "nofollow" tag, to me, just says that, even though you have the link on your web site, it shouldn't be trusted. Well, if it shouldn't be trusted, why have it? And if you have no outbound links, how are you going to exchange links with others?
The keyword suggestion is even worse. We have a Tacoma web design company, and we only work with Washington companies. Why would I want to change the keywords on every inbound link? The more different sources that link to us with the words "Tacoma web design," the more important the search engines see us for that keyword.

So here's what it boils down to: Don't worry about Google Page Rank. Have a quality web site designed for you, and make sure you have a reputable company doing the search engine optimization for that site.Work with your vendors and clients to trade links. Then you will have a high quality web site that people go to, and hopefully contact you about your products/services, which is what you want in the first place.