Link Equity
Quick Definition
Link equity (also called link juice) is the ranking power that a hyperlink passes from one page to another. The amount of equity passed depends on the linking page's authority, relevance, number of outbound links, and link attributes.
Why It Matters
Link equity (sometimes called "link juice") is the ranking power that flows from one page to another through hyperlinks. Understanding link equity helps you make smart decisions about internal linking, redirects, and backlink strategy. Pages that receive more link equity from authoritative sources tend to rank higher in search results.
Real-World Example
A page on Wikipedia (DA 95) links to your research article. That link carries significant link equity because Wikipedia is an extremely authoritative domain. The equity flows through the link to your page, boosting its ability to rank. However, if that Wikipedia page links to 200 other sites on the same page, the equity is divided among all outbound links.
Signal Connection
Trust -- link equity is essentially quantified trust. When an authoritative page passes equity to your page through a link, it transfers a portion of the trust that page has accumulated from the broader web.
Pro Tip
Use internal linking strategically to channel link equity to your most important pages. If your blog post earns 50 backlinks, add internal links from that post to your key service or product pages. This distributes the earned equity to pages that drive revenue.
Common Mistake
Assuming all links pass equal equity. A link from a page with high authority and few outbound links passes much more equity than a link from a low-authority page with hundreds of outbound links. Quality and context matter far more than quantity when it comes to link equity.
Test Your Knowledge
Which factor reduces the amount of link equity a page passes through its outbound links?
Show Answer
Answer: B. Having many outbound links on the same page
Link equity is divided among all outbound links on a page. The more outbound links a page has, the less equity each individual link passes. A link from a page with 5 outbound links passes more equity per link than a page with 500 outbound links.