What Is Link Equity? How Does It Affect Your SEO?

What Is Link Equity? How Does It Affect Your SEO?

When it comes to backlinks, the objective is always to maximize value, just like any other smart investment. A strong, useful link profile is essential for any current SEO strategy. They will not only help you rank well in search results and attract organic web traffic, but they will also do wonders for your site’s domain authority. The days of quantity over quality link spamming, which was popular just a few years ago, are long gone. If you want to enhance the quality of your links and rank higher on Google, you must focus on one thing: link equity.

link equity analysis

Link equity, sometimes known as “link juice,” is a search engine ranking element that assumes certain links will convey value and authority from one website to another.


While the value of a link determined by various aspects that we will discuss later. It is crucial to note that link value may passed across websites via two types of equity connections: internal and external links.

Before we get into the mechanics of how Google and other search engines evaluate link equity and enhance it, there are a few fundamental concepts to understand.

First, you must realize that external links (those from other websites) will supply you with greater long-term ranking worth and equity than internal ones (i.e., from the same website).

This is not to say that internal linkages are unimportant. In truth, if 1) your site has a high degree of authority and 2) the page in issue contains internal connections from other high-value pages, a page may still score rather well with few external links.

However, if Google does not perceive your domain to be authoritative and your page has no external connections. You will have difficulty gaining organic visibility. Generally, you should prioritize acquiring link equity from outside sources.

Those That Are Well-Linked To Pass On More Equity Than Poorly Linked Pages.

Second, keep in mind that well-linked-to sites (both external and internal) will be in a better position to pass on link equity than poorly-linked-to ones.

In essence, if one of your pages has a strong link profile (particularly from other high-value and significant pages), that page will have an easier time passing on link equity than a page with a weaker link profile.

Third, the quality of your links is more significant than the quantity. A page with a few value-driven connections will often pass on more link equity than a page with hundreds or thousands of links. As a result, link equity necessitates narrowing your emphasis to only the most significant, valuable, and relevant pieces of content.

Google’s Pagerank Algorithm’s Declining Influence

Finally, it is critical to emphasize the fading importance of Google’s original ranking algorithm, PageRank.
The PageRank algorithm, named after Google creator Larry Page, arranged search results by analyzing a website’s backlink profile. It will weigh the quantity and importance of connections on each page. Because PageRank emphasized the overall number of connections. It was relatively simple for SEOs to increase search engine ranks by simply spamming links to their websites.

The idea of PageRank has been developed to emphasize link equity. While it used to be assumed that the most relevant. And useful websites were those with the most connections from other sites. Google now considers a variety of other significant variables such as link relevancy, authority and trust, and link placement.

Recognizing that not every link is a good connection, the list below offers a few components to consider as you seek to optimize your link equity.

  • Relevance

The first thing you should realize is that backlinks must be relevant.

Irrelevance does not provide authority in current SEO, and it surely does not bring value. Limit your links to pages that are related to the current subject.

  • Quantity

As previously said, link quality is more important than link quantity when it comes to link juice. While there is no hard and fast rule about how many links you should put on a page, it’s recommended to limit it to a minimum to prevent losing exposure to your most useful and relevant connections.

  • Anchor Text

As we previously stated in our analysis of subject relevance, Anchor texts play an important role in link construction.


One of the easiest methods to assist Google in determining the relationship between two pages is to use exact match anchor text with your target keyword/keywords that characterize the particular page on the other side of a link. If your anchor text is relevant, it will dramatically improve your link equity and page ranks. Remember that words have power!

  • Authority Of The Linking Site

Another key consideration is domain authority. Links from a reputable site with high authority will pass on more link juice than links from a new site with less authority. Because it takes time for a new site to gain authority, a backlink profile comprised of reliable and authoritative sites should always be prioritized.

The Position Of The Link On The Page

When it comes to passing on link juice, link visibility is critical.


Links concealed in your site’s footer or sidebar are often evaluated less by Google than links placed in the body of a web page’s content (i.e., “contextual” links). Your site layout plays a significant role in assisting Google in determining which information is truly important. As a result, be smart about where you place your footer links and strive for exposure.

HTTP Status Of The Linked Page

Only links with HTTP status codes in the 200s or permanent 301 redirections will keep their link equity.
Although Google has declared that all redirects (even non-ideal redirection) will pass on link equity, you should proceed with caution. No other search engines are likely to follow Google’s path, so construct your link building plan with the philosophy of “better safe than sorry.”

Crawability And “Nofollow” Attributes

If you include a robots.txt file on one of your pages, you instruct Google not to crawl or index that page. Crawlers from search engines will disregard your page and, as a result, any potential link equity.
Similarly, an “index, no follow” or “noindex, no follow” attribute tells Google to disregard the relationship between the two sites in question, and your links will not convey link equity. As a best practice, “no follow” links should be replaced with “followed” links.

You can do various tactics right now to increase your link building efforts, grab more link equity, and boost your rankings. While the list below is by no means complete, it is a good place to start for firms who are unfamiliar with the notion of link development.

If you’re not ranking well, you should first use an internet SEO or keyword tool.


Several SEO tools are available to assist you in estimating link authority and relevance. Ahrefs is one of our favourite tools, and we utilize it to help us create SEO-optimized content. Taking into consideration a wide range of link metrics, Ahrefs offers you a comprehensive picture of your backlink profiles via the metrics listed below:

  • Ahrefs Rank
  • URL Rating (UR)
  • Domain Rating (DR)
  • Backlinks
  • Referring Domains

Not only does Ahrefs give a very accurate image of the present health of your page links. But it also provides a strong historical view of all your connections – both dead and living.

With a service like Ahrefs at your disposal, you should do a site audit and seek untapped backlink potential. This is especially crucial if, despite having a vast site, only a few of your pages receive high-quality equity connections.


Although not all of these pages are considered “power pages” by Google, they are rich in backlink potential.


Consider reworking the material to increase relevance between themes, including bulleted lists (with links). Below the fold, optimize internal linking, and include target keywords in the anchor text of your links. Although they are sometimes missed, these changes will undoubtedly assist you in passing link equity.


3. Develop Topic Clusters

Creating subject clusters is another excellent approach for increasing link juice. A topic cluster is a collection of interconnected web pages that you may create. 1) creating pillar content that addresses a wide issue. And 2) internally connecting that pillar topic to other related content or blog entries (i.e., your “cluster” topics).


Relevant links from your cluster content to your pillar page will tell Google which page in the group is significant. Internal links from your pillar page to your cluster content will carry value across the whole cluster. It will benefit each page as long as the material is connected and relevant.


4. Improve the Information Architecture of Your Website

Finally, you must efficiently manage your website’s information architecture and content structure, with strong connections between related and relevant sections. Pages that link to irrelevant material will suffer a drop in relevance, resulting in a loss of link juice.


Your pages will have less value to pass on to other pages if they have a lower relevance score. In addition to essential internal linking, focus on creating logical categories for site navigation and removing duplicate and low-quality material.


Link equity is the secret sauce of any current SEO action plan in the effort to increase organic traffic. Boost authority, and rank higher for the sites that genuinely matter. The ideas, tactics, and tools discussed in this post should have you swimming in link juice in no time with a little patience and determination.