Link Equity
Link equity is the ranking value that passes from one page to another through a link. Often called link juice, it is the modern, practical way to describe how authority flows across the web.
Link equity is the ranking value that flows from one page to another through a hyperlink. You will also hear it called link juice, which is the same idea in more casual clothes. When an authoritative page links to yours, it passes along a portion of its own ranking power, and that transferred value is link equity. If you understand PageRank, you already understand link equity, because it is the practical, everyday name for PageRank's flow: a finite, transferable value that moves through links and helps the pages on the receiving end rank better.
Link equity is authority in motion. Every link is a pipe, and what flows through it is the ranking value that helps pages climb.
What determines how much equity a link passes
- Authority of the source page: a stronger, more trusted page has more equity to give in the first place.
- Number of links on the source page: equity is divided among all the links, so a link on a page with few outbound links passes more than one on a page packed with hundreds.
- Relevance: a link from a topically related page tends to pass more meaningful value than one from an unrelated context.
- Link attribute: a standard dofollow link passes equity; a nofollow, sponsored, or ugc link signals search engines to withhold the full flow.
- Placement and context: a contextual link inside relevant body content generally carries more weight than one buried in a footer.
targetWhy dividing matters
Imagine a page has a fixed amount of equity to pass along, and it splits that value across every link it contains. A page with five outbound links passes a larger share through each one than a page with two hundred links. This is the reason link-stuffed pages dilute the value of every link on them. When you want a link to carry real weight, you want it on a page that is not drowning in other links.
Link equity arrives from two directions, and you treat them differently. Backlinks from other sites bring fresh equity into your domain from the outside world, which is why earning them is so valuable and so hard. Internal links then move that equity around your own site, letting you decide which of your pages get the benefit. You earn equity with backlinks and you direct it with internal links toward your priority pages, the ones tied to revenue or to rankings you care about.
Example
A popular guide on your site has attracted strong backlinks, so it holds a lot of equity. By adding internal links from that guide to your product page and a few key articles, you channel a share of its earned equity to those pages, lifting their ability to rank. The guide pulls equity in from the web; your internal links spread it to the pages that need it most.
Earn it, then route it
Backlinks bring equity into your site. Internal links decide where it goes. Master both halves and you control not just how much authority you have, but which of your pages get to use it.
A final reframe that helps: treat link equity like a budget. You acquire it through backlinks, you allocate it through internal links, and you waste it through neglect. The sites that win are not always the ones with the most equity, they are often the ones that route what they have to the right pages and stop the leaks. Authority is valuable, but allocation is what turns it into rankings.
warningWATCH OUT
Watch for equity leaks. Long redirect chains, broken links pointing to dead pages, and pages crammed with dozens of outbound links all waste the value you worked to earn. A quick audit for these is one of the cheapest SEO wins available, and most sites never bother to run it.
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