Link Equity is the level of authority or value that is passed from one webpage to another through hyperlinks. Example; if page A links to page B , Page A passes a part of its link juice to Page B. This increases the pagerank of Page B. However, the link value that is passed to a page depends on several factors like PageRank of the referring page, the relevance of the referring page, the anchor text used and the authority of the referring website. Both internal and external links pass link equity.
What is Link Equity in SEO
To understand the importance of Link Equity, you need to understand Google’s Pagerank algorithm. As per the PageRank algorithm by Google, Google evaluates the authoritativeness of a page based on the number and quality of links it receives, which is essential for link building.
Thus, link equity becomes like the currency of the PageRank algorithm. Over time, Google’s ranking algorithms have evolved, integrating numerous other signals. But the foundational principle remains intact: links, especially those with high link equity, are pivotal to SEO success.
Factors that Determines Link Equity
The quality of the link juice that is passed or link equity depends on several factors. Let’s explore them to understand further about link equity.
The relevance of the Link : If you are linking to a site about handmade soaps from a SEO services agency page, the link is probably not relevant.
Authority of the linking site: Links from sites with higher domain authority or domain rating (DR) pass more link equity than newly founded sites.
Authority of the referring page: Links from pages with higher pagerank (PR) pass more link equity.
Page Indexability: Only indexable pages can pass link equity. If a page is blocked from being crawled, then the link wont pass value.
Status of the link: Only Do-Follow links pass link equity. No-follow links do not pass link equity from one page to another. By default, comments are no follow links.
Position of the Link: Links located in the body of the page carry more weightage than links in the footer.
No of links on the referring page: If there are multiple links on the referring page, then the link equity is reduced. So the more outgoing links a page has, the less link juice will be passed through those links.
Relevance of the anchor text: The more relevant an anchor text is, the more link equity will be passed.
How is Link Equity Distributed Among the Pages of Your Website?
When it comes to distributing link equity among the pages of a website, there are a few key factors to consider:
Link Depth: The depth of a page refers to how many clicks it takes to get to the page from the homepage. Pages that are deeper in the site hierarchy tend to receive less link equity, than pages that are easily accessible from the home page
Link Diversity: It’s important to have a diverse range of internal and external links pointing to a website, as this can help distribute link equity more evenly and improve the overall authority of the site. Having a variety of different types of links, such as natural editorial links, guest posts, and social media links, can help to diversify the link profile and make it more valuable to search engines.
Link Placement: The location of a link on a webpage can also affect the amount of link equity that is passed on. Links that are placed higher up on a page tend to pass on more link equity than those that are placed lower down the page.
How to Improve Link Equity?
Here are some tactics to get the most from your link juice.
- Create content worth linking to
- Create topic clusters
- Get interviewed by high-authority websites
- Create visual content that is likely to be shared
- Sponsor or speak at an event
- Network with other organisations or influencers
- Have social sharing buttons on your website
- Post regularly on social media
- Encrypt your site with SSL
- Use internal links
How to Pass Internal Link Equity?
As internal links also pass link equity, it is highly important to plan your site architecture so that all the important pages like the home page have maximum link equity. When you link to your important pages like home and service pages from your blogs, the link equity of these pages increase.
Pro Tip: Optimise your ranking blogs so that you link to your important pages from these blogs. This way, you pass more link equity to these pages and also more users can find them.
To find internal link opportunities for your blog, simply type
[site:www.yoursite.com intext:“target keyword”]
This way, you can find the right internal links within your website which add relevance to your links.
How to Get More Link Juice with Your Internal Links
Contact page: Include a bulleted list of links below the fold to pass more link juice
Terms of Service Page: Most don’t even consider using these pages. Again, you can add a bulleted list of links below the fold.
Meet the Team pages: If the page links out to individual team member bios, you can add trailing “About the Company” sections with links.
Footer Links: This is one of the most smart ways to pass link juice to your internal links
Sitemap: For sites with lots of content, implementing multiple sitemaps can provide better crawling, indexing, and the ability to boost your internal linking strategy.
Homepage: The homepage is a power page. It should have links to some of the most competitive terms you’re trying to rank.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is Link Equity Important?
Ans: Link equity is an important ranking factor in search engine optimization (SEO) because it can help to improve the page authority of the linking page. Webpages with a lot of link equity are often seen as more valuable and authoritative by search engines, and they may rank higher in the search results as a result.
Q: Does a 301 redirect pass link juice to the new page?
Ans: A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that informs search engines that the content of a specific URL has moved permanently to a new location. As a result, search engines generally transfer the majority of the ranking power, authority, and relevance associated with the original URL to the new URL. This means that the new URL can benefit from the backlinks, rankings, and trust signals accumulated by the old URL.
While the majority of the link juice is passed through, there can still be a slight loss in the transfer. Some link equity may be diluted or lost due to factors such as the distance of the redirect (the number of redirects in the chain), the relevance and authority of the old and new URLs, and other on-page and off-page factors
Q: Does subdomain 301 redirection pass 100% link juice?
Ans: Google initially treats a subdomain as a different entity. As it learns more about the subdomain, it starts giving authority from the main domain slowly. Sometimes, there might be a fall in rankings before it rises again, once Google understands that its is going to the right link indeed.
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