In SEO, the most important strategy to get higher search engine ranking is “Link Building”, If your page has more quality links, then there is a chance of increasing your page authority.
There are two types of links, Internal and External links, when we link a page to another page on the same website, then it is Internal linking, when an external website links to our website then it is an External link.
These links interconnect the pages and serve more information to the users for a particular search term.
But how links are connected and what is the phenomenon in the process, here comes the concept called Link Juice it is also called Link Equity.
Further, we will dive deep into the Link Juice, so-called Link Equity.
What is Link Juice or Link Equity?
Here comes the Definition of Link juice:
Link Juice is an SEO term that describes the process of passing value or authority from one page to another page.
Link Juice passed from high authority external websites to our website will benefit us in building authority in that particular topic.
The same as link juice from one page to another page on our website will benefit us with user retention and authority around the particular topic.
Link juice is an important factor considered by search engines in deciding the credibility and authority of a webpage, it also plays an important role in improving a website’s search engine rankings.
Why is Link Equity important?
Link equity is an important SEO factor for the following reasons:
Boost Search Engine Rankings
- Search engine algorithms use links to navigate from one page to another, so, links from appropriate external websites to your website pass link equity which positively impacts a website’s search engine rankings.
- Websites with higher and relevant link equity are treated as trustworthy and credible by search engines, which leads to better visibility.
Crawling and Indexing
- The important aspect is, that search engine crawlers often use links to discover and navigate through web pages as users do.
- When your page receives inbound links from other reputable sites, it signals to search engines that the page is valuable and worth indexing, which leads to faster crawling and indexing.
Builds Brand Reputation
- Brand reputation is crucial for every business, Link equity can influence user perception. Earning links from reputable websites conveys to visitors that your website content is valuable and worth their time.
- This contributes to building brand trust and authority, which helps to build stronger relationships with your target audience.
Internal Link Distribution
- Link equity benefits from internal linking within your website, It helps search engines crawl your new page when an indexed page links to your new page.
- By distributing link equity from high-authority pages to internal pages, you can help users navigate your website, increasing user retention.
Referral Traffic
- Social Media plays a vital role in link juice distribution, links from relevant influencers and other social media platforms help to drive traffic to your website, and this tells search engines that your content is valuable to users.
- Links also act as recommendations, they convince people to visit your website for the products or services they are looking for which results in user engagement.
Factors Determining Link Equity:
Till now you are aware of Link Juice or Link Equity and its importance, we will further discuss some factors determining the value of Link Equity.
Authority of the Source:
Source from where the link juice flow is very crucial, sites with high authority give you credibility, and links from spammy sites pass you the spam.
Relevance:
Links from the website of your niche are relevant, For example, A website selling baby products can get links from baby healthcare blogs, not from blogs listing electronic products.
Anchor Text:
The anchor text used in the hyperlink provides information about the linked page, It should be descriptive, as search engines understand the topic of the linked page through anchor text and pass the link juice.
Placement on Page:
Links placed in the headers, sidebars, and footers as menus and site navigations pass less link equity, but links placed in the middle of the body have more link value, so placement is an important factor in determining link equity.
Number of Outbound Links:
The number of outbound links on the page determines the distribution of link equity, pages that link to a large number of other websites may pass less link equity to each link but pages with fewer outbound links pass more link value.
Link Attributes:
There are some link attributes the users can specify for every link, such as rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored”, these attributes indicate to search engines whether a link should be followed and pass link equity.
Links with attributes “nofollow” and “sponsored” pass less or no link equity, depending on the search engine’s algorithms.
Updated Links:
New and updated links generally carry more weight than outdated links, But already-established links in a website retain their value if the linking site remains authoritative.
How to Maximize Link Juice for Your Pages
It is easy to maximize link juice for your pages if you are clear about what factors determine link equity and how to acquire authoritative backlinks.
Here are some methods to increase the link equity of your web pages.
- Linkbait Content: creating valuable and engaging content that attracts links naturally is called Linkbait Content, For example, content that solves problems, answers questions, or provides statistics gets more shares and it is likely to be linked by other websites.
This is the perfect example of Link Bait Content and it attracts 26.9K backlinks, statistics shared by Baclinko, This is because it has a useful insight into Google’s 200 ranking factors.
- Quality Backlinks: Acquiring backlinks is a very important process of SEO, as it helps to build authority by getting more link juice.
Focus on Building links from authoritative websites. Try to build relationships with influencers, request guest blogging, and collaborate with people within your niche.
- Internal Linking: Never underestimate the internal linking process, It helps to distribute link juice throughout your website. Check for important pages and link high-authority pages to it, It helps in passing link equity.
The above picture clearly explains the internal linking structure and the link juice passes throughout the website in this way and Google discovers the webpage through the flow of link juice.
- Link Reclamation: The process of auditing and fixing broken links in your website is called Link Reclamation. Broken links can stop the flow of link juice within your site. Even if it is a backlink from other websites, check for the linked source. Some SEO Auditing Tools help you to find and fix broken links.
- Social Sharing: Nowadays Social media helps in building the authority of a website, So, try to integrate social sharing buttons on your pages. Increased social engagement leads to more visibility and results in acquiring potential backlinks from social media platforms.
Common Link Juice Terms
Now, We will discuss some related link juice terms and myths.
- Nofollow Links and Link Juice
- Link Juice and Page Rank
Nofollow Links and Link Juice
People often have this question: will no follow links pass link juice?
No, nofollow links do not pass link juice (directly) according to official statements and studies.
- According to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, No Follow link will not pass link equity.
Link Juice and Page Rank
Link Juice and PageRank are related to the flow of authority through links, but they have some differences. Link Juice is a concept in SEO, and PageRank is an algorithm of Google.
- When a webpage receives a backlink from another site, it receives a portion of that site’s link juice or link equity(link value) to build its authority.
- PageRank is an algorithm developed by Google to measure the importance of web pages based on the quantity and quality of their inbound links.
Wrap-Up:
I hope you got a clear understanding of Link Juice or Link Equity, why it is important, factors determining link value and how to get more link juice to your webpage, and also some related terms of Link juice.
Acquiring more links helps to flow the link juice throughout your website which increases the authority and helps in higher ranking.
Frequently Asked Qustions:
Link Juice in SEO is a process of passing value or authority from one page to another through links.
Link Equity is important as it helps build the authority of a webpage through links, boosts search engine ranking, helps crawling and indexing, and builds brand reputation.
Links from the external website to your website are called external links, and the value passed from the external website to yours is called an external equity link.
Yes, Link Juice and Link Equity are the same terms and have the same meaning as it represents the link value.
No Follow links will not directly pass the link juice but they indirectly convey the context to search engines.