Google’s original ranking idea, PageRank, treated links as votes. A page with lots of strong pages linking to it builds up value, and some of that value flows on through the links it gives out. SEOs call that flowing value link equity, or more casually “link juice”. Google still uses PageRank internally, though as one of many signals and in a much more refined form than the original 1998 paper.
What affects how much equity a link passes
- The strength of the linking page. A page that many trusted sites link to has more to pass on.
- Relevance. A link from a page about home repairs to a plumber carries more meaning than one from an unrelated page.
- Placement. Links in the main content, chosen editorially, count for more than footer or sidebar links repeated on every page.
- Number of links on the page. Value is shared among the links a page gives out, so one link among five passes more than one among five hundred.
- Attributes.
nofollow,sponsoredandugclinks are hints that usually pass little or nothing (see nofollow link). - Redirects. Google has said 301 redirects and other server-side redirects don’t lose PageRank, so moving a URL properly keeps its equity.
Why it matters
Most of a site’s outside links point at a few pages: the homepage and maybe one popular guide. Brightside Dental’s “what to do about a knocked-out tooth” article has links from a school nurse resource page, a parenting blog and a local news story. Its emergency dentist service page has none. By adding a prominent link from the article to the emergency page, Brightside lets some of that article’s equity flow to the page that actually brings in patients. That’s the main practical use of the idea: plan internal links so strength reaches the pages that earn money.
Ways to lose equity
- Broken pages. When a page with backlinks returns a 404, the links pointing at it pass nothing. Redirect it to the closest live page.
- Redirect chains that stretch across several hops.
- Nofollowed internal links, which stop equity moving around your own site.
- Orphaned money pages with no internal links at all.
- Pages buried deep in the site structure, many clicks from strong pages.
Common mistakes
- “PageRank sculpting” with nofollow on internal links. Google changed how this works in 2009; it no longer concentrates equity, it just wastes it.
- Hoarding equity by never linking out. Linking to useful sources is normal and doesn’t drain your site in any way worth worrying about.
- Assuming every link is equal. A single relevant link from a trusted local source can outweigh dozens from directories.
How to find equity worth reclaiming
RankThat’s Backlinks feature shows your backlinks, new and lost links, and broken links: links pointing at pages on your site that no longer work. Redirecting those URLs to a relevant page puts that equity back to work.