What Is Link Juice In SEO? (Definition & Tips)
In the SEO world, links mean a lot. With the help of properly built and high-quality links, it becomes achievable to boost the website’s ranking and thus make it significantly stronger. In connection with this, the expression “link juice” appeared. But what is link juice, and what does it serve for?
Link Juice In Details
The odd “link juice” word combination might confuse those who are new to SEO, but worldly-wise professionals are well familiar with it. And no, it has nothing to do with a fruity drink!
Speaking short, link juice in SEO (you might also hear of it as link equity) is a word combination that we make use of to characterize and determine the amount of power that each backlink passes to another website and so makes it stronger.
To give you an example, imagine that there is a site that references another resource with a link. In this case, it is like it conveys a part of its positive characteristics to that website in a way. From the point of view of a search engine, it determines such an act as a sort of reference given by one website to another. And of course, the more link juice “flows” to the linked websites, the better.
Two Types Of Link Equity
There are two major types of link equity: internal and external ones, and each has particular distinctions. Let’s start from the external type:
- External link equity is the linking power that comes from another domain.
- On the other side, internal link juice is the same linking power that flows with the help of internal linking and goes to other internal subpages.
The Role Of Link Equity In SEO
We can call this phenomenon a factor of influence in SEO. Search engine optimization values backlink profile and TrustRank above all the rest when it comes to linking power. The amount of it is crucial for the link profile of a website.
The scheme is elementary. The more influential the linking websites are judging from their TrustRank, the better the link equity flow will be from these sites to those they are leading.
The Connection Between the Link Juice And PageRank
In the world of SEO, everything is pretty much based on links. Their quantity, quality, and reliability matter a lot for every website. For this reason, website owners often prefer to buy qualitative backlinks from a well-known and trustworthy link-building service, such as LinksManagement, which allows attracting constant traffic to the site. They also get an audience and customers and help to avoid SEO hooks that newbies often get into.
But what connects link equity with the PageRank algorithm, you may wonder? Well, let us recall. As you know, PageRank is one of Google Search algorithms that serve for ranking web pages. In other words, it measures the level of importance of various web pages to a certain point.
To be precise, this algorithm’s goal was to define how each website would rank depending on the backlink profile of this site. For instance, imagine that a very trustworthy and authoritative web page comprises a followed link to a material located on a smaller resource. In this case, it may show that the linked page is reliable and worth the reader’s trust. A defined part of authority transmits from a “major” page to a “minor” one in a certain way.
Since what we call and define as link equity is actually the manner the linking power of the web page flows from one of them to another, using high-quality and well-working links is a core rule for providing that flow.
How to Tell If a Link Will Transmit Equity
Basically, both internal and external links are able to transmit the link juice. To be able to define whether the link will indeed deliver it or not, several factors must be taken into consideration:
The link must be relevant since otherwise, it will not manage to provide enough authority and/or value, and Google will be aware of that, be sure.
The linking website needs to be trustworthy. Links that come from reliable sources usually transmit more equity in comparison with brand-new or recently created platforms that haven’t managed to build up their reputation yet.
The link is better to be followed. See, the system simply ignores the no-follow ones since those carry no link juice.
Make sure the link is crawlable. The concept is that the crawlers are the programs that collect and index data from the Internet. In most cases, they choose to disregard links that block them, which means such ones will not pass any value.
The location of the link matters a great deal! If we place it in a sidebar or in a footer, it will have way less importance and value in comparison to the link in the body of the text.
Consider the quantity of links located on the page. If one of them leads to, let’s say, your website is the one that is easy to lose amongst all the others, then its weight will be most likely put under a big question. And even albeit there is no strict demand existing about the maximum number of links allowed on the web page, let’s be honest. In a similar situation, a user will hardly find and click the one. Most likely, he or she will depreciate it faster.
Double-check the HTTP status of the linked page since it is of great importance as well. If the system authorizes it as 200 or 301 redirects, such a page will hold down its link juice.
Tips For Getting More Link Juice To the Website
To draw more links to the site and to do it legally and safely, try out one (or a few) of the following suggestions:
Ensure you are creating useful and reliable content.
Your brand must be popular and strongly built.
Provide your site with proper PR, promotion, and advertisement to attract an audience.
As a variant, try contributing content to other sites.
Involve expert quotes and/or brand mentions.
Make sure you have a robust internal linking strategy in place. Automating internal linking with a plugin helps a ton here.
Frequently enough, online marketers also go for using 301 redirect to get more link juice since it assists in building their authority and thus in getting more traffic. So take this option into consideration as well.
And don’t forget to measure the link equity of your site! PageRank is one of the most usable tools for that, but if you want, feel free to choose from tons of other metrics available.
As you can see, link juice is pretty much dependent on linking, so buying qualitative backlinks must become your number one priority if you intend to boost your website’s popularity, get a more loyal audience, and climb to the top of Google Search.
Nevertheless, consider that purchasing links will work only if you get them from only reliable and credible sources. For this purpose, using professional link-building services is the best option.