Backlink Juice Definition

Link juice is a term in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that references the amount of authority or value that one backlink passes to the website it connects with. In the SEO industry, link juice is also called “link equity”. Backlinks from websites with higher authority and relevance on a topic will generate more link juice and help a page rank better in the search engines.

In general, the more link juice (link equity) your page has, the better chance it has of ranking for its target keywords in Google and the other search engines. There are several important factors that go into calculating a page’s rank and link juice through strong backlinks is just one (very important) piece of the puzzle.

Link juice is also commonly confused with PageRank, which is Google’s actual calculation of how authoritative a page is. Link equity is the “value” of how a page’s PageRank is transferred via each individual backlink.

Not all links generate the almighty link juice, however. Websites with more authority are viewed as trustworthy in Google’s eyes and their links pass more juice.

Link juice helps your page rank better in search engines.

It is not the only ranking factor, but it is consistently cited as one of the top ranking signals. Link juice flowing to a page can also be spread around your website through internal linking. There are numerous studies that correlate internal linking with better rankings. For the purposes of this article, it is important to know that when link juice comes to a page it is possible to send it to other parts of your site and help other pages rank well.

Link juice comes from external links (backlinks) to your website. You can earn more backlinks through the following methods:

  • Make authoritative content and become the number one place for information on a topic
  • Position your site (or content) page as a resource
  • Write actual blog posts for other websites in your industry
  • Join industry groups and make partnerships
  • Get quoted on other websites through PR efforts
  • Fix links with link reclamation tactics!

Link equity (a.k.a. link juice), is highly dependent on a number of factors:

  • The HTML of the link
  • The website linking to the content
  • The anchor text used
  • The relevance to the topic

There are also tools for calculating website authority, including Moz Domain Authority (DA), Majestic Citation Flow, Majestic Trust Flow (TF), and others.

When it comes to the website linking to your content, there are two important factors:

  • – Website authority
  • – Industry relevance

Essentially, websites with high standing that are trustworthy pass link juice if the link is relevant to the content on the page. There are several tools that “calculate” authority. These include Moz DA, Ahrefs Domain Rating, and Majestic Trustflow. All of these scores are generally calculated to help decide what pages have a high standing and those that do not. If the New York Times links to your website, for example, you can bet some fancy link juice will be coming your way.

Good anchor text for a backlink has the following characteristics:

  • Natural
  • Relative
  • Short
  • Adds value to the user

So there you have it. A guide to link juice that will earn you literal link juice.