SEO Learning Center · Link Building
What Is Link Juice? Understanding Link Equity and How It Flows
Link juice is the popular, informal term for the value a hyperlink passes from one page to another — and it's a concept that quietly shapes how search engines evaluate every page on your site.
Link Equity
PageRank
Internal Linking
Backlinks
Domain Authority
How the whole-domain metric relates to link value
Page Authority
The page-level cousin of link equity
Crawl Budget
Why link structure affects how often Google crawls you
You'll hear "link juice" used constantly in SEO conversations, forums, and blog posts. It's not an official Google term, but it describes a real concept that shapes how search engines evaluate pages: link equity. Link juice is simply the casual name for link equity, and the two terms are used interchangeably in most day-to-day SEO discussion.
Where the Term Comes From
The phrase "link juice" grew out of early SEO communities trying to describe Google's PageRank algorithm in plain language. PageRank treated links as votes of confidence between pages. A page with many strong "votes" pointing to it was considered more important, and part of that importance flowed onward through the links it made to other pages.
Over time, "link juice" became the shorthand for this flow of value, even as Google's ranking systems grew far more sophisticated than the original PageRank model. The term stuck because it's an easy way to visualize something abstract: authority moving from page to page like liquid through a pipe.
How Link Juice Flows
Link juice moves through hyperlinks. When Page A links to Page B, some of Page A's authority is passed to Page B through that link. A few factors shape how much value actually transfers:
- The authority of the linking page. A page with strong authority and trust typically passes more value than a weak or low-quality page.
- The relevance of the linking page. A link from a page on a closely related topic tends to carry more weight than a link from an unrelated one.
- The number of outbound links on the page. A page's link value is generally divided among all the links it contains, so a page linking out to 100 sites passes less to each one than a page linking to just five.
- The link attribute. A standard "dofollow" link passes value. A "nofollow" link tells search engines not to pass ranking credit, though Google has clarified it may still treat nofollow links as a hint in some cases.
- Anchor text and placement. Descriptive anchor text and links placed within main content are generally viewed as more meaningful than links buried in footers or sidebars.
Internal vs. External Link Juice
Link juice flows in two main directions:
Internal
Internal link juice moves between pages on the same website. A well-structured internal linking strategy helps distribute authority from strong pages, such as the homepage, to newer or less visible pages that need more support.
External
External link juice comes from other websites linking to yours. These are commonly called backlinks. A backlink from a reputable, relevant site typically passes more link juice than one from a low-quality or unrelated site.
Both types matter. External links help build a site's overall authority, while internal links help spread that authority efficiently across every page.
Common Misconceptions About Link Juice
"More links always mean more link juice."
Not true. Quality and relevance matter more than quantity. A single link from a highly trusted, topically relevant page can outweigh dozens of weak or spammy links.
"Link juice is the same as PageRank."
Not exactly. PageRank was one specific, publicly documented algorithm that modeled this concept. Google's modern ranking systems consider link signals alongside many other factors, so "link juice" today refers more broadly to the general idea of authority passing between pages, not one formula.
"Nofollow links are worthless."
Google has stated that nofollow links can still be used as a signal in some contexts, even if they don't pass ranking credit the way standard links do. A healthy link profile naturally includes both types.
Why Link Juice Matters for SEO
Link juice plays a role in how search engines judge which pages deserve to rank. Pages that accumulate meaningful link value from relevant, trustworthy sources tend to be viewed as more credible. This is one reason link building and thoughtful internal linking remain core parts of SEO strategy.
That said, link juice is only one signal among many. Content quality, relevance to the search query, technical health, and user experience all play a part in how a page performs in search results.
Link Juice vs. Link Equity vs. Domain Authority
These three terms often get mixed up:
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Link juice | The informal name for the value passed through a link. |
| Link equity | The more technical, precise term SEOs use for the same concept. |
| Domain Authority | A third-party metric (created by Moz) that estimates how likely an entire domain is to rank, based partly on its overall link profile. |
Understanding link equity in more depth, including how it's calculated and distributed across a site, is worth exploring as a next step.
Summary
Link juice is the informal term for the ranking value that flows from one page to another through hyperlinks. It depends on the authority and relevance of the linking page, how many other links that page contains, and whether the link passes ranking credit. While the term itself isn't official SEO terminology, the concept it describes, link equity, remains a meaningful part of how search engines evaluate pages today.
Crawl Budget
How Google prioritizes which pages to crawl
Page Authority
A closer look at page-level ranking strength
Technical SEO
The foundation link equity depends on
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