Link Equity

Link equity is the ranking value that transfers from a source page to a target page through a hyperlink. It is the formal-document term for what operators colloquially call Link Juice. The underlying mechanic is the same recursive flow inherited from PageRank.

The amount of equity passed by any single link depends on multiple variables: the authority of the source page, the number of other outbound links on that page, the link's attribute (a Dofollow link passes more directly than a Nofollow), the link's placement (in-content beats footer), and the topical relevance between source and target.

Link equity is also relevant inside your own site. Internal links pass equity between your own pages, which is why site architecture, navigation depth, and breadcrumb structure all affect how authority distributes across URLs. A common high-leverage tactic is to internally link from your highest-equity pages (typically the homepage and top-ranking articles) into commercial money pages — concentrating equity where it converts.

Several technical decisions can leak equity. A 302 redirect historically passed less than a 301 (though Google has stated this is no longer the case in 2023+). Multiple redirect hops dilute the signal. Chained or looped redirects can prevent equity from arriving at all. Canonical Tag mismatches can split equity across duplicate URLs. Pagination handled poorly can dilute equity across infinite scroll pages.

Acquiring third-party links and not internally distributing the equity is a common waste. A homepage that earns dozens of editorial backlinks but has no thoughtful internal links into deeper commercial pages will leave most of that earned equity sitting on the homepage where it converts least.

A practical audit: list your top 20 pages by inbound link equity (via Ahrefs, Moz, or similar). Then list your top 20 commercial pages by revenue importance. The overlap should be high. Wherever the lists diverge, you have an internal-linking opportunity.