Definition

Link equity is the informal name for the ranking signal a page transmits when it links to another page. Google does not use the phrase officially and instead describes links as a signal for relevance and discovery.

The concept originated with Google's PageRank algorithm, which modelled the web as a graph and treated each link as a weighted vote. Google's public guidance no longer talks about "link juice" or "link equity" but does confirm that links act as a signal for ranking and discovery, and that qualifications such as `rel="nofollow"`, `rel="sponsored"` and `rel="ugc"` change how that signal flows. Google's spam policies also warn that schemes designed to manipulate this signal can trigger ranking penalties.

Examples

• Consolidation via canonical

  A site serves the same article at two URLs and adds a canonical tag pointing one at the other. Google then consolidates the link equity from inbound links across both URLs onto the canonical version.

• 301 redirect during a migration

  When a site moves from example.com to example.co.uk and applies 301 redirects page-for-page, inbound links to the old domain pass their ranking signals — what SEOs call link equity — through to the new URLs.

Sources

• Google Search Central — Make your links crawlable
• Google Search Central — Spam policies for Google web search

Related terms

• Backlink
  A hyperlink on one website that points at another. Search engines treat backlinks as one signal of how the wider web vouches for a page.
• Nofollow
  A link attribute (`rel="nofollow"`) telling search engines not to associate the source page with — or pass ranking credit to — the linked page.
• Dofollow Link
  A regular HTML link with no rel qualification, which search engines crawl and treat as a standard endorsement of the destination page.
• Sponsored Link
  A link marked with rel="sponsored" to indicate it was created as part of an advertisement, sponsorship, or other paid placement.
• UGC Link
  A link marked with rel="ugc" to indicate it was created in user-generated content such as a forum post, comment, or review.
• Link Building
  The practice of acquiring inbound links from other websites, ranging from editorial outreach to schemes that Google classifies as link spam.
• Link Spam
  Links created primarily to manipulate search rankings, which Google's spam policies treat as a violation that can affect a site's visibility.
• Natural Link
  A link given editorially by another site without solicitation, exchange or payment, contrasted with link schemes Google treats as spam.
• Canonical Tag
  An HTML element that tells search engines which URL is the master copy when the same or similar content exists at multiple addresses.
• 301 Redirect
  A permanent redirect — an HTTP 301 status code telling clients and search engines that a URL has moved permanently to a new location.

Where QueryCatch uses this

• SEO Audit
• Competitor Analysis