{"id":2258,"date":"2026-08-31T13:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T13:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/?page_id=2258"},"modified":"2026-08-31T14:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:39:44","slug":"link-equity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/link-equity\/","title":{"rendered":"Link equity"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2258\" class=\"elementor elementor-2258\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-t0600001 ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"t0600001\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-t0600002\" data-id=\"t0600002\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600003 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"t0600003\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"ilm-back\" href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/\">\u2190 Back to the glossary<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600004 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"t0600004\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><span data-no-translation>Link equity<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600005 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"t0600005\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"ilm-termmeta\">4 minute read \u00b7 Updated 28 August 2026<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600006 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"t0600006\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ilm-def\"><span class=\"k\">Definition<\/span><p><a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/what-about-linkbuilding\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"146\" title=\"Internal links vs. backlinks\">Link<\/a> equity \u2014 informally, <em>link juice<\/em> \u2014 is the ranking value a link passes on to the page it points at. It is not a number any tool can read; it is a way of describing a real behaviour of search engines.<\/p><p>Applied internally it means: whatever standing a domain has gets distributed along the links between its pages. A page that receives many relevant internal links inherits more of it than one that receives none.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-t0600010 ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"t0600010\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-t0600011\" data-id=\"t0600011\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600012 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"t0600012\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Where it comes from and where it goes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600013 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"t0600013\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The useful picture is a reservoir and a set of pipes. <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/external-link\/\">Links from other domains<\/a> fill the reservoir \u2014 they are the only way new standing enters a site. Internal links are the pipes: they decide which of your pages receives what you already have.<\/p><p>That division explains why a site can have excellent backlinks and still rank badly. If a mention lands on the homepage and the homepage links onward to nothing in particular, the benefit sits in one place doing very little, while the pages that could convert sit four clicks deep and starve.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600014 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"t0600014\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The arithmetic, roughly<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"t0600015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Whatever a page has to pass on is divided among its outgoing links. Twenty links each carry more than two hundred do. That is the entire mechanism people are gesturing at with the word \u201cjuice\u201d, and it is inherited directly from <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/pagerank\/\">PageRank<\/a>.<\/p><p>Three practical consequences follow:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Fewer, better links beat many.<\/strong> Not because a limit exists, but because each one is worth more.<\/li><li><strong>Links from well-linked pages are worth more.<\/strong> A link from a page that itself receives a lot is worth more than one from a page nothing points at.<\/li><li><strong>A <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/redirect-chain\/\">redirect<\/a> costs a little on the way through.<\/strong> Link the final URL rather than an address that bounces.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600016 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"t0600016\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What does not work<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-t0600017 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"t0600017\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u201cPageRank sculpting\u201d \u2014 adding <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/nofollow\/\">nofollow<\/a> to internal links so more value flows through the remaining ones \u2014 stopped working in 2009. The share attached to a nofollowed link is discarded, not redistributed. If a page should not receive value, do not link to it.<\/p><p>Equally unproductive: hunting for a tool that displays a page&#8217;s link equity as a score. No such number is published. Third-party metrics approximate a domain&#8217;s overall strength; none of them can tell you how value moves between your own pages. The list of internal links pointing at a page is a better guide than any score.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9af4bf6 ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9af4bf6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1c00329\" data-id=\"1c00329\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70ee955 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"70ee955\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Where it leaks<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-779021f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"779021f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Four places where value goes missing without anyone deciding it should.<\/p><ul><li><strong>Links to non-canonical URLs.<\/strong> A link pointing at <code>?ref=newsletter<\/code> instead of the clean address has to be reconciled through the <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/canonical-tag\/\">canonical tag<\/a> rather than arriving directly.<\/li><li><strong>Redirect hops.<\/strong> Each one costs a little on the way through, and internal links pointing at redirects are entirely within your control to fix.<\/li><li><strong>Pages nobody links to.<\/strong> An <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/orphan-page\/\">orphan<\/a> inherits nothing and competes from a standing start.<\/li><li><strong>Footers with fifty links.<\/strong> Every page divides its value across all outgoing links, and a bloated footer takes a share from every page on the site simultaneously.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-646d89f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"646d89f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Concentrating it deliberately<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2fabb6e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2fabb6e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The productive question is not how to preserve value but where to point it. That decision comes first and everything else follows from it.<\/p><p>Name five to fifteen pages that should collect authority \u2014 the <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/cornerstone-content\/\">cornerstone content<\/a>. Then make sure every page touching those subjects links to them, from inside the text rather than from a footer list. A <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/topic-cluster\/\">topic cluster<\/a> is this idea given a shape: many specific pages each linking back to one broad page, which accumulates what they collectively receive.<\/p><p>The counter-intuitive part is that concentrating value means linking <em>less<\/em>, not more. Every additional destination takes a share from the others.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70bd661 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"70bd661\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why no tool shows you the number<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-813b3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"813b3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Domain Rating, Domain Authority, Trust Flow and their relatives are third-party estimates of a domain&#8217;s overall link strength. They are useful for comparing sites at a glance and are not measurements of anything Google publishes.<\/p><p>None of them can tell you how value moves <em>between<\/em> your own pages, because that depends on your internal link graph, which those tools model only partially. Some crawlers compute an internal PageRank approximation across a crawl, which is closer to useful \u2014 but it is still a model of a model.<\/p><p>The blunt substitute is better than it sounds: sort your pages by number of inbound internal links and compare that order against the order you actually want. Where the two disagree, you have found the work.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-15d0850 ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"15d0850\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5245c17\" data-id=\"5245c17\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28dda9e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"28dda9e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Going deeper:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/what-about-linkbuilding\/\">internal links vs. backlinks<\/a> explains which half fills the reservoir and which half moves it \u2014 and why the second is the one you can act on today.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-52e5c5e elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"52e5c5e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ilm-rel\"><span class=\"k\">Related terms<\/span><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/pagerank\/\">PageRank<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/nofollow\/\">Nofollow<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/cornerstone-content\/\">Cornerstone content<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/glossary\/redirect-chain\/\">Redirect chain<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2190 Back to the glossary Link equity 4 minute read \u00b7 Updated 28 August 2026 Definition Link equity \u2014 informally, link juice \u2014 is the ranking value a link passes on to the page it points at. It is not a number any tool can read; it is a way of describing a real behaviour [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2133,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2258","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2345,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2258\/revisions\/2345"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}