Link juice

Link juice refers to the strength or authority that a backlink transfers to another site, enhancing its credibility and ranking potential.

If a website links to another with a DoFollow link, it partially transfers its attributes like PageRank and TrustRank to the linked site, acting as a recommendation from the search engine's perspective. The more link juice that flows from one site to another, the stronger this endorsement is.

Internal and external link juice

Link juice can be categorized as internal or external:

• External link juice: Power passed from a different domain.
• Internal link juice: Power circulated through internal links to other pages within the same domain.

It's crucial to monitor the number of internal links on a site. More links mean less link juice per link. By strategically distributing link juice, important pages, such as category pages, can be strengthened.

Link juice as an SEO influence factor

In SEO, backlink profile and TrustRank are key factors for link juice. The amount of link juice is vital for a site's link profile:

The stronger the linking sites in terms of TrustRank, the more link juice they pass on to linked sites. Typically, sites have multiple links (DoFollow, NoFollow) leading to various other sites.

This is how you analyze your link profile

It's essential to regularly check the incoming links (backlink profile) and the link juice your website distributes. Carefully planning the quality and quantity of backlinks can greatly improve your site's positioning in Google search results.

Using data-driven software, you can analyze link structures, seeing which links come in and go out, and the balance between “DoFollow” and “NoFollow” links. Graphical representations can highlight the success or failure of changes to the backlink profile.

Link juice distribution follows a simple rule: it is shared equally. More linked sites mean less juice per site. A site's ability to pass on link juice increases with the juice it receives.

For optimizing internal link structures, Searchmetrics Link Optimization can help identify and fix broken links, recognizing potential for better link distribution.

How do you ensure link juice flow in the right place?

Previously, “DoFollow” and “NoFollow” attributes were used for link sculpting to control link juice flow. However, since Google's 2009 update on the “NoFollow” attribute, PageRank sculpting is no longer feasible. Therefore, maintaining a sensible backlink profile structure is crucial. Internal links can help distribute link juice to highlight important pages.

Penguin update – the link juice killer

In April 2012, Google launched the Penguin update to combat webspam, targeting sites using keyword stuffing, link schemes, or cloaking. The update discouraged unjustly ranked sites from appearing in search results.

Google's webmaster guidelines outline rules to avoid spam and penalties, such as unnatural links created by:

• Keyword stuffing: Over-optimizing a keyword resulting in excessive density.
• Link purchase/exchange: Lacking genuine user recommendation.
• Link/anchor text: Unnaturally high use of linked keywords (money keywords).
• Rapid link growth: Sudden increase in links for sites with minimal prior links.
• Cloaking: Showing different versions to visitors and search engine crawlers.
• Topic irrelevance: Links from unrelated topics (e.g., a link about “car insurance” on a “children’s fashion” site).
• Negative environments: Links from betting, pornography, poker topics.
• Inferior backlinks: Links from penalized domains, link farms, comment or blog spam, etc.

With the Penguin updates, including Penguin 4.0 in 2016, link juice has been reevaluated. Previously valued links were downgraded, and some gained negative scores. Approximately 3% of searches, especially on Google's first page, were visibly affected. It's now more crucial than ever to maintain a clean, natural link profile.