What is Link Juice in SEO | Implications in 2023

Link juice is a term that gets thrown around within the SEO community. It has been around a while but has become a household phrase, and the reasons why a link is valuable are pretty simple.

Link juice refers to the value or authority passed from one webpage to another through hyperlinks. When a webpage links to another webpage, it is essentially endorsing or recommending that page.

This endorsement can contribute to the search engine ranking and visibility of the linked page. The concept of link juice is based on the algorithm used by search engines like Google. Search engines consider various factors in determining the relevance and credibility of web pages. Backlinks, which are incoming links from other websites, are an important signal for search engines to assess a website’s authority and popularity.

This article will explain link juice and how to use it for SEO.

How does link juice work?

When you have a link on another site, Google gives that site authority, and that authority is usually linked to an algorithm in the back end that is designed to take into account the value of that site. If a site has links coming to them, the algorithms can recognise that those sites are highly relevant to what the user is doing, and therefore the authority of those pages increases.

The amount of link juice passed from one webpage to another depends on several factors:

1. Source Authority: The reputation and credibility of the website that provides the link influence the amount of link juice passed. A link from a highly authoritative website will carry more weight than a link from a less reputable site.

2. Relevance: If the content of both web pages is relevant, the link will generally have more value. For example, if a fashion blog links to an online clothing store, it indicates to search engines that there is a connection between these pages and enhances their relevance.

3. Anchor Text: The anchor text or clickable text used for the hyperlink also plays a role in determining relevance. Including relevant keywords in anchor text can provide additional context for search engines.

4. Page Layout: Links placed within prominent positions on a webpage, such as within main content or headings, usually pass more link juice than those buried in footer sections or sidebars.

It is important to note that not all links pass equal amounts of link juice. Some websites may use “nofollow” tags on their links, instructing search engines not to consider them when assessing page rankings. This can be done intentionally or automatically by certain platforms as a means to prevent spamming or manipulation of rankings.

How to use link juice for SEO

When you’re linking to different sites, it is recommended that you only link to sites you really care about. If a page is just there for its sake, then that will not be a great thing for your SEO efforts.

Why would a link to a bad site ever help your SEO? If a page on your site has a link on a page that is not relevant to what your site is about, that link is not going to be of any help to your SEO efforts. You’re better off spending your link budget on links that will go to a page on your site about what your site is all about.

How to protect link juice draining

As your PageRank rises in the rankings, it becomes increasingly critical to safeguard it. One method of depleting your website’s link authority (link juice) is to link from your website to another website unrelated to yours. If your outbound links are excessive or do not link to relevant material, the effect is that your website’s authority is being drained away from it.

Draining link juice is the technical term for this. When link juice is sent along to your website from a high-PageRank webpage with relevant content, the inverse occurs: your website receives more traffic.

The most popular way to prevent link juice from being drained is to include a code on your links that instructs search engines “not to follow the link,” resulting in no link juice being drained from your website. A no-follow tag is used in this situation.

The critical thing to remember is that you can prevent your website from losing vital link juice by including no-follow tags in your outbound links. Please be aware that the recipient of your link will not benefit from your link in terms of search engine optimization.

Using a no-follow tag informs search engines that this link does not have any SEO significance. It does not influence the visitor’s ability to click on the link to the final destination website. In other words, everything takes place entirely behind the scenes and is entirely transparent to website visitors.

Conclusion

Link juice is known as the quantity of “worth” that a hyperlink carries. When a blog post is shared on social media, social media websites determine the value of that content by looking at who linked to it, who their followers linked to it, and so forth. If a post is shared on a social media platform that receives a lot of low-quality, low-volume links, the site may suffer penalties. This is why creating content of the highest calibre is crucial. If a website produces high-quality content, its social media followers will want to link to it, encouraging additional people to share the content and revisit the website to see what else is available.