What is link equity?
Link equity is the share of a page's authority that it hands on through its links. When a strong page links to yours, some of that strength transfers, and your page is more likely to rank. The old nickname was "link juice", which is cruder but describes it well: value flowing through the pipes of the web from page to page.
How much flows depends on several things. The authority of the linking page, how many other links sit on it (the value is divided), whether the link is followed or marked nofollow, where it sits on the page and how relevant the two pages are to each other. A link in the body of a respected article passes far more than a link in a footer surrounded by fifty others.
Why it matters
Why link equity matters
Because it is how authority moves. A site does not rank page by page in isolation; its strongest pages lift the pages they link to. A homepage that has earned links over a decade can pass that value to a new service page in a week through one well-placed internal link. Understanding equity turns a site's structure into a tool rather than an accident.
It also explains a lot of SEO behavior that otherwise looks arbitrary: why people fight over followed links, why redirects matter when a URL changes, why orphan pages struggle. All of it is equity either flowing or being wasted.
In practice
How link equity works in practice
- 01
Externally, the goal is links from pages that have equity to give: relevant, authoritative and editorial. Internally, the goal is routing. Map which pages have the most authority (usually the homepage and a few well-linked articles) and make sure they link to the pages you most want to rank. Keep the number of links on any page reasonable so each one carries weight. Use descriptive anchor text so the equity arrives with context.
- 02
Protect what you have. When a URL changes, a 301 redirect carries the equity to the new address; deleting the page throws it away. Fix broken internal links, because equity sent to a 404 goes nowhere. Audit periodically for pages that have earned links but point nowhere useful themselves.
At RIOT
Link equity at RIOT
This glossary is wired with equity in mind. Every entry links to related terms, to the industry pages for fashion, luxury, sport and beauty where they fit, and to the friends pages for the clients it mentions. The authority a term page earns does not sit still; it flows to the pages that describe what we do.
Watch out
What people get wrong about link equity
Hoarding it. People add nofollow to every outbound link to "keep" equity, which does nothing useful and makes a site look like it trusts no one. The other mistake is ignoring internal links entirely and treating equity as something only outsiders can give. Most sites have more untapped equity inside them than they will earn from outreach this year.
