Link juice is an informal SEO term used to describe the value or authority passed from one webpage to another through hyperlinks. When a page links to another page, it transfers a portion of its ranking influence, helping search engines determine importance and relevance. This concept explains why links from strong, trusted pages tend to have greater impact than links from weak or low quality pages.
Link juice flows through both internal and external links. External links contribute authority from other domains, while internal links distribute that authority across a website. Placement, relevance, and context all influence how much value is passed. Links embedded naturally within main content typically transfer more value than links placed in navigation, footers, or boilerplate sections.
Managing link juice effectively helps prioritise key pages, improve crawl paths, and support ranking goals. While the term itself is informal, the underlying principle remains central to how search engines evaluate link based signals.
Advanced
Link juice distribution is affected by site architecture, link attributes, and crawl behaviour. Factors such as nofollow usage, redirect chains, orphaned pages, and excessive outbound linking can reduce or interrupt value flow. Internal linking strategy plays a major role in concentrating authority on priority URLs.
Search engines assess link value contextually rather than as a fixed unit. Relevance, freshness, topical alignment, and link placement influence how value is applied. Poor structure can trap link juice, while clear hierarchies and intentional linking improve efficiency across large and complex sites.
Relevance
- Influences ranking potential of important pages.
- Supports crawl efficiency and indexation.
- Strengthens internal content hierarchy.
- Helps prioritise commercial or strategic URLs.
- Reduces wasted SEO value across a site.
Applications
- Internal linking optimisation.
- Site architecture planning.
- Content hub and pillar page design.
- Redirect and link cleanup projects.
- Technical SEO audits.
Metrics
- Internal link distribution patterns.
- Authority concentration on target pages.
- Crawl depth and frequency.
- Ranking changes after restructuring.
- Indexation consistency across sections.
Issues
- Poor linking traps value on low priority pages.
- Orphaned pages receive no authority.
- Excessive outbound links dilute value.
- Broken links interrupt flow.
- Misuse of nofollow limits distribution.
Example
A publisher noticed that blog posts attracted most external links while key service pages underperformed. By adding contextual internal links from high performing articles to service pages, link juice was redistributed. Rankings improved and organic enquiries increased.