Link Equity
The SEO value passed from one page to another through a hyperlink.
Definition
Link equity (sometimes called "link juice") refers to the SEO authority transferred from one webpage to another via a hyperlink. When a high-authority page links to your site with a dofollow link, it shares a portion of its authority with you — this shared authority is link equity. The amount of equity passed depends on the linking page's authority, the total number of links on that page (equity is divided among all outgoing links), and whether the link is dofollow or nofollow.
Link equity is why directory submissions work: by getting listed on high-DR directories, you accumulate link equity from authoritative sources. This equity strengthens your domain's overall authority, which in turn helps all your pages rank higher for their target keywords.
Example
If a DR 90 directory page has 50 outbound links, it distributes its link equity across all 50. Your listing receives 1/50th of that page's equity — still significant, given the high base authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — a page distributes its equity among all its outbound links. A directory listing page with 10 links passes more equity per listing than one with 500 links. This is why DR matters more than just the presence of a backlink: a high-DR directory that lists fewer products per page passes more concentrated equity to each listing.
You can't control how much equity a directory passes, but you can ensure you capture it: make sure your listing links to your most important page (usually your homepage or a key landing page), keep your listing active and complete (inactive listings may be removed), and earn additional links to the same pages from other sources to compound the equity.
Put it into practice
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