What Is Link Equity?
Link equity (also called link juice) is the ranking authority that flows through hyperlinks from one page to another. It is one of the most important factors in how Google determines where pages rank in search results.
Definition: Link equity is the portion of a page’s ranking authority that gets passed to another page through a hyperlink. When Page A links to Page B, it shares some of its own authority with Page B, helping Page B rank higher in search results. Also commonly called “link juice.”
How link equity flows
Every page on the web has a level of authority based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to it. When that page links out to another page, it passes a portion of its authority through the link. The more authority a linking page has, and the fewer outbound links it has, the more equity each individual link passes.
This is why a single backlink from a high-authority site (like a major news publication) can be worth more than hundreds of links from low-authority sites.
How broken links destroy link equity
A 404 error is a dead end for link equity. When a page links to a URL that returns a 404:
- The linking page’s authority is not passed to any page.
- If the broken URL had its own backlinks, that equity disappears entirely.
- The internal structure of your site loses efficiency — important pages receive less authority than they should.
This is one of the key reasons fixing broken links with 301 redirects is such a high-value SEO task. Read more: do broken links hurt SEO?
How 301 redirects preserve link equity
A 301 redirect tells search engines that the page has permanently moved. Google transfers most of the equity that would have gone to the old URL to the redirect destination instead. This is why, after a site migration or URL restructure, setting up proper 301 redirects is critical to preserving your existing search rankings.
Link equity and internal linking
You control the flow of link equity within your own site through internal links. Linking from high-traffic pages to your most important conversion pages passes authority where you need it most. Removing broken internal links and replacing them with redirects to live pages keeps your internal link graph efficient. See our guide on fixing broken links in WordPress.
Frequently asked questions
Is link equity the same as PageRank?
PageRank was Google's original algorithm for measuring link equity — a score passed between pages through links. Google no longer publishes PageRank scores, but the concept of link equity (ranking authority flowing through links) remains central to how Google ranks pages.
Do broken links lose link equity?
Yes. A broken link (404 error) does not pass any link equity to any page. The authority that should flow through that link simply disappears. Fixing the broken link with a 301 redirect recovers most of that lost equity.
How do internal links affect link equity?
Internal links distribute link equity throughout your site. A well-linked internal architecture ensures your most important pages receive the most equity from your homepage and high-authority posts. Broken internal links interrupt this flow.