When you think of link equity, you probably think of PageRank, Google’s original algorithm that used a website’s backlink profile to determine its rankings. Today, however, search engines use many different factors to rank pages.
High-Quality Content
Any SEO plan must include high-quality content as a critical component. It encourages other websites to link to your page and aids search engines in locating and ranking your website for the appropriate keywords. It works well for increasing audience engagement and brand exposure.
High-quality content also provides value to your target audience, which can help reduce customer churn and increase conversions. It allows you to position yourself as an authority in your field and gives potential customers all the information they need to make a confident buying decision.
Link equity is the amount of ranking power a webpage passes to pages it links to. It is based on the relevance and authority of the linking page, as well as the number of relevant internal and external links. The location of the links on a page is also important; for example, links in sidebars and footers pass less link equity than those in the main content.
Understanding link equity and its purpose is essential to improve your SEO strategy.
High Authority
A page with a high domain authority passes more link equity to the pages it links to. Search engines view sites with higher authority as more trustworthy and place a more excellent value on these links. However, it’s essential to understand that not all links are equal. Some can even cause harm to your website if they need to be used correctly.
Limiting the number of external links on your site and only linking to high-quality resources that add value to your readers is essential. This way, you’ll avoid damaging your website and attracting the wrong links.
It’s also important to remember that links must be relevant to pass link equity. For example, if you link to a page about cars from a page about gardening, it will be considered irrelevant and will provide little value. If you have a lot of outside links on your site, it may affect your overall domain authority and hurt your search engine rankings.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text that appears within a hyperlink and directs users to another web page. By assisting search engines in comprehending the context of the linked content and its relationship to other pages on your website, it helps with search engine optimization (SEO). Therefore, it’s essential to use relevant and descriptive anchor text to create a better user experience and enhance the credibility of your website. It is also a critical factor in passing link equity.
Anchor texts should be descriptive and relevant to the page they are linking to. This will help readers understand the linked content and help Google recognize that the related content is a good fit for the query they are searching for.
Exact match anchor text is when the clickable text of a hyperlink is the same as the keyword or phrase being linked to. This is not recommended because it can cause Google to view your page as over-optimized and impose a penalty on it. Instead, try to use a variety of keyword variations and other contextual anchor text to maximize your link-building efforts.
Relevance
A link’s relevance plays a vital role in determining its value. A link must be relevant to provide the authority and value that a page deserves. However, the link will help the page’s SEO juice if the link is appropriate.
Relevance is significant in the context of outbound and internal links. Internal links are links within your website, while external links are links to other websites. The quality of these links will also impact their ability to pass link equity.
Generally, links sourced from established and authoritative sites will be more valuable than those from brand-new or unestablished sites. This is because the links from established and traditional sites have built up their authority and value over time. Moreover, it will be easier to trust Google. Therefore, you must focus on the quality of your outbound and internal links.