# Link juice

Link juice is practitioners’ slang for the ranking value a link passes from one page to another, properly called link equity. The idea is real and comes from PageRank; most of the numbers attached to it are not. Here is the documented part, the folklore, and what to do with your own links.

Updated 2026-09-15 · Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/link-juice

## Where the idea comes from

PageRank, described by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, treats a page’s importance as the sum of the importance of the pages linking to it, divided among the links each of those pages carries. A link from a page with few outgoing links therefore counts for more than one from a page with hundreds.

That division is the whole of the metaphor: a fixed amount of value, shared out along the links. Everything people say about juice is an elaboration of it.

## What is documented

- PageRank in some form remains one of Google’s signals; the public toolbar score was retired in 2016.
- Value is divided among the links a page carries, so a page linking to five things passes more to each than a page linking to five hundred.
- The rel values nofollow, sponsored and ugc are hints that usually stop the value from flowing; since 2019 Google treats them as hints rather than directives.
- Redirects pass value: Google has said since 2016 that a 301 does not lose PageRank in itself.

## What is folklore

- A precise percentage lost per hop or per link. No such figure is published and none of the tools can measure it.
- PageRank sculpting, adding nofollow to internal links to hoard value. Google changed how it treats that in 2009, and it has not worked since.
- Any tool’s score presented as the amount of value passed. Domain Rating, Domain Authority and Authority Score are models on private indexes, not Google’s figures.
- The idea that linking out drains a page. Citing sources is normal and Google’s guidance expects it.

## What to do on your own site

1. **Link from the pages that have the links** Your most linked page is your strongest. Check the Links report in Search Console, then link from that page to the pages you want to rank.
2. **Prefer contextual links to footer links** A link inside a paragraph about the subject is worth more than the same link in a footer that appears on every page.
3. **Keep the important pages within three clicks** Depth is the practical version of the same idea: a page reached from the home page in two clicks is crawled and valued more than one buried at six.
4. **Stop worrying about the count** A page with forty sensible internal links is fine. There is no threshold to stay under, only a judgement about whether a reader would follow each one.

## Questions

### Is link juice a real thing?

The underlying idea is real: links pass ranking value, and a page divides that value among its links. The word is slang and the precise numbers people attach to it are not documented anywhere.

### Do nofollow links pass link juice?

Usually not. Since 2019 Google treats nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints rather than strict directives, so a nofollow link may still be considered, but you should not count on it.

### Does a 301 redirect lose link juice?

Google has said since 2016 that redirects do not lose PageRank in themselves. The cost of a redirect is latency and crawling, not a tax on the value passed.

### Should I nofollow internal links to save link juice?

No. That is PageRank sculpting, and Google changed how it handles it in 2009. Internal nofollow today mostly wastes crawling and confuses your own reporting.

### Does linking out to other sites hurt my rankings?

No. Citing your sources is normal and useful, and Google’s guidance on helpful content expects pages to reference where facts come from. Mark paid links with rel sponsored.

## Read next

- [PageRank](https://porteur.ai/glossary/pagerank): PageRank is Google’s 1998 link-based importance signal. The toolbar score is gone. Here is how to read its effects now and route link value on your site.
- [Internal link](https://porteur.ai/glossary/internal-link): An internal link is a link between two pages on the same site. Use them to show which pages matter, pass context with anchor text, and lift rankings.
- [Nofollow link](https://porteur.ai/glossary/nofollow-link): What a nofollow link is, what changed in 2019, how to check rel values, when to use nofollow, sponsored or ugc, and the traps to avoid.
- [Dofollow link](https://porteur.ai/glossary/dofollow-link): A dofollow link is a normal link without rel values. Here is how to tell, what it means for rankings, and where small sites can earn them.
- [Internal linking for a small site: which pages link to which](https://porteur.ai/guides/internal-linking-for-seo): Decide which pages rank. Build hubs, write clear anchors, fix orphans, and crawl your site to map links you control.
- [Domain Authority](https://porteur.ai/glossary/domain-authority): Domain Authority is Moz’s 1 to 100 score from links. Here is how it works, what Google says about it, how to read it, and how to use it well.
- [Sitewide link](https://porteur.ai/glossary/sitewide-link): A sitewide link appears on every page of a site, usually in the footer or the navigation. How Google treats it, when it is a risk, and what it is worth.
- [Click depth](https://porteur.ai/glossary/click-depth): Click depth is the clicks from home to a page. Keep key pages within three clicks. Learn how to measure it and cut depth without spammy links.

The free check reads the links inside your site and names the pages that carry standing and pass it nowhere, in about thirty seconds. Free check: https://porteur.ai/