What Is Link Equity (Link Juice)?

Why It Matters

If you’re forwarding a domain that has backlinks from other sites, those links have SEO value. A properly configured 301 redirect transfers that value to your destination domain. Without it, you lose potentially years of accumulated authority.

Common scenarios where link equity transfer matters:

• Brand migration — old domain has established backlinks
• Mergers & acquisitions — acquired domain has authority
• Multiple domains — consolidating link equity to one primary domain
• Expired domains — re-registering domains with existing backlinks

Using a canonical URL tag is another way to consolidate link equity when you have duplicate content, but for domain moves a 301 redirect is the correct approach.

How Link Equity Flows Through Redirects

External Site (DA 60)
  └── Links to old-domain.com/page
        └── 301 redirect → new-domain.com/page
              └── Link equity transferred ✓

Redirect Type	Passes Link Equity?	Use Case
301 redirect	Yes (full)	Permanent forwarding
302 redirect	Yes (mostly)	Temporary forwarding
Meta refresh	Partial	Not recommended
JavaScript redirect	Minimal	Not recommended
No redirect (404)	None — lost	Avoid this

How Domain Forward Handles This

Domain Forward uses 301 redirects by default, ensuring maximum link equity transfer. Combined with path forwarding, individual page URLs maintain their specific backlink value.