Link Popularity (Ssylochnaya populyarnost)

The number of external links pointing to a site as a measure of authority. The foundation for metrics like PageRank, Domain Authority and Domain Rating.

In brief

Link popularity is a composite indicator of the quantity and quality of inbound links. High popularity from diverse, topically relevant donors correlates with high rankings.

Basics of link popularity

Link popularity directly reflects how much your site is cited online. The more quality, relevant donors link to it, the higher its authority in the eyes of search engines. This is the legacy of the original PageRank.

How it's measured

  • Domain Authority (DA) by Moz — logarithmic scale 0–100.
  • Domain Rating (DR) by Ahrefs — based on linking domains.
  • Trust Flow (Majestic) — quality and trustworthiness of donors.
  • Google PageRank — no longer publicly updated, but the principle lives on.

How to increase popularity

Create citation-worthy content (research, guides, tools). Conduct outreach, participate in industry events, publish expert articles. Aim for donor diversity — don't rely on a single source.

Donor quality outweighs quantity. A link from an authoritative news outlet or university surpasses many personal blog links.

Common questions

Link mass is the total backlink count; link popularity is a broader concept including the quality and authority of those links.
Naturally, it's slow. You can accelerate it with active outreach and content marketing, but avoid sudden spikes.
Both estimate authority. DR (Ahrefs) focuses more on linking domains, DA (Moz) on a wider factor set. Use both for comparison.
No. Real traffic and relevance matter more. Sometimes lower-DA but highly topical sites provide excellent links.
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Link Popularity (Ssylochnaya populyarnost) — What is it?