Link popularity describes how many incoming links a page or domain has. Depending on the source it also covers link quality. SISTRIX defines it as the number of all external backlinks to a domain regardless of source, while Ahrefs describes it as quantity and quality of backlinks. There is no single formula.
Link popularity and domain popularity
Link popularity counts links. Domain popularity counts how many different domains link to you. Ten links from one domain give a link popularity of 10 and a domain popularity of 1. In current practice the metric of referring domains covers much of that distinction (assumption).
Relation to PageRank
PageRank weighs links by the number and quality of the linking pages. Google lists PageRank as one of its core ranking systems and says its workings have changed a lot since launch. Links made mainly to manipulate rankings violate the spam policies.
Example
Page A has 500 links from 3 domains, page B has 60 links from 45 domains. A has the higher link popularity in the narrow sense, B the higher domain popularity.
Sources
- Ranking systems guide – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- Link Popularity – SISTRIXsistrix.de
- Link Popularity – Ahrefs glossaryahrefs.com
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