# Link velocity

Category: [Link Building & Off-Page](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/link-building-off-page/) › [Backlinks & link profile](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/link-building-off-page/backlinks-link-profile/)

**Link velocity** is the rate at which a website or page gains new backlinks in a given period, usually counted as new links or new referring domains per week or month. A negative velocity means more links are lost than gained.

## How is it used?

The calculation is simple: new backlinks divided by the length of the period. Backlink tools plot new and lost links over time, which makes sudden jumps easy to spot.

The idea is often traced to a Google patent, "Information retrieval based on historical data" (US7346839B2). It mentions that a sharp increase in links to a document can point to a topical event or to an attempt at spam. A patent does not show that or how Google uses such a signal today, and Google has not confirmed link velocity as a ranking factor. The term is a SEO tool concept, not Google vocabulary.

## Example

A site normally gains 5 to 10 referring domains per month. In one month it gains 400, all with the same anchor text, from newly registered domains. A jump like that is a reason to look at where the links come from. If a news site covered a study and others picked it up, the same jump has a harmless explanation.

## FAQ

**Is link velocity a ranking factor?**
Google has not said so. The patent reference shows an idea, not current practice.

## Related terms

- [Backlink](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/backlink/index.md)
- [Link profile](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-profile/index.md)
- [Link spam](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-spam/index.md)
- [Lost backlinks](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/lost-backlinks/index.md)
- [Referring domain](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/referring-domain/index.md)

## Sources

- [Information retrieval based on historical data – Google patent US7346839B2](https://patents.google.com/patent/US7346839B2/en)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-velocity/