Link velocity is the rate at which a website gains new links, or new linking domains, over a period of time. It is an industry term rather than a metric Google publishes, used to describe whether a site’s links grow steadily, in bursts or in a pattern that looks unnatural.
How link velocity works
You measure it by counting new and lost referring domains per week or month in a backlink tool. Most tools chart the two as lines, which makes the shape easy to read: a gentle rise for a growing business, a spike when a story is picked up by the press, a slow decline when nothing new is being earned. Each shape tells you something.
The thinking behind the idea is that search engines can compare a site’s link growth with what would be expected for a site like it. A small accountancy firm in Croydon that gains forty links in a week from unrelated blogs, with no news to explain it, has a pattern that looks bought. A national charity gaining forty newspaper links after a campaign launch does not. Google has never confirmed velocity as a ranking factor by that name, so treat it as a diagnostic lens rather than a target to hit.
Why it matters
Velocity is useful in three situations. It helps you spot problems: a sudden surge you did not cause may be spam aimed at your site, or a supplier building links you did not know about. It shows whether your efforts are working, because a successful digital PR campaign appears as a visible step. And comparing your growth with competitors’ tells you whether you are keeping pace. If the sites above you each earn several new relevant domains a month and you earn none, the ranking gap is unlikely to close by itself.
It also matters for what it is not. Business owners are sometimes told to “build links slowly so Google doesn’t notice”. That advice assumes the links are artificial. Natural links arrive in irregular bursts, and a genuinely newsworthy moment can bring dozens at once without any harm.
Common mistakes
- Setting a monthly link target and filling it with whatever is available.
- Drip-feeding paid links so they look natural. The problem is the links, not the speed.
- Panicking about a spike that came from real press coverage.
- Ignoring lost links, which can leave net growth negative even while new ones arrive.
- Comparing your numbers with a competitor of a very different size or sector.
How to act on it
Look at the new and lost referring domains chart in a backlink tool every month or quarter. When you see a spike, find out what caused it. If it matches something you did, note it; if it does not, look at the linking sites and decide whether they are a concern. Clusters of lost domains are a cue for link reclamation.
Then compare your growth with two or three competitors who rank where you want to be. If the gap is large, the answer is a steady programme of earning links that suits your business: local press, trade bodies, partners and useful content. That is how I plan the work in my link building service. Always read velocity alongside your overall link profile, since forty weak links and four strong ones look the same on a growth chart.