Trust Score

What is Trust Flow?

Trust Flow is a proprietary metric from Majestic SEO that measures the trustworthiness of a website based on the quality of its backlinks. Unlike Citation Score, which evaluates the quantity of links, Trust Flow focuses exclusively on the quality and trustworthiness of referring domains.

Core Principles of Trust Flow

Trust Flow is based on the concept that links from trustworthy websites have more value than links from less trustworthy sources. The metric uses a scale of 0-100, where higher values indicate greater trustworthiness.

How is Trust Flow calculated?

Trust Flow Algorithm

Majestic's Trust Flow algorithm considers several factors:

1. Seed Sites: Starting from high-quality, trustworthy seed sites (like Wikipedia, government sites, established news portals)
2. Link Quality: Evaluation of the quality of incoming links
3. Trust Propagation: How trust spreads through the link network
4. Spam Filtering: Automatic detection and filtering of spam links

Calculation Factors

Trust Flow vs. other Performance Values

Comparison with Domain Metric

Trust Flow vs. Citation Flow

• Trust Flow: Measures the quality of backlinks
• Citation Flow: Measures the quantity of backlinks
• Ideal: High Trust Flow with moderate Citation Flow

Interpreting Trust Flow

Trust Flow Scale

Using Trust Flow for Link Building

Link Targeting Strategies

1. Identify High Trust Flow Domains
   • Focus on domains with TF > 40
   • Special attention for TF > 60
2. Trust Flow Gap Analysis
   • Compare with competitors
   • Identify improvement potential
3. Evaluate Link Context
   • Prefer editorial links
   • Consider spam score

Practical Application

Optimizing Trust Flow

On-Page Optimizations

1. Improve Content Quality
   • High-quality, informative content
   • Regular updates
   • Follow E-E-A-T principles
2. Technical SEO
   • Fast loading times
   • Mobile Refinement
   • Secure HTTPS connection

Off-Page Strategies

1. Quality-Focused Link Building
   • Aim for editorial links
   • Relevant niche targets
   • Natural link profiles
2. Brand Building
   • Increase brand awareness
   • Establish thought leadership
   • Generate social signals

Trust Flow Monitoring

Regular Monitoring

1. Weekly Checks
   • Trust Flow changes
   • Analyze new backlinks
   • Monitor spam score
2. Monthly Reports
   • Trust Flow development
   • Competitor comparison
   • Check goal achievement

Tools for Trust Flow Monitoring

• Majestic SEO: Primary source for Trust Flow data
• Ahrefs: Alternative metrics and comparisons
• SEMrush: Comprehensive backlink analysis

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Trust Flow Pitfalls

1. Focusing Only on Trust Flow
   • Ignoring Citation Flow
   • Neglecting Significance
2. Artificial Manipulation
   • Buying spam links
   • Using link farms
3. Neglecting Relevance
   • Accepting irrelevant links
   • Ignoring context

Trust Flow in Practice

Best Practices Checklist

• Monitor Trust Flow regularly
• Prioritize quality over quantity
• Identify relevant link targets
• Consider spam score
• Prefer editorial links
• Analyze competitors
• Evaluate link context
• Build natural link profiles

Setting Measurable Goals

1. Short-term (1-3 months)
   • Increase Trust Flow by 5-10 points
   • Keep spam score below 5%
2. Medium-term (3-6 months)
   • Increase Trust Flow by 15-25 points
   • 20+ new quality backlinks
3. Long-term (6-12 months)
   • Increase Trust Flow by 30+ points
   • Reach top 3 in the industry

Related Topics

• Domain Authority
• Citation Flow
• Link Quality
• Backlink Metrics
• Link Monitoring