---
title: "Backlink Valuation Without Guesswork: The Six Principles Behind BV"
description: "BV, the Backlink Value model behind bklink audits and mxverify's site reports, puts a dollar figure on what one link is worth to rankings. This post sets out the six principles that make that figure defensible: a formula from site strength rather than a price list, four levels of link, the site's own nofollow ratio, topical relevance, organic traffic only, and provenance on every number."
canonical: "https://bklink.uk/blog/backlink-valuation-principles"
publishedAt: "2026-10-18T04:27:38.126Z"
updatedAt: "2026-10-18T04:27:38.126Z"
author: "Palash Bagchi"
category: "backlink-roi"
tags: ["backlink-roi","measurement","evidence","link-quality"]
series: "Backlink Cost, Value & ROI"
image: null
---

# Backlink Valuation Without Guesswork: The Six Principles Behind BV

BV, the Backlink Value model behind bklink audits and mxverify's site reports, puts a dollar figure on what one link is worth to rankings. This post sets out the six principles that make that figure defensible: a formula from site strength rather than a price list, four levels of link, the site's own nofollow ratio, topical relevance, organic traffic only, and provenance on every number.

Most backlink prices tell you what a seller asks. BV, the Backlink Value model behind every bklink audit and every [mxverify](https://mxverify.uk) site report, answers a different question: what is one link from this site realistically worth to the rankings of the site it points to? The answer is a dollar figure, and it is never a price anyone charges. The full formula, every factor and every version are on the [BV methodology page](/methodology). This post explains the six principles that shape it.

## 1. A value from a model, not a price list

BV starts from **Site Strength**, a 0–100 score built half from the linking site's Ahrefs Domain Rating and half from its organic traffic. A followed editorial link from a site of strength 100 is worth $2,265, and the value halves every 16.2 points below that: a site with Domain Rating 40 and 10,000 monthly visits sits at strength 41, worth $179 a link. The two anchors come from published asking prices for guest posts, so the curve is tied to the market at two points rather than drawn by hand.

Everything after the starting value multiplies it for evidence, all set out on the methodology page: the kind of link and several links from one site only ever lower it, and relevance moves it down or up. A domain Ahrefs does not rate has no strength, and its links are worth $0. BV does not estimate what nobody has measured.

## 2. Four levels of link, from search engines' own position

Not every link counts the same, so every link gets a level, based on search engines' published position on which links count:

| Level | What it is | Keeps |
|---|---|---|
| A, counted | An editorial citation or a genuine contribution: linked because it is useful to readers | 100% |
| B, may be discounted | A guest post, an article placed or sponsored by you, a listing on a product, tool or startup directory | 50% |
| C, usually neutralised | A press release or its copies, a syndicated article, a generic web directory, a forum post, profile or comment, a widget, a footer or sidebar link | 10% |
| D, link network | A site on a server whose sites show footprints of one owner, a link farm, a hacked page, machine-generated content | 5% |

A model reads the evidence for each link (the page, where the link sits, the words around it) and gives the probability of each level, so a link judged 70% A and 30% B keeps 85%. Some rules override it: a link marked `nofollow`, `sponsored` or `ugc` is at most level C, and when the model cannot judge a link, fixed rules place it, never at A, because no rule can tell an earned citation from an undisclosed paid one.

## 3. The site's real nofollow ratio, measured

A site that marks most of its outbound links `nofollow` passes little credit, however strong it looks. So mxverify reads a sample of each site's own articles and counts how its links out are marked. Where bklink audits have verified three or more live links placed on the site, their share is used instead. That share of the A and B weight moves to C.

For example, when mxverify read ufind.best on 18 October 2026, 48 links to other sites across 10 articles were 29% followed and 71% nofollow, so BV counted 71% of a new link's weight at most level C. The report prints that sample, and says it is small: a strong reading takes six or more articles and thirty or more links.

## 4. Relevance to the site being linked

A link from a site about the same subject as yours is worth more than one from an unrelated niche. BV multiplies by the linking site's usual subject, not by the one article that carries the link:

| Relevance of the linking site to yours | Factor |
|---|---|
| Unrelated | 0.5× |
| Loosely related | 0.75× |
| Adjacent | 1× |
| Closely related | 1.1× |
| Same topic | 1.25× |

A link the model could not judge multiplies by 1, so nothing is marked down for something that was not measured. Every mxverify report shows the range: on 18 October 2026, a link from ufind.best was worth $57 at adjacent relevance, $29 from an unrelated site and $72 on the same topic.

## 5. Organic search traffic, not total visits

Half of Site Strength is traffic, and only **organic search** visits count. Direct, referral, social and paid visits say nothing about how search engines rank the site. mxverify reports split the channels and colour organic search green, the traffic BV prices on. On 18 October 2026, ufind.best had an estimated 6,826 monthly visits, of which 2,173 (32%) came from organic search.

Traffic is scored on a logarithmic scale, so going from 100,000 to 1 million visits counts as much as going from 1,000 to 10,000. Since BV 2.8 (3 October 2026), a site whose traffic was never measured counts as none, so a missing figure can never outrank a measured one.

## 6. Provenance on every figure

A valuation is only as good as what you can check behind it:

- **Every version is published.** The [methodology page](/methodology) sets out each version of BV, with the dates it ran and what changed. Every report records the version that built it.
- **Every figure carries its source and date.** mxverify reports name where each number comes from and when it was read, and print sample sizes and the limits of a reading.
- **Unproven links are not counted as proof.** A link on a page that blocked or timed out bklink's auditor is disclosed, but left out of the estimated value until it can be verified.
- **Audited, not just valued.** When bklink audits links placed on a site, checking that each one is there, followed or not, and where it sits, mxverify marks that site's report audited. [mxverify's audited sites](https://mxverify.uk/audits) are listed together.
- **Money does not move the number.** mxverify sells labelled ad spaces, each marked "Ad" and linked `rel="sponsored nofollow"` under its [advertising policy](https://mxverify.uk/advertising). No ad changes a site's BV, and a site cannot pay to change its own: the figure moves only with its Domain Rating, its organic traffic and what audits of links placed on it find. Reports carry no affiliate links.

## What BV is not

BV is not a price. A seller may ask far more or far less than a link is worth, and BV says nothing about what anyone charges. Nor is it a promise: Google decides how much any one link counts, and BV is a model of that, with its assumptions in the open. Its use is comparison. Before a link is placed, it tells you whether the price is in proportion to the value; after, it tells you what the links you already have are worth.

[Audit the links you have placed](/) on bklink, or look up any site's BV on [mxverify](https://mxverify.uk).

## Key Takeaways
- BV values a link from Site Strength (half Ahrefs Domain Rating, half organic traffic), anchored to published guest-post asking prices; a domain Ahrefs does not rate is worth $0.
- Every link gets a level: A keeps 100%, B 50%, C 10%, D 5%; nofollow, sponsored and ugc links are at most C.
- A site's own nofollow ratio, read from its articles or from links bklink audits have verified, moves that share of a link's weight to level C.
- Relevance multiplies the value from 0.5× (unrelated) to 1.25× (same topic); a link that could not be judged multiplies by 1.
- Only organic search traffic counts toward strength, and since BV 2.8 traffic that was never measured counts as none.
- Every figure is dated and sourced; no ad changes a site's BV, and a site cannot pay to change its own.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is BV?

BV (Backlink Value) is the model bklink and mxverify use to put a dollar figure on what one link from a site is worth to the rankings of the site it points to. It is a model of value, not a price anyone charges. The formula and every version are on bklink's methodology page.

### Is BV what a backlink costs?

No. BV estimates what a link is worth to rankings; a seller's price can be far above or below it. Comparing the two before a link is placed shows whether the price is in proportion to the value.

### Why does a nofollow link have any value at all?

A nofollow, sponsored or ugc link is at most level C, which keeps 10% of the starting value, because search engines treat those attributes as hints rather than rules. A site that marks most of its links nofollow has that share of its A and B weight moved to C.

### Why count only organic search traffic?

Organic search visits show that search engines send people to the site; direct, referral, social and paid visits do not. Counting total visits would let a site with a large paid or social audience look stronger to search engines than it is.

### Can a site pay to raise its BV on mxverify?

No. mxverify sells labelled ad spaces, linked rel="sponsored nofollow", but no ad changes a site's BV and a site cannot pay to change its own. The figure moves only with the site's Domain Rating, its organic traffic and what bklink audits of links placed on it find.

## Sources
1. [bklink - How bklink values a backlink (BV methodology)](https://bklink.uk/methodology)
2. [mxverify - Backlink value and traffic report for ufind.best (read 18 October 2026)](https://mxverify.uk/publications/ufind.best)
3. [mxverify - Audited sites](https://mxverify.uk/audits)
4. [mxverify - Advertising policy](https://mxverify.uk/advertising)
5. [Google Search Central - Spam policies for Google web search (link spam)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#link-spam)
6. [Google Search Central - Qualify your outbound links to Google](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/qualify-outbound-links)
7. [Ahrefs Help Center - What is Domain Rating (DR)?](https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/1409408-what-is-domain-rating-dr)