Trust Flow is a metric that indicates the trustworthiness of your website, based on the quality of incoming links. This article explains what Trust Flow measures, why it affects your SEO, and how you can improve your score.
What is Trust Flow?
Trust Flow (or Majestic Trust Flow) is a score between 0 and 100 that indicates the trustworthiness of your website. The score is based on the quality of the incoming links. The higher the quality, the better your Trust Flow.
If you receive backlinks from trustworthy and authoritative websites, your Trust Flow increases. However, having many referring domains of low quality or from suspicious websites may be a sign of spam or unnatural link building—something that can negatively affect your site.
Trust Flow was developed by Majestic and, together with Citation Flow (which measures the number of backlinks), forms part of the Majestic Flow Metrics. Majestic is a leading SEO company that maintains a massive database of indexed backlink information and several widely used SEO tools. In the past, online marketers and SEO consultants primarily looked at Google’s PageRank, but since Google stopped updating that algorithm, the Majestic Flow Metrics have largely taken over that role.
Two related concepts are Trust Flow Ratio and Topical Trust Flow.
Trust Flow Ratio
Trust Flow Ratio is the ratio between Trust Flow and Citation Flow. Comparing the two provides valuable insight into how trustworthy your website is perceived to be. A solid SEO strategy often starts with analyzing the Trust Flow ratio.
A score between 0.5 and 1 is considered optimal. This indicates a healthy balance between the quality and quantity of backlinks.
You calculate the Trust Flow Ratio by dividing your Trust Flow score by your Citation Flow score:
Trust Flow / Citation Flow = Trust Flow Ratio
For example, if a website has a Citation Flow of 40 and a Trust Flow of 20:
20 / 40 = 0.5
If a site has a very high Citation Flow but a low Trust Flow, it may indicate that a large number of low-quality backlinks are pointing to the site. This imbalance will significantly lower the ratio.
Another example: a site has a Citation Flow of 80 and the same Trust Flow of 20:
20 / 80 = 0.25
Topical Trust Flow
Topical Trust Flow is a score that indicates how trustworthy and influential a website is within a specific niche. It is based on the idea that some websites are more relevant than others when it comes to certain topics.
For example, it wouldn’t make sense to visit an SEO website to read the latest political news—just like you wouldn’t visit a news platform like nu.nl for in-depth SEO or online marketing advice.
Topical Trust Flow improves as the sites linking to yours also receive backlinks from other websites with strong topical relevance. To calculate this, Majestic uses a set of “seed sites”—a curated list of trusted and thematically relevant websites. The closer your backlinks are in topical relevance to these seed sites, the higher your Topical Trust Flow score will be.
Why is a high Trust Flow important?
A high Trust Flow is important because it reflects the trustworthiness of your website, gives insight into your backlink profile, and indirectly contributes to better search rankings. Below we explain these three key reasons:
Trust and credibility
A trustworthy website is essential for building user confidence. Google also values credibility when determining search rankings. Sites with a strong reputation are more likely to appear at the top. Think about it: if users don’t trust your site, why should Google?
Insight into your link profile
Trust Flow and Citation Flow give you a clearer view of your site’s backlink quality. You can identify which sources are valuable, where potential risks lie, and how your site compares to competitors. This helps you build a stronger, more relevant backlink profile.
Indirect impact on rankings
While Trust Flow isn’t an official ranking factor, it’s a strong signal of relevance and authority. Websites with a high Trust Flow typically have more high-quality backlinks. As a result, Google is more likely to view your content as valuable and reward it with higher positions in search results.
Measuring Trust Flow
Check your Trust Flow using the tools from Majestic, the developer of Trust Flow and Citation Flow. You’ll instantly gain insights into your website’s performance. Additionally, you can see what your backlink profile looks like and which sites are linking to yours.
How to increase your Trust Flow
You can increase your Trust Flow by acquiring high-quality backlinks, reducing low-quality links, improving your internal link structure, and always prioritizing quality over quantity. Below we explain each of these strategies in more detail:
Acquire high-quality backlinks
Get backlinks from websites with a high Trust Flow themselves, such as reputable news sites or authoritative blogs. Preferably choose sites that are topically relevant to your niche. This not only boosts your general Trust Flow but also improves your Topical Trust Flow.
Quality over quantity
Focus on valuable links instead of just collecting as many as possible. A small number of high-quality backlinks is more effective than a large number of weak or irrelevant links.
Reduce low-quality backlinks
Use Google Search Console to identify spammy or low-quality backlinks. The Disavow Tool lets you reject these, preventing them from negatively impacting your Trust Flow.
Optimize internal link structure
Internal links also count when calculating Trust Flow. Make sure your strongest pages—such as your homepage—strategically link to other important pages on your site. A logical, well-structured internal link network helps distribute authority across your domain.
