In short
Link velocity is the observed change in detected links over time, interpreted with publication activity, data coverage and link relevance.
Mechanism and decision
Link velocity is the observed pace at which a provider detects gained or lost links. It is a descriptive trend, not a safe target. Database discovery timing, migrations and index refreshes can change a chart without a corresponding change in editorial attention.
Review underlying referring pages, target URLs, discovery dates and surrounding context. Compare the period with publishing, PR and technical events before calling a change natural, risky or valuable.
What you can control
No universal “natural” rate exists, and third-party discovery dates are not a causal ranking signal.
Practical workflow
- Record one provider and its index date.
- Segment gains and losses by target rather than totals.
- Sample referring-page context and placement.
- Check migrations, canonicals and redirects that affect discovery.
FAQ
No. Publicity and new content can attract links quickly, and provider indexes also change. Inspect the actual linking pages.
Yes. They discover and refresh links at different times and cover different parts of the web.