A direct link in the context of search engine optimization (SEO) is any hyperlink that is open to indexing by search engine robots. The key characteristic of this type of link is that it conveys the “weight” or authority of the source site to the target website it points to.
Technically, a direct link does not contain the rel=”nofollow”, rel=”sponsored”, or rel=”ugc” attribute, which instructs search engines to ignore the link or not convey authority through it. For this reason, a direct link is also called a Dofollow link.
By conveying “weight” (often referred to as “link juice” or PageRank), a direct link plays a fundamental role in search engine ranking algorithms. Obtaining such links from highly authoritative and relevant sources is one of the most important factors in increasing the rank and visibility of a website in search results.