Method · M-Flux
M-Flux, now version 2, is Linkology's proprietary, multi-metric weighted formula for scoring candidate publishers. It's the second iteration of the backlink-checking formula we use to select every site that goes into a link campaign: fast, accurate opportunity checks at scale.
M-Flux (metrics fluidity) is Linkology's proprietary, multi-metric weighted formula. Every candidate publisher is scored through weighted metrics and a 33-point manual quality check before it qualifies for a campaign, using natural language processing to gauge topical and semantic fit. No black-box DR buying.
M-Flux vets sites for the link component of a campaign, it is not the methodology for the whole managed authority service.
M-Flux launched in 2018. Version 2 is a rebuild, not a tweak: re-weighted, benchmarked against 30,000 sites, and informed by the 2024 Google Leaks which confirmed a lot of what the formula was already leaning toward, and changed how much weight some third-party scores deserve.
“Anyone that's measuring links using only domain rating or domain authority and some light traffic analysis is putting their search performance and budget severely at risk
The core differentiator: one vendor score can't tell you whether a site is worth a client's money.
Vetting candidate sites at scale; thousands of opportunities scored on the same basis, so judgment is consistent rather than down to the opinions or expertise of individuals.
The formula is adjustable: as tools change what they measure and algorithms change what matters, weightings move. A single fixed metric can't do that.
Benchmarked against 30,000 sites and informed by the 2024 Google Search API Leaks, so the weightings reflect evidence, not vendor marketing.
The substance of V2: what moved, which direction, and the reasoning behind each change.
| Metric | V2 weighting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Moz Domain Authority (DA) | ↓ Lowered | Reduced influence in the blend. |
| Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) | ↑ Increased | Carries more weight in V2 than V1 but still one input among several, never the deciding score. |
| Majestic Trust Flow | ↑ Increased | Quality-of-source signal rather than raw link volume. |
| SEMrush Estimated Traffic | ↑ Increased | Evidence a site has real readers, not just a link graph. |
| Ahrefs Keywords-in-Top-20 Ratio | ★ New in V2 | A site holding a high share of its keywords in the top 20 is one search engines already reward, a proxy for engagement (Navboost), topical alignment, and entity recognition. Links from high-engagement pages behave differently to links from dormant ones. |
"Our goal is to show you as closely as possible how links to your site or sites might appear to search engines, and provide clear and trusted metrics with which to interpret this wealth of data."
"Under the PageRank patent, ranking scores are given to pages based upon how far away they might be from seed sets and based upon other features of those pages."
"Our updated M-Flux formula is tuned to measure engagement, relevance and site authority, allowing link builders quick access to a reliable, balanced site scoring system"
Every third-party score is a model of Google, not Google. Each one is wrong in its own direction. Blending several and being able to re-weight them as tools and algorithms change, gets closer to the truth than trusting whichever single number happens to be fashionable.
Scored candidates mean the team spends its hours on the sites worth pursuing, not on triaging a spreadsheet of maybes.
Less budget lost to sites that look strong on one score and turn out to be hollow on every other.
“If you're not using M-Flux, you're probably leaving valuable sites on the table and spending more cash on links than you need to
Take one piece, go premium, or let us run the whole program.
M-Flux (metrics fluidity) is Linkology's proprietary, multi-metric weighted formula. Every candidate publisher is scored through weighted metrics and a 33-point manual quality check before it qualifies for a campaign, using natural language processing to gauge topical and semantic fit. No black-box DR buying.
M-Flux blends several third-party scores; Ahrefs Domain Rating, Moz Domain Authority, Majestic Trust Flow, SEMrush estimated traffic, and an Ahrefs keywords-in-top-20 ratio — each weighted, with weightings adjusted as tools and algorithms change. No single vendor score decides whether a site qualifies.
Every third-party score is a model of Google, not Google itself, and each is wrong in its own direction. Blending several metrics and being able to re-weight them as tools and algorithms change gets closer to whether a site is genuinely worth a link than trusting any single number.
It's the human review layer on top of the formula: once M-Flux scores a site, a person checks it against 33 quality points before it qualifies for a campaign. The formula shortlists; the manual check confirms.
No. M-Flux vets sites for the link component of a campaign. The managed authority service is strategy-led across the full signal mix (digital PR, editorial links, video where required, and a light technical layer), with M-Flux as the site-vetting tool within the link part.
Up to 30 minutes - a look at your current link profile, and an honest read on what M-Flux would and wouldn't approve.
