Nofollow links are one of the best ways to prevent the flow of PageRank (link juice) from one URL to another.
It was originally used to stop blog comment spam. Later, website owners began adding it to sponsored or user-generated hyperlinks to prevent link spam.
Let’s understand how nofollow links impact SEO, when to use them in your backlinking strategy, and what the dangers of using the rel="nofollow" value incorrectly are.
Nofollow links are hyperlinks that have the “nofollow” attribute. These links do not pass link equity and should be used for advertisements and paid links.
Here is an example usage of a hyperlink with the nofollow attribute:
The nofollow link attribute on links can use “UGC” and “Sponsored” values.
For example, rel="nofollow UGC" combines nofollow and UGC, marking the link as user-generated and preventing the passing of link equity.
Similarly, rel="nofollow sponsored" merges nofollow and sponsored, which is used for paid links while signaling that the link should not influence the target link’s PageRank.
It is important to note that HTML hyperlinks can only be of two types: dofollow and nofollow.
By default, every link is dofollow. To make a link nofollow, add the nofollow value to it.
| Google respects nofollow links. It doesn’t pass PageRank or link equity but may still crawl them for discovery. | |
| Bing | Similar to Google, Bing doesn't pass link equity through nofollow links but may still consider them for indexing. |
| Yahoo | Since Yahoo is powered by Bing, it handles nofollow links in the same way: no link equity, but still discoverable. |
| DuckDuckGo | DuckDuckGo focuses on privacy and relevance, with no strong emphasis on nofollow links for ranking. |
| Baidu | Baidu may crawl nofollow outgoing links, but it does not pass ranking signals or link equity through them. |
| Yandex | Yandex respects nofollow, avoiding passing link juice and ranking influence through such links. |
Nofollow links should be used for:
It is also important to note that you should not use nofollow for internal linking.
Visit the page whose links you wish to check.
Right-click on a link and choose "Inspect" or "Inspect Element."
The browser’s developer tools will open, displaying the HTML code.
Look for the rel="nofollow" attribute within the link tag.
Use extensions like Nofollow to automatically highlight nofollow hyperlinks on any page. Install the Chrome extension and click on the link icon shown in the address bar. The tool will highlight all the nofollow links in red on the currently opened page.
Right-click on the webpage and select "View Page Source."
Use "Ctrl + F" to search for rel="nofollow" in the HTML code to locate nofollow links.
To check the number of nofolllow backlink count in your link profile, you need to use SEO and backlink analysis tools.
Backlink checkers like the Ahrefs Site Explorer, SEMrush, SErankings, or Moz offers extensive backlink analysis.
They display whether links pointing to your site are nofollow or dofollow, providing a detailed report of all links.
For example, in Ahrefs, click on Site Explorer and enter the website URL whose links you wish to check.
Now, click on backlinks.
The tool will provide a list of all the backlinks. Now, you can filter the backlinks by Nofollow, UGC, or the sponsored link attribute.
By explicitly filtering the backlinks data, you can identify the number of nofollow links to your site and the overall ratio in your link profile. Natural link profiles should have a mix of dofollow and nofollow links.
The ideal link ratio for dofollow vs nofollow links should be between 80-90% vs 20-10%. This means that your website’s link profile should be at least 10% or more.
Below is the link ratio of the popular news sites:
As you can see, most sites have between 10-20% nofollow links.
Let’s take a look at the well-known advantages of using nofollow links:
When users are allowed to post links, there is a risk that some may exploit this opportunity to share unnatural links.
By applying the rel=nofollow HTML tag to such UGC (user-generated content) links, you signal to search engines that you do not wish to pass link juice to the linked content. It helps them battle link spam.
Without link equity, black hat SEO spammers will move away from your site.
Using nofollow links lets website owners decide which sites should benefit from their domain’s authority.
When you give outbound links without the nofollow attribute, you pass on some of your hard-earned link equity to those sites.
If you are linking to untrusted or irrelevant sources, it will dilute your site's authority and negatively impact your SEO.
By applying the nofollow value to links you tell Google and other search engines to not associate your site with it. It helps to keep your site profile natural and healthy.
Using nofollow links improves link profile diversity by creating a more balanced and natural backlink profile.
Search engines prefer a varied link structure that includes both dofollow and nofollow links, reflecting a more organic linking pattern.
If your site contains only dofollow links, it may appear manipulative or overly optimized, which can raise red flags for search engines.
Incorporating nofollow links demonstrates that your site is referenced across different contexts, enhancing credibility.
An organic backlink profile leads to better overall search visibility and performance, showing that your content engages with a wider audience, even if some of those links do not pass link equity.
Improving link profile diversity ultimately contributes to a healthier SEO strategy that can positively impact your rankings in search results over time.
A nofollow link is not able to boost PageRank or site authority, however it helps you acquire referral traffic.
When authoritative sites with significant traffic link to your content using nofollow attributes, users can still click on the link to reach your website. Hence, it aids in enhancing brand value and lead generation.
Nofollow attribute on links help maintain your site's authority, credibility, and rankings. Here are the biggest dangers of not using nofollow attribute to links correctly:
Not using nofollow links correctly could unintentionally violate the spam policies for Google search.
Google states that selling dofollow links for advertising and sponsorship purposes is a violation of their policies.
Hence, you should avoid link schemes that might lead to algorithmic or manual search engine penalties.
To keep your site safe, you should always use the rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" attribute on your advertisement links.
If your website allows blog comments with links or guest posts with user-submitted links, failing to implement nofollow on external links can lead to spam.
Unscrupulous users might create unnatural links to low-quality or spam sites, affecting your SEO and user trust.
A nofollow value tells search engines not to associate your site with or index the linked page from your site. In contrast, a dofollow link allows search engines to follow the link and pass link juice. Hence, nofollow links do not boost site authority scores or rankings, whereas dofollow links boost domain reputation and search engine ranking positions.
Yes, nofollow links are necessary for having a natural link profile. Moreover, nofollow backlinks from trusted and high-traffic domains can drive referral traffic, potentially leading to user engagement and conversions.
Yes, search engines can crawl and discover content marked by nofollow links. If you want to prevent indexing, you should use the noindex meta tag for the search engines. It should have the noindex rule: <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" />.
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