If you’ve ever tried building backlinks, you’ve probably realized it’s not as simple as adding a link and expecting traffic to flood in. 

Questions like these might be running through your mind: Should you prioritize dofollow links to boost your rankings? Do nofollow links hold any real value? And what are the risks if you get the balance wrong?

Making the wrong choice can hurt your rankings, while the right strategy can set your site up for long-term success. Both types have their place in creating a balanced and effective backlink profile. 

Let’s learn more about the basis of dofollow vs nofollow backlinks and make them work for you!

What are Nofollow Backlinks

Nofollow backlinks are links from one website to another that include a specific HTML attribute: rel=”nofollow.” This attribute tells search engines not to pass on “link juice” (or “link equity”) to the linked website.

When Should You Use Nofollow Links

Nofollow links are useful when you’re required to include links that you don’t necessarily endorse:

• User-Generated Content: This could be comments and forum discussions where users were to link to their own or other sites.
• Endorsed Links: If you’re linking to a site because of an advertisement, sponsorship, or other commercial agreements, a nofollow link is necessary to comply with search engine guidelines.
• Low-authority Sites: This will keep the integrity of your website because linking to sites you don’t entirely feel comfortable with or with very low authority means using nofollow.

What are Dofollow Backlinks

A dofollow backlink is a link from one website to another that tells search engines to follow and crawl the linked website. This passes on “link juice” or SEO value to the linked website. These links are like endorsements from one site to another, signaling to search engines that the content linked is valuable and relevant. 

When Should You Use Dofollow Links

They are particularly crucial in situations like:

• Internal Linking: Dofollow links are crucial for internal linking, as they help search engines navigate your site and distribute link equity. Except for duplicate or less relevant pages, all internal links should typically be dofollow for better SEO.

• Sharing High-Quality Resources: It’s best to use dofollow links when directing your users to high-quality, authoritative sources that boost the credibility and depth of your content.

Dofollow vs Nofollow Backlinks: The Basics

Understanding the difference between do-follow and no-follow links is important for SEO. They impact how search engines value links, which affects your website’s ranking.

1) Link Juice and SEO

Dofollow backlinks are crucial for transferring link equity, also known as “link juice.” They signal search engines to consider the link as an endorsement, positively affecting the SEO ranking of the target site. In contrast, nofollow backlinks include a rel=”nofollow” tag that tells search engines not to pass the authority of the link, though they can still drive valuable traffic.

2) User-Generated Content and Comments

It is advisable to use nofollow links in user-generated content such as comments and forum posts to prevent spam and maintain site integrity. Allowing dofollow links in these areas can encourage link spamming, potentially harming the site’s reputation and SEO.

3) Google’s View

Google considers dofollow links as indicators of confidence and relevance between linking pages, which can improve a site’s search ranking. Nofollow links were introduced to deter spam and are typically not followed. Depending on the overall context and other signals, Google might use them as hints in certain situations.

Here’s the basic difference between the dofollow and nofollow links:

The Importance of Nofollow Links

Nofollow links are important for many reasons. Here are a few:

1) Backlink Profile Diversity

A diverse backlink profile is crucial for SEO health. Search engines favor websites that have a natural mix of dofollow and nofollow backlinks. This suggests the site’s link popularity is not solely built on solicited or self-created links. 

Nofollow links contribute to this diversity, signaling to search engines that the backlink profile is organic and varied. This diversity helps protect your site from penalties associated with manipulative link-building practices.

2) Brand Exposure

Nofollow links can significantly boost brand exposure. Even without passing SEO value, these links appear on popular platforms and within content that receives high visibility. 

For instance, links from comments on a high-traffic blog post, answers in forums, or mentions in press releases can introduce your brand to a broader audience. This exposure is beneficial as it increases brand recognition and supports marketing campaigns, ultimately influencing consumer behavior and brand loyalty. 

Here’s a real-life example of PR link building that Outreach Monks did for an Ecommerce brand, Nolabels. This helped them gain much more brand exposure and authority.

3) Referral Traffic

While nofollow links do not improve SERP rankings directly, they can lead to increased referral traffic. An important metric for website success!

By placing nofollow links in strategic locations where potential customers click, you can drive traffic directly to your site. 

This is particularly valuable on social media platforms, industry forums, and other digital spaces where engaging content encourages clicks. Referral traffic is often high-quality, targeted, and more likely to convert than other traffic sources. This makes nofollow links a valuable asset in driving performance and conversion goals.

How Nofollow Links Impact SEO

As we discussed above, nofollow links do not affect PageRank because they do not pass link juice. That is why they cannot be at the core of backlink audits and link building campaigns, but surely should not be ignored.

Despite common misconceptions, especially among newer SEOs, nofollow links still offer valuable benefits.

1) Google’s Nofollow “Hints”

Google treats nofollow as a hint, not a directive. Google has stated that all nofollow attributes (nofollow, sponsored, and UGC) are treated as hints for analysis, not strict instructions. 

This means Google may still consider these links for ranking purposes, even if they do not directly pass PageRank. The exact impact remains uncertain.

2) Effect of Reputable Nofollow Links

Nofollow links from high-authority sources have influence. A nofollow link from a highly reputable source like Wikipedia can still benefit the linked page. While the exact mechanism is unclear, it likely involves a combination of factors:

• Increased brand visibility
• Referral traffic
• Positive E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals

3) Value of Nofollow Mentions

Nofollow links contribute to your overall online presence. Even without directly boosting rankings, nofollow backlinks are still valuable mentions. Positive mentions across the web enhance your brand reputation and can drive targeted traffic, contributing to your business goals.

How to Identify Dofollow and Nofollow Links

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you determine the type of any given link:

1) Inspect the Link Code

The most straightforward way to identify if a link is dofollow or nofollow is by inspecting the HTML code. Here’s how you can do it:

• Right-click on the link on the webpage and select Inspect or View Page Source from the context menu.
• Press Ctrl + F to search for the anchor text for which you want to check the link.
  
• Look for the <a> tag that contains the link. If you see a rel=”nofollow” attribute within the tag, the link is nofollow.

If there is no “rel” attribute specifying “nofollow,” the link is generally considered dofollow. In this case, the link is a nofollow. 

2) Using SEO Tools

Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush can help you analyze backlinks in bulk. These tools provide detailed reports that include the type of links (dofollow or nofollow) pointing to a specific website. 

Here’s how you can check it on SEMrush:

1. Go to the Semrush Backlink Analytics tool.
2. Enter the URL of the website for which you want to analyze the backlinks and press the “Analyze” button.
3. Click on the Backlinks button to see a list of all the backlinks your website has.
4. Here, you can also filter out the type of links you want from nofollow, sponsored or UGC.

A “nofollow” or “UGC” tag indicates a nofollow link. If neither tag is present, the link is considered dofollow.

When to Avoid Nofollow Links

The nofollow attribute was once commonly misused in an attempt to manipulate PageRank distribution. A practice known as “PageRank sculpting” involved nofollowing all external links to concentrate link equity on internal pages. However, Google’s handling of nofollow has evolved, rendering this technique ineffective. Despite this, misuse of nofollow persists.  

Here are two key situations where you should not use nofollow:

• Nofollowing All External Links: Applying nofollow to all external links is counterproductive and can even harm your website’s SEO. It prevents you from benefiting from potential link equity passed by valuable external resources.
• Nofollowing Internal Links: Nofollowing internal links is also a misuse of the attribute. If you need to prevent a page from being crawled or indexed, use robots meta tags or other appropriate methods instead.  

If you’re unsure about your site’s nofollow implementation, tools like Semrush’s Site Audit can help identify potential issues.

Conclusion: Dofollow vs. Nofollow Backlinks 

Dofollow and nofollow backlinks are essential in improving your SEO strategy and protecting your site’s reputation. Dofollow links will greatly enhance your search engine rankings because they pass valuable link equity.

While nofollow links help diversify your link profile and protect against potential penalties from search engines. Using both effectively ensures a robust SEO strategy that enhances both your site’s visibility and credibility.

Frequently Asked Questions