What Is a No Follow Link in SEO?

Nofollow links began in 2005 as a method of combating spam. They don’t help for SEO directly, but they still matter. They also bring referral traffic and diversify backlink profiles.

Smart use of them in your marketing plan will help you enhance your online presence. Mix nofollow and dofollow links for a balanced approach. This creates a natural appearance to your link profile.

What Are Nofollow Links

A nofollow link is a hyperlink that has the rel=”nofollow” HTML tag attached. This tag serves a specific purpose in search engine optimization (SEO): it tells search engines not to count the link towards the PageRank of the linked site.

<a href=”https://example.com” rel=”nofollow”>Example Link</a>

This example tells search engines not to follow the link to “https://example.com”.

This is important because when it comes to SEO, links are votes of trust. However, a nofollow link essentially says, “I’m linking to this, but I’m not endorsing it.

When a search engine’s crawler sees a nofollow tag, it gets an explicit instruction. It knows to not follow the link to wherever it goes. Users can then click through and visit the linked page.

However, the search engine’s algorithm won’t factor in that link when it’s calculating rankings. This is particularly useful when you want to direct users to an informative site. You can do this without transferring any link authority from your own site.

In a broader linking strategy, nofollow links are a part of it. They don’t directly boost your rankings, but they help maintain a natural link profile.

Sites that only contain dofollow links can trigger alarm bells for search engines and can be penalized. For this reason, nofollow links can help protect your site because they can indicate a natural, healthy linking pattern.

1. Nofollow vs. Dofollow Links

The difference between nofollow and dofollow links is the presence of the nofollow tag.

Dofollow links, which don’t use the tag, are the ones that search engines do follow and take into account in how they calculate rankings.

These links boost a site’s authority. They can also dramatically improve the search engine rankings of a site by passing link equity from one site to a different one.

Nofollow links, while visible to users, do not pass on this link equity. They’re not typically counted by search engines in their ranking algorithms. This is why people tend to use them in non-editorially placed link situations. They assist in citing sources without granting authority, particularly when linking to subpar websites.

Dofollow links are important for increasing your search engine rankings. It makes sense to have a strategic combination of both dofollow and nofollow links. This balance avoids penalties from search engines that have suspicions about manipulative linking.

2. Key Differences Between Them

Dofollow links are precious! They pass link equity, or “link juice,” which increases a website’s authority and helps it rank higher in search engines. They’re a fundamental part of SEO strategies designed to increase visibility and drive organic traffic.

Nofollow links do not boost your search engine rankings. They don’t pass link equity, so they have no direct impact on your site’s visibility. However, they do have a place in a holistic SEO strategy. Nofollow links can still get your site traffic. They help gain visibility, which can naturally lead to dofollow links sometime later.

The nofollow links can act as a safety net against bad Google penalties. Google has occasionally followed nofollow links, but this is not guaranteed. Website owners should mix nofollow and dofollow links. This strategy builds a natural, diverse link profile in line with best practices.

Role in Search Engine Optimization

SEO Role

Nofollow links maintain a balanced link profile and protect your site from penalties by signaling search engines to ignore spammy or irrelevant links.

While they don’t directly impact rankings, they help manage link equity by emphasizing high-quality links.

Traffic Benefits

Nofollow links can drive referral traffic from blogs, forums, and social media platforms. Even without passing link equity, they increase visibility, engagement, and content sharing, indirectly supporting your SEO efforts.

Backlink Diversity

A mix of dofollow and nofollow links creates a natural backlink profile, building trust with search engines and avoiding penalties. Strategically incorporating nofollow links enhances authenticity and strengthens your overall SEO strategy.

Benefits of Using Nofollow Links

Increased Brand Visibility

Nofollow links are beneficial for brand awareness as they help garner exposure in different places. They may not directly affect SEO rankings, but they link your content to broader audiences.

You get valuable exposure to your brand when your content gets shared on popular blogs or forums. These nofollow links yield new users that potentially wouldn’t have found you otherwise. That exposure is priceless in competitive markets where you must stand out.

Nofollow links are significant in social media marketing. Twitter and Facebook, for example, are nofollow links, but those rarely stop them from driving healthy engagement.

When users share your content, it builds visibility and creates brand awareness and familiarity. A popular influencer sharing your content can lead to tremendous reach and potential for brand recognition, even with a nofollow link!

Referral Traffic Opportunities

Nofollow links are valuable for a few reasons, one of which is their ability to drive referral traffic. They can drive valuable visitors to your site. This is because people can click on these links just like any other, giving you additional quality traffic.

A nofollow link on a forum with tons of traffic could attract users that are truly interested in your niche. These users are more likely to engage with your content and become part of your community.

Social media platforms are especially good for this. Sharing nofollow links results in discussions and engagement. These conversations become useful engagement opportunities that build a following.

Ensure the linked content is interesting and helpful. This will keep visitors engaged and increase their time on your page, which signals to Google that your content is useful.

Diverse Backlink Profile

It is important to have a diverse backlink profile to keep your linking strategy natural and healthy. This is where nofollow links play a huge role in that diversity. A healthy combination of nofollow and dofollow links makes for a more natural backlink profile. This is how you avoid the red flags with search engines.

Imagine you have only dofollow links; search engines could consider that manipulative or unnatural and penalize you. By including nofollow links, you limit these risks and maintain a strong, authoritative link profile.

According to Semrush, 23% of their links are nofollow, demonstrating that even winning brands appreciate this equilibrium.

Better Control Over Outbound Links

Nofollow links give you much greater control over your outbound links. Using nofollow allows you to control which links pass authority. That way, you keep your site’s link profile healthy.

This control is essential for connecting with content that may not be credible. It also keeps you from endorsing certain sites.

If you’re linking to a user-generated content platform or a site with unverifiable information, you can use a nofollow tag. This allows you to refrain from passing any SEO authority to those sites.

By strategically managing outbound links, you protect your website’s credibility. This approach also gives you control over how your link equity is distributed.

Improved Crawling and Indexing

Nofollow links are involved in efficient crawling by search engines. They help steer crawlers away from inconsequential content so they can spend time on the pages that matter.

This is particularly useful for crawl prioritization. It makes sure search engines pick up on the most valuable parts of your site.

When to Use Nofollow Links

Linking to External Websites

When linking to external sites, you must evaluate the site’s trustworthiness. If the site isn’t reputable or doesn’t match up with your brand’s voice and values, you should always use a nofollow link.

This kind of link tells the search engines to pass no PageRank, something that Google has confirmed. Consider it a safeguard for your site’s reputation.

Consider this: linking to a site with questionable content or poor SEO practices could harm your own SEO. By utilizing nofollow links, you can avoid this detriment. Semrush reports that 23% of their links are nofollow, which suggests a careful approach for ensuring site integrity.

Before you link to an external site, evaluate its authority. Is it reputable in your industry? Does it add something of value to your readers? If you’re uncertain, it’s better to be safe than sorry and use a nofollow link to lessen the risk.

User-Generated Content Pages

User-generated content (UGC) such as forum posts and comments can be a double-edged sword.

They provide value and engagement, but they can also create spam. This is where nofollow links come into play. By applying them, you protect your site’s integrity from potentially harmful links.

Google suggests that you use the “rel=ugc” attribute for links in user-generated content. It’s a clear signal that these links are not endorsed by your site. This approach allows you to handle user contributions well so your site stays a credible resource.

Spam prevention is another benefit. Nofollow links in UGC deny any SEO benefit to spammers, protecting the quality and credibility of your site.

Irrelevant or Spammy Content

At times, you have to reach for content that isn’t directly in your niche. This content could simply be bad. In those situations, nofollow links are crucial. They help keep your link profile high-quality, so you don’t inadvertently vouch for junk or spammy pages.

When you link to spammy content, you hurt your site’s reputation and SEO. It’s a risk that is just not worth it. Use nofollow links to safeguard your site’s position. This practice mimics the natural link profile that many SEOs preach, combining both follow and nofollow links.

Duplicate or Auto-Generated Pages

Duplicate content and auto-generated pages are their own SEO challenges. Using nofollow links for these types of content will save you from search engine penalties. It’s a clever way to ensure your content remains unique.

Nofollow links are key here for managing these problems. They prevent search engines from indexing duplicate or low-value pages, so your site content remains high-quality. That follows what Google’s Webmaster Guidelines say about using nofollow for paid links and similar scenarios.

When to Avoid Nofollow Links

Internal Linking Strategies

Dofollow links are the backbone of internal linking. They also link your site’s pages together, which helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relationship of your content.

When dofollow links are incorporated into your internal strategies, the link equity can flow smoothly throughout the site. This method helps promote your most important pages.

By linking to your cornerstone article from several blog posts, each with dofollow links, you increase the authority of your cornerstone article. This tactic helps the article rank better in search results.

Nofollow links within internal linking should be used sparingly. They can assist when you link to pages that do not affect SEO, like a login page or terms of service. Use them to deliver a better user experience without fear for your search rankings.

If you overuse them, you interrupt the natural flow of link equity, and you hamper your site’s SEO potential. Balance — that’s the key to your linking strategy. Prioritize dofollow links for your important content and save nofollow links for pages that are less vital.

Relevant External Websites

Nofollow links are best suited for less relevant content. Often you’ll find them in forums or comment sections where users generate content. This approach protects your SEO effort by not allowing you to pass on link equity to possibly untrustworthy sites.

Google frequently treats nofollow links as a suggestion. As a result, these links can still be followed, indexed, and pass along some link equity. It’s fundamental to take the time to analyze external link targets.

Always think about the relevance and reputation of that site before you decide on the type of link to use.

Identifying Nofollow and Dofollow Links

Manual Inspection Techniques

Manually checking link attributes in HTML is straightforward with a few simple steps:

1. Access the Page Source

• Right-click on the webpage and select View Page Source or Inspect to open the HTML code.

2. Search for Links

• Use the search function (Ctrl + F) to locate links in the code. Look for the attribute rel=”nofollow” within anchor tags.
• If the attribute is present, the link is a nofollow link; if not, it’s a dofollow link.

3. Understand the Page Source

• Reviewing the raw HTML code provides insights into how links are structured. For example, nofollow tags are often used on platforms like Quora or Wikipedia to manage link equity and prevent spam.

4. Use Browser Tools for Efficiency

• Tools like Chrome’s Developer Tools allow you to inspect elements quickly and check link attributes without manually searching the code. These tools streamline the process and save time while providing detailed insights into link setups.

By mastering these techniques, you can better analyze link attributes, understand their impact on SEO, and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Using SEO Tools and Extensions

Using SEO tools and extensions will make it much easier to spot nofollow links. Tools like Semrush and Moz have functionality to highlight nofollow links on a page.

These tools overlay on the page and highlight nofollow links. You can easily see which links have the nofollow attribute, without having to inspect the link.

Chrome extensions like “NoFollow” are also super helpful. These extensions automatically highlight the nofollow links, making them easy to analyze as you browse.

Your marketing managers and business owners will find this especially helpful. That makes them able to make quick and informed decisions about their link building strategies.

Using technology in this manner facilitates great link management. Periodic audits with these tools are essential to keeping a healthy link profile.

As a rule of thumb, Google’s Webmaster Guidelines recommend that you nofollow any paid links. This practice helps ensure compliance and protects your site’s reputation.

Conclusion

Now you’ve got a clear understanding of nofollow links and their role in your SEO strategy. While they don’t pass link equity, they play an essential part in maintaining a balanced, spam-free link profile.

From affiliate links to user-generated content and paid ads, you now know how and when to use nofollow links effectively alongside dofollow links.

By strategically incorporating nofollow links, you can protect your site from penalties, improve referral traffic, and support a well-rounded SEO approach.

Want to refine your link-building strategy and make the most of your SEO efforts? Visit our blog for more tips and insights, or contact Infintech Designs today to explore how we can help you elevate your online presence.