← Back to Index

Nofollow Link

FigureVisualization of Link Juice flow. A normal link passes authority; a Nofollow link blocks it.

What is a Nofollow Link?

Originally created to fight comment spam, the nofollow attribute tells Google that you do not endorse the target link. When you add rel="nofollow" to a hyperlink, you are instructing search engines not to pass ranking authority (often called "link juice") through that link.

The nofollow attribute was introduced by Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo in 2005 as a response to rampant blog comment spam. Before nofollow existed, spammers would flood blog comments and forums with links to their websites, manipulating search rankings.

Code Example:

html
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Click here</a>

A standard link without nofollow is sometimes called a "dofollow" link, though there is no actual rel="dofollow" attribute — links pass authority by default.

When to Use Nofollow

1. Untrusted Content

Comments, forums, and user profiles where anyone can post links require nofollow protection. Without it, spammers will target your site to get backlinks. Major platforms like WordPress automatically apply nofollow to comment links for this reason.

User-generated content that you cannot fully vet should always use nofollow. This includes:

  • Blog comments
  • Forum posts
  • Wiki edits
  • User profile links
  • Guest book entries

2. Paid Links and Advertisements

Google's guidelines strictly forbid selling "dofollow" links to manipulate rankings. If someone pays you for a link (banner ad, sponsored post, affiliate link), you must mark it as nofollow or sponsored to avoid a penalty.

Failing to nofollow paid links can result in:

  • Manual actions against your site
  • Loss of ranking positions
  • Removal from search results entirely

3. Crawl Budget Management

Sometimes nofollow is used internally to stop Google from following links to low-value pages like "Sign In," "Filter Results," or "Add to Cart." However, robots.txt or noindex is often a better tool for this purpose.

Note that using nofollow for internal links is controversial. Google has stated they may still crawl nofollowed internal links, just without passing PageRank.

4. Links You Cannot Vouch For

Any link where you cannot verify the quality or trustworthiness of the destination should be nofollowed. This includes links to unknown third-party resources or websites you have not personally reviewed.

Evolution: Sponsored and UGC Attributes

In 2019, Google introduced more granular link attributes to provide clearer signals about link relationships:

  • rel="sponsored": Specifically for paid placements, advertisements, and affiliate links. This is the preferred attribute for any link where compensation is involved.
  • rel="ugc": For User Generated Content such as comments and forum posts. This tells Google the link was created by a user, not the site owner.
  • rel="nofollow": Remains as the catch-all attribute when you do not want to pass link authority.

You can combine these attributes: rel="nofollow ugc" or rel="nofollow sponsored".

How Google Treats Nofollow Today

Originally, nofollow was a directive — Google always obeyed it. Since 2019, Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a command. This means:

  • Google may still crawl nofollowed links
  • Google may still use nofollowed links for discovery
  • Google chooses whether to count the link for ranking purposes

This change does not mean you should stop using nofollow. The attribute still strongly signals that you do not endorse the link, and Google typically respects that signal.

The SEO Value of Nofollow Links

While nofollow links do not pass PageRank directly, they are not worthless for SEO:

  • They drive referral traffic (humans click them regardless of nofollow)
  • They contribute to a natural-looking backlink profile
  • They can lead to brand awareness and future dofollow links
  • They help Google discover new URLs

A healthy backlink profile includes a mix of dofollow and nofollow links. Having 100% dofollow links can actually appear unnatural and suspicious.

Common Nofollow Mistakes

Over-Using Nofollow Internally

Some site owners nofollow internal links to "sculpt" PageRank flow. This technique does not work as intended and wastes link equity. Google has confirmed that PageRank lost to nofollowed links simply evaporates rather than being redistributed.

Forgetting Nofollow on Ads

Display advertisements, affiliate links, and sponsored content must be nofollowed. Many sites have received manual actions for having dofollow affiliate links, particularly Amazon affiliate links.

Assuming Nofollow Means Not Indexed

Adding nofollow to a link does not prevent the linked page from being indexed. If you want to prevent indexing, use noindex meta tags or robots.txt on the destination page.

Checking Link Attributes

To inspect whether a link is nofollow:

  1. Right-click the link and select "Inspect"
  2. Look for the rel attribute in the anchor tag
  3. Check for "nofollow," "sponsored," or "ugc"

SEO tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush can show you the dofollow vs nofollow ratio of your backlink profile, helping you understand your link quality.