Nofollow Link
A nofollow link is a hyperlink carrying the rel="nofollow attribute, which tells search engines not to pass ranking credit to the destination. Google introduced it in January 2005, alongside Yahoo and MSN, to stop comment spammers from gaining rankings by posting links. The link still works normally for anyone who clicks it.
A nofollow link example:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">example site</a>
The page-level version applies to every link on the page:
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">
Nofollow vs Dofollow
“Dofollow” is not a real attribute. There is no rel="dofollow in the HTML spec. A dofollow link is an ordinary link with nothing blocking it, and the term is SEO shorthand for that default state.
The practical difference:
| Nofollow link | Dofollow link | |
|---|---|---|
| Markup | rel="nofollow |
no rel attribute needed |
| Passes link equity | Generally no | Yes |
| Sends referral traffic | Yes | Yes |
Since 10 September 2019, Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a directive for ranking, and since 1 March 2020 for crawling and indexing. Google may follow the link anyway, so nofollow signals intent rather than guaranteeing an outcome.
When to Use Nofollow
Use it on links you cannot vouch for or were paid to place. Google’s link spam policies require paid links to be qualified, and leaving them unqualified is a policy violation.
Google added two more specific values in September 2019. Use the narrowest one that fits:
rel="sponsored: paid placements, affiliate links, and sponsorships.rel="ugc: user-generated content such as blog comments and forum posts.rel="nofollow: everything else you do not want to endorse, including untrusted sources and links added under duress.
Values combine when more than one applies: rel="sponsored nofollow. Do not nofollow internal links to steer credit around your own site. Matt Cutts confirmed in 2009 that discarded credit is not redistributed to the remaining links.
What Nofollow Does Not Do
- It does not block indexing. Google can still find and index the destination through other links. Use
noindexon the target page instead. - It does not stop referral traffic. Clicks arrive normally and show up in your analytics.
- It is not visible to readers. Only the page source shows it, so check with your browser’s inspect tool or a crawler like Screaming Frog.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a nofollow link?
A nofollow link is a link with rel="nofollow in its HTML, signalling to search engines that the linking site does not want to pass ranking credit to the destination. It was created in 2005 to devalue spam links in blog comments. Readers cannot tell the difference when they click it.
What is the difference between nofollow and dofollow?
A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow and generally passes no ranking credit. A dofollow link is any ordinary link without it, and it passes credit by default. Dofollow is not real markup, just a name for the absence of nofollow.
Do nofollow links help SEO?
Indirectly. They rarely pass ranking credit, but they drive referral traffic, build brand awareness, and keep a backlink profile looking natural. Google now treats the attribute as a hint, so some may carry weight anyway.
When should you use rel=”nofollow”?
Use it for paid, affiliate, and sponsored links, for user-submitted content, and for any destination you do not want to endorse. Prefer rel="sponsored for paid links and rel="ugc for comments, since both describe the relationship precisely.
Nofollow links still send real visitors, so tag the ones you place yourself with the free UTM builder to see exactly what they deliver.