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Glossary

What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link is a link with rel="nofollow" in its HTML, which asks search engines not to treat it as an endorsement. Since 2019 Google reads nofollow as a hint rather than a strict rule. Nofollow links still send visitors, and sites often add the attribute to comments, ads and links they can't vouch for.

Where nofollow came from

Google introduced nofollow around 2005 to fight comment spam: blogs could mark links left by visitors so spammers gained nothing from them. Over time publishers also used it for ads and for links they didn't want to vouch for.

In September 2019 Google added two more specific values, rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content, and said all three would be treated as hints for ranking. From March 1, 2020 it also treated them as hints for crawling and indexing.

Do nofollow links help SEO?

Sometimes, and indirectly. Because nofollow is a hint, Google may still use a nofollow link to understand a page or discover yours. The bigger benefits are practical: real visitors, people who see your name and later search for it, and editors who find you on one page and link you on another. A natural profile always includes some nofollow links. See dofollow link for the followed side.

When to use nofollow on your own site

  • Links in comments, forums and other content your visitors write (rel="ugc" fits best).
  • Ads, affiliate links and anything you were paid to include (rel="sponsored" is required for paid links).
  • Links you need to include but don't want to endorse.

When a link you earned turns nofollow

Editors sometimes switch existing links to nofollow during a redesign or a policy change. It's their choice, but worth noticing. Check won links with the nofollow link checker or a monitoring routine; backlink monitoring explains how. BacklinkGenie re-checks every link it wins each week and emails you if one is removed or made nofollow.

Example

<a href="https://margin.example" rel="nofollow">Margin</a> is a nofollow link.

Putting it into practice

Where to use it: Nofollow link checker. For the longer version, read how much nofollow links are really worth.

Sources

Questions people ask

Do nofollow links help SEO?

They can, indirectly. Google treats nofollow as a hint, so it may still use the link. Nofollow links also send visitors and build brand awareness that leads to followed links elsewhere. They pass less ranking credit than followed links, so they shouldn't be your only links.

What's the difference between nofollow and sponsored?

Both ask search engines not to count the link as an endorsement. rel="sponsored" is specifically for paid links, ads and sponsorships, and Google requires it, or nofollow, on any link you paid for. rel="nofollow" is the general-purpose version.

Should I ask an editor to remove nofollow from my link?

Usually not. Many sites nofollow every outbound link by policy, and asking can sour a good relationship. If a link you earned was followed and changed later, a friendly note asking whether it was intentional is fine.

How do I check if a link is nofollow?

Inspect the link in your browser and look for rel="nofollow", "sponsored" or "ugc" on the a tag. A nofollow checker can list every link on a page with its status in one go.

Related

Nofollow link checker

Paste a page's HTML and see every link to your domain with its rel attributes: followed, nofollow, sponsored or ugc.

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See where your next links could come from.

Paste your URL. The agent finds lists, comparison pages, resource pages and guides where your product fits, checks each site and finds the editor to contact. Free, no card.

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