Have you ever wondered why certain links appear to have more authority than others? In the vast, interconnected world of the internet, links are the digital arteries that join one website to another. They are not just navigational tools; they are the fundamental signals that search engines like Google use to understand the web’s structure and determine a website’s authority and credibility. But the “secret sauce” of a website’s authority isn’t just having lots of links, it’s about having the right types of links.
Although do-follow and no-follow appear to be the same when you look at them, their effect on your site’s search engine optimization is very different. It’s not some advanced skill for SEOs to know about these two types of links; it is now a basic thing to understand for anyone who would like to get more visibility and organic traffic for the website. In this ultimate guide, we’ll demystify do-follow and no-follow links and discuss the purpose they each serve within your SEO strategy, and show you exactly when and why to use them.
What is a Do-Follow Link?
A do-follow link is the standard type of link. It’s the gold standard of SEO. When another website links to yours with a do-follow link, it transfers a signal of trust and authority to your site. This is what often in the SEO world is called “link equity,” “link juice,” or “link authority.” This type of link equity is an important ranking factor, as it signals to search engines that your content is useful and worthy of a higher position in search results.
In a technical sense, a do-follow link is nothing more than a normal HTML link with no extras. It looks like this:
<a href=”https://www.yourwebsitedomain.com”>Anchor Text</a>
If the search engine’s crawler finds this link and follows it to the other website, it transfers some of the authority of the original website. This is the main method to establish authority and increase search rankings over time for a website.
Why It Matters for SEO
A do-follow link is priceless. From an SEO perspective, if a quality, high-authority website gives you a do-follow link, it is like getting a glowing endorsement from an industry expert. It’s a vote of confidence that has a direct influence on the ranking potential of your site.
Do-follows are usually placed in natural, editorial content, where one website is actually citing another. For instance, a do-follow link would be applied in case of:
- Your blog post is referenced in a news article by a journalist.
- A popular industry blogger links to your guide as a valuable resource for their audience.
- You’ve been listed on another website as one of the best resources online.
- You get an authentic endorsement from a business or business partner on their site.
In each of these cases, the link serves as a natural signal of trust, and that trust is what search engines are looking for to determine relevance and authority.
What is a No-Follow Link?
A no-follow link does the opposite by not handing over any link equity. It still acts as a clickable link for the users, however, it’s telling search engine spiders not to follow the link or pass any ranking value to the linked location.
<a href=”https://www.yourwebsitedomain.com” rel=”nofollow”>Anchor Text</a>
When to Use a No-Follow Link
The use cases for no-follow have grown considerably over time. In order to adhere to search engine guidelines and preserve the integrity of your site’s link profile, you should use a no-follow link in the following circumstances:
- Paid or Sponsored Links: For paid links, such as those from ads or sponsorships, always ensure the nofollow attribute is applied. Google’s guidelines require this to prevent link schemes. The more specific rel=”sponsored” attribute is now preferred for this purpose.
- User-Generated Content (UGC): If your platform has user-generated content (ex: comments, forums, etc.), you should automatically set all of these links to no-follow. This prevents spammers from taking advantage of your website and shields you from accidentally linking to malicious or unsafe websites. This is the specific use of the rel=”ugc” attribute.
- Affiliate Links: If you are linking to products or services as an affiliate and stand to earn a commission, these links should be no-follow (or rel=”sponsored”) to avoid being flagged as a paid link.
- Links to Untrusted or Irrelevant Sites: A no-follow link is a useful option for citing content without passing authority to it, especially when the source isn’t fully trustworthy or doesn’t align with your website’s niche.
The Value of No-Follow Links: Is There Any?
Believing that no-follow links have no value is one of the biggest myths in SEO. They are by no means worthless, even though they might not pass link equity for ranking purposes. A natural and well-balanced backlink profile includes a mix of both do-follow and no-follow links.
No-follow links provide two critical benefits:
- Referral Traffic: A link can still bring referral traffic to your site, no matter what rel attribute it carries. Even if it is a no-follow, a mention on a well-known news website or a major social media platform can attract thousands of new users who genuinely have an interest in your content.
- Brand Exposure and Credibility: While no-follow links won’t have a direct SEO benefit, being listed on a major site like an established blog or featured on a popular podcast will improve your brand’s visibility and reputation.
For instance, a no-follow link from a popular news website is very good. It may not pass “link juice,” but the brand value, authority, and referral-traffic potential are huge. Likewise, a no-follow link in a social media profile on Twitter or Instagram could be a major source of new followers and website visitors.
When to Use Do-Follow vs. No-Follow Links
The decision of which link type to use is a strategic one that depends entirely on the context.
- Guest Posts and Editorial Mentions: When you write a guest post for another blog, the link back to your site should typically be do-follow. This is considered an organic, editorial link. Similarly, if a blogger or journalist uses your website as a source, that link should also be do-follow.
- Sponsored or Affiliate Links: As mentioned earlier, any link that you have been paid to include, or that generates a commission for you, must be no-follow or rel=”sponsored”. This is a strict rule to ensure transparency and comply with Google’s guidelines.
- Blog Comments and User-Generated Content: For blogs or forums, the recommended approach is to apply rel=”ugc” to all links created by users. This will prevent spam from affecting your site and you won’t mistakenly give authority to a low-quality or irrelevant site.
- Internal Linking Strategy: Whenever you link to other pages on your own website, make sure the links are do-follow. Internal linking is a fantastic way to pass authority between your pages and boost a site’s link structure. When linking to your own site’s pages, adding a no-follow attribute isn’t necessary.
Common Misconceptions About Do-Follow and No-Follow Links
Myth #1: “No-follow links are useless.” This is the biggest SEO myth. As we’ve mentioned above, a no-follow link can send referral traffic, help brand visibility and build a natural backlink profile. A link has value, not just in terms of “link juice”, but in potential traffic and brand building.
Myth #2: “More do-follow links always mean better rankings.” While do-follow links are a critical ranking factor, the quantity of links is far less important than their quality and relevance. A single do-follow link from a top tier website that is a good fit or relevant to your site is worth more than 100 do-follow links from a spammy, low quality site. Creating too many backlinks from low-quality sites can harm both your website’s ranking and its reputation.
The objective is to create a varied, excellent, and organic link profile rather than to get as many links as you can. This entails recognising the substantial value that no-follow links contribute in terms of traffic and brand exposure while simultaneously actively pursuing do-follow links from reputable websites.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that a comprehensive approach is the most effective when developing your link strategy. Never undervalue the importance of a valuable no-follow mention, but instead concentrate on producing outstanding, link-worthy content that organically draws do-follow links. What new link-building tactic are you going to try today to diversify your backlink profile now that you have a better understanding of this?