The nofollow link is one of the most misunderstood elements in search engine optimization. For years, the common wisdom has been to treat these links as worthless for SEO, a dead end for authority that should be avoided in favor of their “dofollow” counterparts. This simplistic view, however, overlooks the powerful and nuanced benefits that a nofollow link can provide. The shocking truth is that a strategic approach to acquiring nofollow links can be a cornerstone of a sophisticated and highly effective SEO campaign.
This guide provides a deep dive into the hidden value of the nofollow link. We will explore its technical evolution, how search engines interpret it today, and the five smart SEO benefits that most marketers miss. By understanding the true function of nofollow links, you can move beyond a one-dimensional view of link building and start leveraging every opportunity to build a powerful, authoritative, and resilient online presence.
What is a Nofollow Link? A Technical and Historical Deep Dive
A nofollow link is a hyperlink with a special HTML attribute, rel="nofollow", attached to it. This attribute is a piece of code that provides an instruction to search engine crawlers.
The rel="nofollow" attribute was first introduced by Google in 2005. Its purpose was to combat a specific and growing problem: blog comment spam. In the early 2000s, spammers would use automated bots to post thousands of comments on blogs, all containing a link back to their own website. They did this to manipulate PageRank and artificially boost their rankings. By introducing the nofollow attribute, search engines gave webmasters a tool to strip the SEO value from these links, effectively removing the incentive for this type of spam.
For many years, the instruction was a simple directive: when a search engine crawler encountered a rel="nofollow" attribute, it would not pass any link equity or “link juice” through that link. It was a clear stop sign for authority flow. This is why the industry developed a sharp distinction between a nofollow link and the more valuable dofollow backlinks that pass authority.
The Evolution of Nofollow: Introducing UGC and Sponsored Attributes
For 14 years, the link world was a simple binary: dofollow or nofollow. In September 2019, Google announced a significant evolution of this model. They introduced two new link attributes to provide more granular information about the nature of a link.
rel="ugc": This attribute stands for “User-Generated Content.” It is now the recommended attribute for links that are created by users, such as those found in blog comments and forum posts.rel="sponsored": This attribute is used to identify links that are part of an advertisement, sponsorship, or any other paid placement.
The original rel="nofollow" attribute is still valid, but it is now recommended as a catch-all for any link you want to link to without implicitly endorsing it.
How Search Engines Treat Nofollow Links Today (The “Hint” Model)
The most significant part of the 2019 announcement was a change in how Google processes these attributes. Previously, the nofollow attribute was treated as a strict directive. Google would always obey the instruction and not pass any credit through the link.
Today, all three of these attributes—nofollow, ugc, and sponsored—are treated as hints.
This is a crucial distinction. As a “hint,” Google will still generally ignore these links for ranking purposes. However, the new model gives their algorithms the flexibility to sometimes ignore the attribute and count a link for ranking purposes. Google stated that they might make this decision in some cases “to better understand unnatural linking patterns” and in others to “value some links that they previously would not have.”
While you should still assume that a nofollow link will not pass direct SEO value, this “hint” model acknowledges that these links are not invisible. They are part of the web’s link graph, and search engines are analyzing them.
Benefit 1: Driving High-Quality, Relevant Referral Traffic
The Benefit: This is the most direct and undeniable benefit of a nofollow link. A well-placed link on a high-traffic, highly relevant website can drive a significant stream of engaged visitors to your site, regardless of its follow status.
The Underlying Mechanism: SEO is not just about algorithms; it is about attracting potential customers. Referral traffic consists of visitors who click a link on another website to get to yours. This type of traffic is often highly qualified. The visitor has just read an article on a topic they are interested in, and a trusted source has recommended your site as a valuable next step.
A single nofollow link on a major online publication, a popular industry blog, or a well-read newsletter can be a powerful and sustainable source of traffic. This traffic can lead directly to leads, sales, and brand visibility, providing a clear and measurable return on investment that has nothing to do with link equity.
Strategic Implementation: To acquire traffic-driving nofollow links, your focus should be on placement and audience relevance, not on the technical attributes of the link.
- Identify High-Traffic Platforms: Look for opportunities on platforms that have a large, engaged readership in your niche. This includes:
- Major online magazines and news sites.
- The top-tier blogs in your industry.
- Highly popular and relevant forums or Q&A sites like Quora and Reddit.
- Industry-specific newsletters.
- Focus on the User Journey: When pursuing a link on these platforms, think about the user. A link in the first paragraph of a widely read article will drive far more traffic than a link buried in an author bio.
- Provide Immense Value: To get a link on these high-traffic sites, you must provide immense value. This often means contributing a high-quality guest post, providing an expert quote, or being featured in a product review.
Example Scenario: A company that sells high-end coffee equipment gets their new espresso machine reviewed on a major, respected coffee blog. The review includes several nofollow links to their product page. The review is read by thousands of coffee enthusiasts. Hundreds of these engaged, high-intent readers click through to the company’s website, resulting in a significant number of direct sales. The links were nofollow, but their business value was immense.
Benefit 2: Building Brand Awareness and Trust
The Benefit: A nofollow link from a well-known, authoritative website acts as a powerful form of social proof. It places your brand in front of a new audience and lends you credibility by association.
The Underlying Mechanism: Brand building is a key part of a holistic SEO strategy. When users see your brand mentioned and linked on a website they already know and trust, it builds a positive association in their minds. This can lead to increased branded search volume, higher click-through rates in search results, and greater customer loyalty over time.
Think of a nofollow link from a major publication as a form of digital PR. The goal is not just the click; it is the impression. Being featured on a site like Forbes, The New York Times, or even a top industry blog, even with a nofollow link, tells the world that you are a serious and credible player in your field. While the direct link might be nofollow, the authority it builds is very real. This is why even a nofollow mention from a site known for its high authority backlinks is so valuable.
Strategic Implementation:
- Target Aspirational Placements: Make a list of the “dream” publications where your target audience spends their time.
- Engage in Digital PR: Create newsworthy content, such as original research or expert commentary on industry trends. Pitch these stories to journalists and editors at your target publications.
- Leverage Expert Commentary: Use services like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to provide quotes to journalists. The resulting links are often nofollow, but the brand placement is invaluable.
Benefit 3: The ‘Secondary Link’ Effect (Link Earning)
The Benefit: This is the most powerful indirect SEO benefit of a nofollow link. A well-placed nofollow link can lead directly to the acquisition of natural, high-quality, dofollow links.
The Underlying Mechanism: Content creators get their ideas from a wide variety of sources. Bloggers, journalists, and researchers regularly read the top publications in their field and use them for research. When you get a nofollow link on a major, high-visibility platform, you are placing your content in the direct path of these content creators.
Here is how the effect works:
- You get a nofollow link on a major news site.
- A dozen smaller bloggers who are researching an article see your site cited on that news site.
- They visit your page, find your content valuable, and then cite you as a source in their own upcoming articles.
- These links from the smaller blogs are often dofollow links.
In this way, a single, high-exposure nofollow link can be the catalyst that generates numerous, organic dofollow links.
Strategic Implementation: This benefit is a natural outcome of acquiring high-quality nofollow links as described in the first two points. To maximize this effect:
- Create “Source-Worthy” Content: The page that your nofollow link points to must be an exceptional resource. It should contain unique data, valuable insights, or a comprehensive overview that other creators will want to cite.
- Target High-Visibility Platforms: Focus your efforts on getting nofollow links from the places that other content creators use for research.
Benefit 4: Creating a Natural and Diverse Backlink Profile
The Benefit: A healthy, natural-looking backlink profile consists of a diverse mix of different types of links. Nofollow links are a crucial component of this natural diversity.
The Underlying Mechanism: A website that only acquires links through natural, organic means will inevitably attract a wide variety of link types. It will get dofollow links from bloggers, nofollow links from news sites, UGC links from forum discussions, and sponsored links from advertising.
A backlink profile that consists of 100% dofollow links, especially with a high percentage of keyword-rich anchor text, looks highly unnatural and manipulative to a search engine. It is a major red flag that suggests the site is actively engaging in link schemes.
Having a healthy percentage of nofollow links in your profile makes it look more authentic and trustworthy. It signals that you are earning mentions and links from a wide range of sources across the web, not just from the ones that pass PageRank. A regular backlink audit should focus on the overall health of your backlink profile, not just on counting your dofollow links.
Strategic Implementation: You do not need to “build” nofollow links for the sake of diversity. If you are engaging in a holistic marketing strategy, you will acquire them naturally.
- Be Active on Social Media: All links from social media platforms are nofollow.
- Engage in Your Community: Participate in relevant forums and online discussions.
- Issue Press Releases: Links in most press releases are nofollow.
Benefit 5: Generating Leads and Sales
The Benefit: The ultimate goal of SEO for most businesses is to generate leads and sales. A strategically placed nofollow link can be a powerful tool for direct response marketing.
The Underlying Mechanism: The value of a lead is determined by its quality. Referral traffic from a highly relevant, trusted source is often much more likely to convert than traffic from a generic, non-targeted search query. A visitor who clicks a link in an article that directly addresses their pain point arrives on your site with a high level of intent and trust.
For example, a nofollow link in a product review, a gift guide, a “best of” list, or from an influencer’s social media post can be a direct driver of revenue. In these cases, the “follow” status of the link is completely irrelevant. The only metric that matters is its ability to drive conversions.
Strategic Implementation:
- Identify High-Intent Platforms: Find the websites, blogs, and influencers that your target customers trust when they are making purchasing decisions.
- Pursue Product Reviews and Features: Get your product or service in front of the editors and creators of these platforms.
- Track Conversions: Use URL tracking parameters and analytics software to measure the direct leads and sales generated from these nofollow links. This allows you to prove their ROI.
Conclusion
The nofollow link is far from worthless. While it may not directly pass authority in the same way as a dofollow link, its value for a sophisticated SEO and marketing strategy is immense. The smartest marketers understand that a link has many purposes.
A nofollow link can drive highly qualified referral traffic, build invaluable brand awareness, generate organic dofollow links, create a natural backlink profile, and drive direct sales. By moving beyond a simplistic “dofollow good, nofollow bad” mindset, you can unlock the true potential of these powerful assets and build a more resilient and effective online presence.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: How can I tell if a link is nofollow?
You can right-click on the link in your browser and choose “Inspect.” This will open the developer tools and show you the HTML code. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="ugc", or rel="sponsored" inside the <a> tag, it is a nofollow link. SEO toolbars also typically highlight nofollow links on a page.
Q2: Should I ask for a dofollow link instead of a nofollow one?
If you are contributing a high-quality guest post to a site that typically gives dofollow links, it is a reasonable expectation. However, you should never try to demand a dofollow link from a major publication or in a situation where a nofollow link is the standard policy. It can make you seem unprofessional.
Q3: Do nofollow links from Wikipedia have any value?
Yes, they have immense value. While they are nofollow, a link from Wikipedia provides a massive signal of trust and can drive significant, high-quality referral traffic. It is also a powerful way to generate secondary dofollow links from other creators who use Wikipedia for research.
Q4: Are links from social media nofollow?
Yes, virtually all links from social media platforms like Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are nofollow. Their value comes from traffic, brand exposure, and engagement, not from link equity.
Q5: Should I use the nofollow attribute on my own website’s outbound links?
You should use it strategically. It is a best practice to use rel="sponsored" for any paid or affiliate links and rel="ugc" for links in user-generated content like blog comments. For standard editorial links to sources you trust, a dofollow link is appropriate.