What Is a Nofollow Link, Exactly?
A nofollow link is a hyperlink with the HTML attribute rel="nofollow" added to it. Introduced in 2005, it was originally a way for a site owner to link to something — in a blog comment, a forum post, a paid placement — without it counting as a genuine editorial endorsement in search engines' eyes.
The mechanism it was designed to solve was comment spam. Before nofollow existed, spammers flooded blog comment sections with links purely to harvest ranking value from the sites hosting the comments. Nofollow gave site owners a way to host those links without passing any of that value along — which, in theory, removed the incentive to spam in the first place.
For its first fourteen years, nofollow worked exactly as advertised: a hard, absolute rule. When Google's crawler encountered a nofollow link, it excluded that link from ranking calculations entirely — full stop, no exceptions, regardless of how authoritative the linking page was.
A nofollow link is any hyperlink carrying the rel="nofollow" attribute, signalling to search engines that the linking site isn't vouching for the destination as an editorial endorsement. A dofollow link is simply the default — any link with no such attribute at all. "Dofollow" isn't a real HTML attribute; it's just SEO shorthand for "a normal link."
Directive to Hint — How the Rules Changed
The most common question we hear is some version of: "Wait, I thought nofollow links were useless?" That was true — until Google changed the rules, and a large share of SEO advice online simply never caught up.
On 10 September 2019, Google announced a fundamental shift: rel="nofollow" would move from a strict directive to a hint. At the same time, two new attributes arrived — rel="sponsored" for paid or compensated links, and rel="ugc" for links inside user-generated content like comments and forum posts. All three would be treated the same way: as signals Google could choose to act on, not commands it was obligated to follow.
On 1 March 2020, that hint-based treatment extended further, to crawling and indexing as well as ranking. In practical terms: Google reserves the right to crawl a nofollow link, consider it for discovering new pages, and — in contexts where doing so improves result quality — factor it into ranking, even though it usually still won't pass full link equity the way a standard link does.
September 2019: nofollow becomes a ranking hint, and sponsored/ugc attributes are introduced. March 2020: hint-based treatment extends to crawling and indexing. This two-part rollout is the entire reason nofollow-related advice from before 2019 is now unreliable.
What hasn't changed is that a nofollow link still usually doesn't pass ranking-relevant link equity the way an unmarked link does. What's changed is the certainty. Under the old model, "nofollow" meant "definitely ignored." Under the current model, it means "Google decides, based on context" — and a nofollow link from a source Google trusts is treated very differently from a nofollow link buried in a spam directory.
Nofollow vs Dofollow — What Actually Differs
With the historical context in place, here's a direct comparison of what each link type does today.
| Dimension | Dofollow (Default) | Nofollow |
|---|---|---|
| Link equity passed | Yes, in full, as a standard endorsement | Usually not — but Google may still weigh context |
| Crawling behaviour | Fully crawled and followed | May be crawled, at Google's discretion, since March 2020 |
| Ranking consideration | Standard ranking signal | Hint — may be factored in when it improves result quality |
| Typical use case | Genuine editorial citation or reference | Comments, forums, paid links, untrusted or user-submitted content |
| Indirect value | Referral traffic, authority signal, plus link equity | Referral traffic, brand exposure, E-E-A-T signal — without the equity |
| Risk if it's the only link type you have | An all-dofollow profile can look manufactured or manipulative | An all-nofollow profile suggests you have no genuine editorial citations |
| What should your profile look like? | A natural mix of both — real sites earn nofollow links from social, forums, and press alongside dofollow links from editorial citations. | |
"Your end goal shouldn't be earning follow or nofollow links specifically. It should be earning links that real people put there because your content was worth linking to."
— Codos Technology Link Building Framework, 2026The Real Value of Nofollow Links
Even setting aside the hint-based ranking question entirely, nofollow links do things that have nothing to do with PageRank — and these benefits are often underrated by SEOs who were trained to dismiss nofollow outright.
Referral traffic — a nofollow link in a news article or on a high-traffic forum still sends real visitors. Brand exposure — every mention, linked or not, builds recognition. A natural link profile — genuine sites accumulate a mix of link types; an unnaturally clean, all-dofollow profile is itself a red flag. Discovery — since March 2020, nofollow links can help Google find new pages faster. E-E-A-T signal — a nofollow mention from Wikipedia or a major publication still communicates trust and relevance, to both search engines and to the humans who see it.
This is also increasingly relevant beyond Google Search specifically. AI-powered search and answer engines evaluate brand mentions and citations across the web when determining what to reference in their own responses — and those systems generally don't distinguish between a followed and a nofollowed link the way old-school SEO advice assumes they should. A mention is a mention; context and source authority matter more than the HTML attribute attached to it.
The practical takeaway: never turn down a genuine, contextually relevant nofollow link. Whether or not it moves a specific keyword's ranking, it's doing several other jobs at once — and it costs you nothing to accept it.
Nofollow, Sponsored, and UGC — Using Each Correctly
Since 2019, there are three distinct rel attributes for qualifying a link, and Google's link scheme guidelines expect you to use the right one — not just default to nofollow for everything.
Applying plain rel="nofollow" to paid placements instead of rel="sponsored" is a frequent compliance gap. All three attributes get hint-based treatment either way, but Google's guidelines specifically call for sponsored on paid links — and undisclosed paid links are a link scheme violation regardless of which attribute, if any, is used.
How to Start — 6 Steps to a Healthy Link Profile
Building link-profile awareness into your SEO process doesn't require an overhaul — just a few deliberate habits.
Audit Your Existing Link Profile
Before changing anything, understand what you currently have.
- Pull your backlink profile through Search Console or a backlink tool
- Check the ratio of dofollow to nofollow links pointing to your site
- Look for an unnaturally clean, all-dofollow profile — a common sign of manufactured link building
This baseline shows whether your existing profile looks organic or engineered.
Apply the Correct Attribute on Outbound Links
Review your own site's outbound links and make sure each uses the right rel attribute.
- Paid placements and affiliate links →
rel="sponsored" - Comments, forum posts, guest-submitted content →
rel="ugc" - Genuine editorial citations you stand behind → no attribute at all
Getting this right is a compliance matter, not just an SEO nicety.
Never Turn Down a Genuine Nofollow Link
If a reputable source offers coverage, a mention, or a link — and it happens to be nofollow — accept it.
- Referral traffic and brand exposure don't care about the rel attribute
- A nofollow mention from a high-authority source is still a meaningful trust signal
Declining a legitimate nofollow opportunity to "protect" your link profile is a net loss, not a strategy.
Pursue a Natural Mix, Not a Manufactured One
Genuine link acquisition — PR, guest content, community participation, press coverage — naturally produces both link types.
- Press and news coverage often includes nofollow links, and still carries real weight
- Community and forum engagement earns ugc-tagged links, which still drive traffic and discovery
Chasing dofollow exclusively distorts your profile in a way that's often visible to anyone auditing it — including Google.
Don't Disavow Legitimate Nofollow Links
The disavow tool is for spammy or manipulative links — not for ordinary nofollow links from real sources.
- A nofollow link from social media, a forum, or a news article is not harmful and needs no action
- Reserve disavow for genuinely toxic, spammy, or manipulative link patterns
Over-disavowing legitimate links can remove signals that were quietly helping you.
Track the Indirect Value, Not Just Ranking
Since nofollow's value is largely indirect, measure it accordingly.
- Track referral traffic from nofollow sources in your analytics platform
- Watch branded search volume — a common downstream sign that mentions are working
Ranking position alone will understate what a strong nofollow mention is actually doing for you.
Not sure if your current link profile looks natural or manufactured?
We'll review your dofollow-to-nofollow ratio, flag attribute misuse, and show you what a healthy, natural-looking profile should look like for your site specifically.
💬 WhatsApp Us for a Free Link Audit →Link Attribute Priorities — Ranked
Not every link decision carries equal weight. Here's the priority order for managing link attributes and profile health.
Tier 1 — Critical (Get These Right)
Tier 2 — Worth Doing (Reinforces Tier 1)
Tier 3 — Foundation (Good Practice)
How to Measure Link Profile Health
Because much of nofollow's value is indirect, measuring it well means looking past a simple ranking check.
Ways to Track Link Profile Health
Dofollow-to-nofollow ratio over time. Track this quarterly through a backlink tool or Search Console. A ratio that's either suspiciously all-dofollow or shifting sharply in a short period is worth investigating.
Referral traffic by source in analytics. Segment referral traffic by domain, including nofollow sources. A nofollow link that consistently sends visitors is delivering real value, independent of its ranking treatment.
Branded search volume. Rising branded search, tracked in Search Console, is a reasonable downstream signal that mentions across the web — nofollow included — are building recognition.
Attribute accuracy on your own outbound links. Periodically spot-check that paid links use sponsored, comment links use ugc, and genuine citations are left unmarked. This is a compliance check as much as an SEO one.
A healthy link profile typically includes a meaningful share of nofollow links alongside dofollow ones — the exact ratio varies by industry and site age, but a profile that's overwhelmingly one type in either direction is a signal worth investigating rather than a target to protect.