Nofollow and dofollow are two terms commonly used in SEO to describe how search engines may treat links. A dofollow link is the informal SEO term for a normal link without a qualifying rel attribute, while a nofollow link uses rel="nofollow" to tell search engines not to associate the linking site with the destination in the normal way.
The important distinction is that “dofollow” is not an actual HTML attribute. A normal crawlable link does not need rel="dofollow".
Nofollow is also not the same as “a useless link.” Nofollow links can still send referral traffic, expose a brand to new audiences, and provide useful context around a website's online presence. Google also treats nofollow, ugc, and sponsored as link-qualification signals rather than a simple system where every qualified link is guaranteed to be ignored forever.
Key Takeaways
- Dofollow is an SEO term for a normal link that does not contain a qualifying rel attribute.
- There is no standard HTML attribute called rel="dofollow".
- Nofollow is implemented with rel="nofollow".
- Nofollow does not mean a link has zero value.
- Google recommends rel="sponsored" for paid or advertising links.
- Google recommends rel="ugc" for links placed in user-generated content such as comments and forums.
- Google says regular editorial links generally do not need a rel qualification.
- Nofollow should not be used automatically on every external link.
- Internal links generally should not be nofollowed simply to control SEO value.
- There is no universal “ideal” ratio of nofollow to dofollow backlinks.
- Link relevance, context, quality, and natural acquisition matter more than chasing a particular link attribute.
What Is a Dofollow Link?
A dofollow link is the informal SEO name for a normal hyperlink that does not contain a nofollow, sponsored, or ugc qualification.
For example:
<a href="https://example.com/seo-guide">
SEO guide
</a>
There is no rel="dofollow" here.
This is simply a standard HTML link. SEO professionals commonly call it a dofollow or followed link because it is not explicitly qualified with one of the rel values used to signal a special relationship.
Google's documentation explains that regular links that you expect Google to crawl and process without qualification do not need a rel attribute.
Why Do Dofollow Links Matter?
Links can help search engines:
- Discover pages
- Understand relationships between pages
- Understand the context of linked content
- Evaluate relevance
- Transfer certain link-related signals
- Navigate a website and its content structure
Google states that it uses links as a signal when determining page relevance and for discovering new pages to crawl.
However, a dofollow link should not be interpreted as a guaranteed ranking boost.
The effect of a link depends on factors such as:
- Relevance of the linking page
- Relevance of the destination
- Context surrounding the link
- Quality of the source
- Naturalness of the link
- The broader backlink profile
- How Google's ranking systems evaluate the pages and links involved
Therefore, one highly relevant editorial link can be more meaningful than dozens of unrelated links.
What Is a Nofollow Link?
Example
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="nofollow">
Example website
</a>
A nofollow link uses the rel="nofollow" attribute.
Example:
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="nofollow">
Example website
</a>
The nofollow value tells Google that you do not want the linked page to be associated with your site, or that you would prefer Google not to crawl the linked page from your site.
Google currently recommends using nofollow when other link-qualification values do not apply and you would rather Google not associate your site with the linked page or crawl it from your site.
Why Was Nofollow Created?
Nofollow became important because websites needed a way to qualify links that they did not necessarily want to endorse or pass normal ranking credit to.
Common historical use cases include:
- Blog comments
- Forum posts
- Untrusted external links
- User-generated links
- Paid links
- Advertising relationships
Over time, Google introduced more specific link attributes, particularly sponsored and ugc, so website owners can communicate the relationship behind a link more precisely.
Dofollow vs Nofollow: What's the Difference?
| Factor |
Dofollow / Standard Link |
Nofollow Link |
| HTML attribute |
No special rel required |
rel="nofollow" |
| Is “dofollow” an HTML attribute? |
No |
No |
| Normal editorial link |
Yes |
Usually unnecessary |
| Can provide referral traffic? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Can help discovery? |
Yes |
The destination may still be discovered through other sources |
| Link qualification |
None |
Explicitly qualified |
| Common use |
Editorial/internal links |
Untrusted or specially qualified links |
| Paid relationship |
Use sponsored |
nofollow is still acceptable |
| User-generated link |
Use ugc where appropriate |
nofollow can also be used |
| SEO value |
Can contribute link-related signals |
Should not be treated as equivalent to a normal link |
| Recommended as a blanket setting? |
No |
No |
The biggest misconception is that the difference is simply:
Dofollow = good
Nofollow = bad
That is not an accurate SEO model.
A better model is:
Link relationship + relevance + context + quality + purpose = how useful the link may be.
Is “Dofollow” an Actual HTML Attribute?
No.
This is one of the most common misconceptions in beginner SEO.
There is no standard:
rel="dofollow"
attribute that you need to add to a normal link.
A normal link can simply be:
<a href="https://example.com">
Example
</a>
The absence of a qualifying rel value is what makes it a regular link.
Google's documentation specifically shows that regular links do not need a rel attribute when no special qualification is required.
So if someone tells you:
“Add rel=dofollow to make Google follow the backlink.”
that's technically incorrect.
How Does Google Treat Nofollow Links?
This is where older SEO explanations can become misleading.
Google has changed how it handles qualified links over time. Today, nofollow, ugc, and sponsored are treated as signals that help Google understand the relationship between the linking page and the destination.
Google also explains that pages linked with these attributes can still potentially be discovered through other methods, such as sitemaps or links from other websites.
That means:
Nofollow does not mean “the destination can never be discovered.”
For example, imagine:
Website A
|
| rel="nofollow"
↓
Website B
Google may discover Website B through:
- Another website
- An XML sitemap
- Internal links
- Other crawl paths
- Other known URLs
Therefore, you should not use nofollow as a replacement for indexing controls.
If you want to prevent indexing, Google recommends using the appropriate noindex mechanism. If you want to control crawling access, different mechanisms such as robots.txt may be relevant depending on the situation.
What Is Link Equity?
Link equity is an SEO term used to describe the value or signals that can be associated with a hyperlink from one page to another.
You may also hear related terms such as:
- Link authority
- Link value
- Link juice
- PageRank
- Ranking signals
These terms are related but should not be treated as interchangeable metrics.
For example, a highly relevant editorial backlink from a respected website can provide useful signals and referral traffic, while a random link from an unrelated low-quality page may provide little practical value.
What Can Influence the Value of a Link?
Consider:
- Topical relevance
Does the linking page actually discuss a related subject?
- Context
Why is the link present?
- Source quality
Is the linking page useful and trustworthy?
- Destination relevance
Does the linked page genuinely satisfy the user's next information need?
- Anchor text
Does the link text accurately describe the destination?
- Placement
Is the link naturally integrated into useful content?
- Overall link profile
Does the backlink pattern appear natural rather than manipulated?
This is why SEO should not be reduced to a simple “collect as many dofollow links as possible” strategy.
Nofollow is not the only link qualification available.
Google currently recommends more specific attributes when the relationship is known.
Use:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">
Example
</a>
for advertising, paid placements, and other sponsored relationships.
Google says sponsored is preferred for paid links, although nofollow remains an acceptable way to qualify them.
Sponsored link example
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="sponsored">
Example company
</a>
Examples include:
- Sponsored articles
- Paid placements
- Advertisements
- Commercial sponsorships
rel="ugc"
Use:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc">
Example
</a>
for links created within user-generated content.
Examples include:
- Forum posts
- Blog comments
- Community discussions
- User-submitted content
Google recommends ugc for links in user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.
UGC link example
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="ugc">
Example resource
</a>
Quick Comparison
| Link type |
Recommended qualification |
| Normal editorial link |
No rel required |
| Paid/sponsored link |
rel="sponsored" |
| User-generated link |
rel="ugc" |
| Untrusted or otherwise specially qualified link |
rel="nofollow" |
| Multiple applicable relationships |
Multiple values can be combined |
For example:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc nofollow">
Example
</a>
Google supports multiple rel values when appropriate.
When Should You Use Nofollow Links?
Use nofollow when the relationship calls for it and you do not want the normal association between your site and the linked page.
Common situations include:
1. You do not trust the destination
If you're linking to a site that you cannot confidently endorse, nofollow may be appropriate.
2. The link does not fit a more specific qualification
If the link isn't a paid placement or UGC link but you still want to qualify it, nofollow may be suitable.
3. Certain user-generated links
Depending on your implementation, user-generated links may use:
rel="ugc"
or:
rel="ugc nofollow"
4. Paid links
For paid relationships, sponsored is Google's preferred qualification, although nofollow is still acceptable.
When Should You Use a Normal Dofollow/Standard Link?
A normal link is appropriate when you're linking naturally to a resource you are comfortable referencing.
For example, suppose you're writing an SEO article and want to reference Google's documentation.
You could use a standard link because you are citing a resource that is relevant to the subject.
Google explicitly says you do not need to use nofollow on every external link. It recommends using nofollow when you do not trust the source rather than applying it universally.
This is an important distinction:
External link ≠ automatically nofollow
and:
External link ≠ automatically dofollow for SEO purposes
The relationship and purpose of the link should determine how it is implemented.
Should Internal Links Be Nofollow?
Generally, normal internal links should remain standard crawlable links.
Internal link example
<a href="/blog/seo/what-are-backlinks-guide/">
What backlinks are
</a>
For example:
<a href="/blog/seo/what-are-backlinks-guide/">
what backlinks are
</a>
There is normally no reason to add:
rel="nofollow"
simply because the link is internal.
Internal links help users and search engines understand the relationship between pages.
Google recommends using crawlable links and descriptive anchor text, and specifically says internal links can help users and Google understand your site and discover other pages.
Do Not Use Nofollow as a Replacement for:
- noindex
- Canonicalization
- Robots.txt
- Proper internal architecture
- Removing unnecessary pages
Each of these mechanisms solves a different problem.
If a page should not appear in Google's index, use an appropriate indexing control rather than trying to achieve the same outcome by adding nofollow to internal links.
Are Nofollow Links Bad for SEO?
No.
A nofollow link should not automatically be considered a bad link.
Its value depends on what you are trying to achieve.
For example, a nofollow link from a relevant publication could still generate:
- Referral traffic
- Brand awareness
- New visitors
- Audience discovery
- Business relationships
- Content exposure
- Potential secondary opportunities
Imagine a major industry publication mentions your company and links to your website using rel="nofollow".
Even if that link is not treated like a standard followed editorial backlink, the publication's audience may still click it.
Those visitors may then:
- Read your content
- Share your resources
- Mention your company elsewhere
- Link to your website from another publication
- Become potential customers
So evaluating a link only by its dofollow or nofollow status can miss its actual business value.
Can Nofollow Links Help Rankings?
The safest answer is:
Do not treat a nofollow link as equivalent to a normal followed link for ranking purposes.
At the same time, do not assume that a nofollow link has absolutely no SEO relevance.
Google treats link qualification attributes as signals, and the destination URL may also be discovered through other sources.
More importantly, nofollow links can have indirect value through:
- Referral traffic
- Visibility
- Brand discovery
- Audience development
- Content exposure
- Natural link acquisition
Therefore, the goal of link building should not be:
“Get 100% dofollow backlinks.”
A better goal is:
Earn relevant, useful, natural links and mentions that support your website, audience, and content ecosystem.
| Attribute |
Primary purpose |
Example |
| Standard link |
Normal editorial/reference link |
Citing a useful SEO resource |
| nofollow |
Qualify a link when you don't want normal association |
Untrusted external destination |
| sponsored |
Identify paid or sponsored relationship |
Paid article placement |
| ugc |
Identify user-generated link |
Forum or comment link |
The important thing is to choose the attribute based on the relationship, not simply because one option sounds better for SEO.
How to Check Whether a Link Is Nofollow or Dofollow
You don't need an expensive SEO tool to inspect an individual link.
Method 1: Inspect the HTML
Right-click the link and choose Inspect.
Look for:
Standard link
<a href="https://example.com">
Example
</a>
Nofollow link
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">
Example
</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">
Example
</a>
UGC link
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc">
Example
</a>
This is the simplest way to understand what the page is actually implementing.
Method 2: View Page Source
You can also use:
Ctrl + U
Then search for:
nofollow
or:
rel=
This can help you identify how links are marked in the raw HTML.
Method 3: Use an SEO Crawler
For larger websites, manually inspecting thousands of links isn't practical.
Tools such as:
- Screaming Frog
- Sitebulb
- Other backlink analysis platforms
can help identify link attributes at scale.
A crawler-based audit can help answer questions such as:
- Which pages contain nofollow links?
- Which internal links are nofollowed?
- Which external links are qualified?
- Which pages receive the most internal links?
- Which pages have very few internal links?
- Are important commercial pages receiving contextual internal links?
For larger websites, this is much more useful than manually checking links one by one.
How to Find High-Quality Dofollow Backlink Opportunities
The goal of link building should not be to find websites that simply offer “dofollow backlinks.”
Instead, evaluate the opportunity from several angles.
Step 1: Check topical relevance
Ask:
Does this website actually cover subjects related to my industry?
A relevant website is generally a stronger contextual fit than an unrelated site with a high third-party authority metric.
Step 2: Evaluate the actual page
Don't evaluate only the domain.
Look at:
- Page topic
- Existing content
- Audience
- Search visibility
- Outbound links
- Editorial quality
- Context in which your link would appear
Step 3: Look for genuine editorial opportunities
Strong opportunities can include:
- Original research
- Expert contributions
- Digital PR
- Industry studies
- Useful resources
- Data-driven articles
- Editorial mentions
- Relevant partnerships
- Genuine guest contributions where appropriate
Step 4: Make the destination useful
A website is more likely to earn meaningful links when the destination page actually provides something worth referencing.
That could be:
- Original research
- A detailed guide
- A unique data set
- A useful tool
- A practical framework
- A strong case study
- A genuinely helpful resource
Step 5: Think beyond the attribute
Instead of asking:
“Is this link dofollow?”
also ask:
“Why would a real reader click this link?”
That question produces a much healthier link-building strategy.
Are DA, DR and Authority Score the Same as Google's Authority?
No.
SEO platforms provide their own proprietary metrics.
For example:
- Domain Authority
- Domain Rating
- Authority Score
can be useful for comparing websites within a particular tool, but they should not be presented as Google's official ranking metrics.
A backlink should therefore not be evaluated using a single third-party score.
Look at the complete context:
Relevance + quality + audience + editorial context + link placement + destination usefulness
What Makes a High-Quality Backlink?
A high-quality backlink is not simply a link from a website with a large authority score.
Consider these characteristics:
Relevant
The source discusses a related subject.
Contextual
The link appears naturally within useful content.
Editorial
The website has a legitimate reason to reference the destination.
Useful
The destination genuinely helps the reader.
Discoverable
The linking page itself can be found and accessed by users and search engines.
Natural
The link was not created primarily to manipulate rankings.
Appropriate anchor text
The anchor describes the destination without unnatural keyword stuffing.
Google recommends descriptive, concise and relevant anchor text and says the words surrounding a link also provide context. When building visibility in a specific market, those same principles apply to the wider SEO strategy, including SEO strategy services UK where geographic relevance and audience intent are important considerations.
What Is Anchor Text and Why Does It Matter?
Anchor text is the visible text users click to follow a link.
For example:
<a href="/seo-guide">
complete SEO guide
</a>
The anchor text is:
complete SEO guide
Good anchor text should help the reader understand what they will find after clicking.
Examples:
Too generic
Click here
Better
SEO audit guide
More descriptive
learn how to perform an SEO audit
The anchor should remain natural.
Google specifically recommends descriptive and reasonably concise anchor text and warns against cramming excessive keywords into links.
For internal links, this becomes especially important because descriptive anchors help establish relationships between pages within the website.
What Is a Natural Backlink Profile?
There is no universal rule saying that a website needs:
- 70% dofollow links
- 30% nofollow links
or any other fixed ratio.
A natural backlink profile can contain many different types of links from:
- Editorial websites
- Industry publications
- Communities
- Forums
- Social platforms
- Directories
- Resource pages
- News websites
- Partners
- Reviews
- Sponsored relationships
- User-generated content
The exact distribution varies by website, industry, audience and acquisition history.
Therefore, chasing an arbitrary dofollow/nofollow percentage is usually less useful than building a diverse, relevant and natural link profile.
Common Nofollow and Dofollow Mistakes
Mistake 1: Adding rel="dofollow"
There is no need to do this.
Normal links don't require a dofollow attribute.
Mistake 2: Treating every nofollow link as worthless
Nofollow links can still bring traffic, exposure and brand discovery.
Mistake 3: Nofollowing every external link
Google specifically advises against using nofollow on every external link. Use it when the relationship warrants it.
Mistake 4: Nofollowing normal internal links
Important internal links should generally remain crawlable and descriptive.
Mistake 5: Using nofollow to control indexing
Nofollow is not a substitute for noindex.
Paid links should be appropriately qualified. Google prefers rel="sponsored" for paid placements.
Mistake 7: Ignoring UGC links
Forums and comments can use rel="ugc" where appropriate.
Mistake 8: Buying links purely to manipulate rankings
Google classifies buying or selling links for ranking purposes and several other manipulative link practices as link spam.
Mistake 9: Measuring link quality only by DA or DR
Third-party metrics are useful for analysis but shouldn't replace actual relevance and quality evaluation.
Mistake 10: Forcing exact-match anchor text everywhere
Anchor text should describe the destination naturally. Excessive keyword manipulation can create an unnatural link profile and can conflict with Google's spam policies.
Is a Nofollow Link Better Than No Link?
It depends on the objective.
Suppose a relevant publication wants to mention your company but qualifies the link with nofollow.
The link can still:
- Put your brand in front of a relevant audience
- Send referral visitors
- Increase exposure
- Help people discover your resources
- Create future relationship opportunities
So the decision should not be:
Dofollow = valuable
Nofollow = worthless
Instead:
Relevant link + useful context + appropriate relationship = potential value
Should You Try to Get Only Dofollow Backlinks?
No.
A more sustainable link-building strategy focuses on earning relevant mentions and links from appropriate sources.
For example, an SEO agency might naturally earn links through:
- Original SEO research
- Industry surveys
- SEO case studies
- Digital PR campaigns
- Expert commentary
- Useful SEO resources
- Data studies
- Comprehensive guides
- Industry partnerships
- Community participation
Some of these links may be followed, while others may be qualified.
The objective should be building authority and visibility through genuinely useful content and relationships, not achieving a particular link-attribute ratio.
What Does Google Consider Link Spam?
Google's spam policies identify several manipulative link-building practices, including:
- Buying or selling links for ranking purposes
- Excessive reciprocal link exchanges
- Automated link creation
- Low-quality directory links
- Keyword-rich or hidden links
- Widely distributed template/footer links
- Manipulative forum-comment links
- Low-value content created primarily to manipulate ranking signals
Google also states that paid advertising and sponsorship links can be used when they are appropriately qualified with nofollow or sponsored.
This distinction is important:
Paid link placement itself isn't automatically the problem.
The problem is using links in ways that violate Google's policies by attempting to manipulate ranking signals.
A Simple Decision Framework for Link Attributes
When adding an outbound link, ask these questions in order.
Is it a normal editorial/reference link?
Yes → Use a standard link.
✓ Normal editorial link?
YES → Use a standard crawlable link.
No special rel qualification is normally required.
Yes → Use rel="sponsored".
Is it user-generated?
Yes → Consider rel="ugc".
Is it an untrusted link or one you don't want your site associated with normally?
Yes → Use rel="nofollow" where appropriate.
Are multiple relationships applicable?
Yes → Multiple rel values can be combined.
For example:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc nofollow">
Example
</a>
Google supports multiple qualifying values.
Practical Examples
Example 1: Blog citation
You're writing an SEO article and reference a reputable research study.
<a href="https://example.com/research">
SEO research study
</a>
A normal editorial link is appropriate when there is no special relationship that needs qualification.
Example 2: Sponsored article
A company pays for an article placement.
<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">
Example company
</a>
Example 3: Forum post
A user posts a link inside a community discussion.
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc">
Example resource
</a>
Example 4: Untrusted external resource
You reference a website but do not want to associate your site with it in the normal way.
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">
External resource
</a>
Example 5: Internal SEO article
You have an article about backlinks and want to explain link building.
<a href="/blog/seo/what-is-link-building-guide">
link building
</a>
A normal internal link is generally appropriate.
How Nofollow and Dofollow Fit Into a Modern SEO Strategy
Modern SEO should not treat links as isolated technical objects.
Think of the system as:
Content → Relevance → Entities → Context → Internal links → External references → Authority → Discovery → Search visibility
A backlink is only one part of that system.
For example, an SEO article about technical SEO may naturally link to a technical SEO resource. A link-building guide may reference an editorial-link guide. A page about anchor text may connect to a backlink guide.
This creates a connected information architecture that helps both users and search engines understand relationships between pages.
Google recommends using descriptive internal links to help users and Google understand a site's content and discover other pages. Google recommends using descriptive internal links to help users and Google understand a site's content and discover other pages. For businesses targeting the US market, the same principles can be applied across localized content, internal linking, authority building, and search visibility as part of a broader SEO strategy in the USA.
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Conclusion
The difference between nofollow and dofollow links is more nuanced than the traditional:
“Dofollow passes SEO value, nofollow doesn't.”
A more accurate way to understand links is to look at their purpose, relationship, relevance, context and implementation.
A normal editorial link does not need a rel attribute. A paid placement can use rel="sponsored". User-generated links can use rel="ugc". And rel="nofollow" can be used when you do not want to associate your site with a destination or prefer Google not to crawl that destination from your site.
For SEO, the goal should not be to collect as many dofollow links as possible.
The stronger strategy is to build a website that deserves to be referenced, create genuinely useful content, earn relevant links and mentions, maintain a strong internal linking structure, and use link attributes according to the actual relationship behind each link.
That approach creates a healthier link ecosystem for both users and search engines.
