{"id":26517,"date":"2019-03-26T16:17:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T00:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=26517"},"modified":"2023-10-04T09:13:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T14:13:28","slug":"nofollow-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/nofollow-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Nofollow vs. Follow Links: Everything You Need to&nbsp;Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\"> The rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d tag is one of the simplest HTML tags around, and one that\u2019s crucial to understand if you\u2019re doing SEO. Learn everything you need to know about nofollowed links in this&nbsp;guide.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Nofollow links are nothing new. They\u2019ve been around for 14&nbsp;years.<\/p>\n<p>If you care about your website\u2019s performance in search engines, then knowing when and when not to use nofollowed links isn\u2019t just important\u2014it\u2019s <em>crucial<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In this guide, I\u2019ll explain how nofollowed links came to be, how they help with SEO, and how using them correctly can protect your site from a dreaded Google penalty.<\/p>\n<p>First, though, let\u2019s cover the basics.<\/p>\n<div class=\"hub-link\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Beginner's guide to link building\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/backlinks.png\"><div class=\"hl-title\">New to link building? Check out&nbsp;our<\/div><div class=\"hl-content\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/\" target=\"_blank\">Beginner\u2019s guide to link building<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\">\n<h2>What are nofollow links?<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Nofollowed links are hyperlinks with a rel=\u201cnofollow\u201d tag.<\/p>\n<p>These links do not influence the search engine rankings of the destination URL&nbsp;because <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/96569?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text<\/a> across them. In fact, Google doesn\u2019t even crawl nofollowed links.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading: <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-pagerank\/\">Google PageRank is NOT Dead: Why It Still Matters<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Nofollow vs. follow links<\/h3>\n<p>Followed and nofollowed links look identical to the average web&nbsp;user.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\">blue text<\/a>&nbsp;in this sentence is a <strong>followed<\/strong>&nbsp;link. The <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">blue text<\/a>&nbsp;in this sentence is a <strong>nofollowed<\/strong>&nbsp;link. The difference between the two is apparent only when you dig into the HTML&nbsp;code.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Followed: <\/strong><\/p>\n<pre class=\"brush: plain; title: ; notranslate\" title>&lt;a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\"&gt;blue text&lt;\/a&gt;<\/pre>\n<p><strong>Nofollowed:<\/strong><\/p>\n<pre class=\"brush: plain; title: ; notranslate\" title>&lt;a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"&gt;blue text&lt;\/a&gt;<\/pre>\n<p>The HTML is identical except for the addition of the rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d tag.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible to nofollow <strong>all<\/strong>&nbsp;links on a webpage by placing a robots meta tag with the value \u201cnofollow\u201d in the header. However, the nofollow tag is more commonly used as it allows one to nofollow some links on the page while leaving others followed.<\/p>\n<p>Not sure why you\u2019d want to do that? It\u2019s time for a quick history lesson.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\">\n<h2>The history of <em>rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d<\/em> <\/h2><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Google originally <a href=\"https:\/\/googleblog.blogspot.com\/2005\/01\/preventing-comment-spam.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">introduced<\/a>&nbsp;the nofollow tag in 2005 to combat comment spam.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">If you\u2019re a blogger (or a blog reader), you\u2019re painfully familiar with people who try to raise their own websites\u2019 search engine rankings by submitting linked blog comments like \u201cVisit my discount pharmaceuticals site.\u201d This is called comment spam, we don\u2019t like it either, and we\u2019ve been testing a new tag that blocks it. From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel=\u201cnofollow\u201d) on hyperlinks, <strong>those links won\u2019t get any credit when we rank websites in our search results<\/strong>. This isn\u2019t a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it\u2019s just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Shortly after, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20050203015651\/http:\/\/www.ysearchblog.com\/archives\/000069.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yahoo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20150603030936\/http:\/\/blogs.bing.com\/webmaster\/2008\/06\/03\/robots-exclusion-protocol-joining-together-to-provide-better-documentation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bing<\/a>&nbsp;and a few other search engines also announced their commitment to the nofollow tag.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">IMPORTANT NOTE<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\"> The interpretation of nofollow varies somewhat between search engines. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nofollow#Interpretation_by_the_individual_search_engines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u2019s a table<\/a>&nbsp;showing the differences.&nbsp;<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Nowadays, WordPress adds the nofollow tag to comment links by default, as do many other CMS\u2019. So even if you\u2019ve never heard of a nofollow link before now, rest assured that any spammy commenters on your blog likely aren\u2019t receiving any SEO benefits from their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you\u2019re concerned that your comments may not be nofollowed, here\u2019s how to double-check:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Find a comment<\/li>\n<li>Right-click the&nbsp;link<\/li>\n<li>Hit \u201cInspect\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Look at the highlighted HTML&nbsp;code.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26508\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-2.gif\" alt width=\"648\" height=\"314\"><\/p>\n<p>If you see the rel=nofollow tag, it\u2019s nofollowed. Otherwise, it\u2019s followed.<\/p>\n<p>Not comfortable digging into HTML code? Install the <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/nofollow\/dfogidghaigoomjdeacndafapdijmiid?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nofollow Chrome extension<\/a>&nbsp;which&nbsp;visibly highlights all nofollowed links as you\u2019re browsing the&nbsp;web.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"482\" height=\"108\" class=\"wp-image-26495\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-extension-highlight-2.jpg\" alt=\"nofollow extension highlight 2\"><\/p>\n<p>Got it? Good. Back to our history lesson.<\/p>\n<h3>2009: Google combats&nbsp;PageRank sculpting<\/h3>\n<p>PageRank flows around a website via <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/internal-links-for-seo\/\">internal links<\/a>&nbsp;(links from one page on the site to another).<\/p>\n<p>For example, some of this article\u2019s PageRank flows to the other pages on our site via hyperlinks like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/\">this one<\/a>. In general, higher PageRank equates to higher rankings. Gary Illyses confirmed this last&nbsp;year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-cards=\"hidden\" data-lang=\"en-gb\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">DYK that after 18 years we\u2019re still using PageRank (and 100s of other signals) in ranking?<\/p>\n<p>Wanna know how it works?<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CfOlxGauGF\">https:\/\/t.co\/CfOlxGauGF<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3YJeNbXLml\">pic.twitter.com\/3YJeNbXLml<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gary \u201c\u9be8\u7406\u201d Illyes (@methode) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/methode\/status\/829755916895535104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">9 February 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>However, PageRank only gets transferred via followed links, not nofollowed links.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s always been the case, but the way PageRank gets shared between the followed links on a page has changed over the&nbsp;years.<\/p>\n<p>Before 2009, it worked like&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<p>If you had <strong>three<\/strong>&nbsp;links on a page and <strong>one<\/strong>&nbsp;of them was nofollowed, then the total PageRank was split between the <strong>two<\/strong>&nbsp;followed links.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"1161\" class=\"wp-image-26502\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0-how-pagerank-sculpting-used-to-work-2.png\" alt=\"0 how pagerank sculpting used to work 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0-how-pagerank-sculpting-used-to-work-2.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0-how-pagerank-sculpting-used-to-work-2-768x991.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/0-how-pagerank-sculpting-used-to-work-2-329x425.png 329w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, some people started taking advantage of this technicality to manipulate rankings by sculpting the flow of PageRank around their&nbsp;sites.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, they\u2019d nofollow links to their unimportant pages to allow for the maximum transference of PageRank to their \u201cmoney\u201d pages.<\/p>\n<p>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mattcutts.com\/blog\/pagerank-sculpting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced changes<\/a>&nbsp;to nip this practice in the bud&nbsp;in 2009:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> So what happens when you have a page with \u201cten PageRank points\u201d and ten outgoing links, and five of those links are nofollowed? [\u2026] Originally, the five links without nofollow would have flowed two points of PageRank each [\u2026] More than a year ago, <strong>Google changed how the PageRank flows so that the five links without nofollow would flow one point of PageRank each.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here\u2019s an illustration of the before and&nbsp;after:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"1161\" class=\"wp-image-26506\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1-why-pagerank-sculpting-no-longer-works-2.png\" alt=\"1 why pagerank sculpting no longer works 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1-why-pagerank-sculpting-no-longer-works-2.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1-why-pagerank-sculpting-no-longer-works-2-768x991.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1-why-pagerank-sculpting-no-longer-works-2-329x425.png 329w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">IMPORTANT NOTE<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">PageRank is a complex beast. It\u2019s been ten years since Google made this change. While they haven\u2019t publicly announced any further changes to how PageRank works in recent years, it\u2019s likely that at least some changes have taken place behind the scenes.<\/div><\/div>\n<p>While PageRank sculpting is no longer a <em>thing<\/em>, \u201cnofollowing\u201d some internal links can help with crawl prioritization&nbsp;because <strong>Google doesn\u2019t crawl nofollow links.<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> Search engine robots can\u2019t sign in or register as a member on your forum, so there\u2019s no reason to invite <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/googlebot\/\">Googlebot<\/a> to follow \u201cregister here\u201d or \u201csign in\u201d links. Using nofollow on these links enables Googlebot to crawl other pages you\u2019d prefer to see in Google\u2019s index.&nbsp;<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, this is a somewhat advanced topic, so I won\u2019t go any deeper into that&nbsp;here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recommended reading:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/crawl-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What Is Crawl Budget and Should SEOs Worry about&nbsp;It?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>2013 onwards: Google combats paid&nbsp;links<\/h3>\n<p>Google classes the buying or selling links that pass PageRank&nbsp;as <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/66356?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a violation of their Webmaster Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As such, <strong>all paid links should be nofollowed.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s been the case for many years, even long before 2013.<\/p>\n<p>However, from what I can see, Google became increasingly concerned about the effect of undisclosed paid links on their algorithm around this time\u2026 and has been ever&nbsp;since.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Cutts delves deeper into their reasoning for the disclosure of paid links in this 2013&nbsp;video:<\/p>\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-1smlsfsqmow\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-1smlsfsqmow\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/1SmlsfSqmOw?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/1SmlsfSqmOw?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But to summarize: Google wants to reward <strong>earned<\/strong>&nbsp;links, not <strong>paid<\/strong>&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> People treat links as editorial votes. They link to something because it inspires passion in them. It\u2019s something that\u2019s interesting. They want to share it with friends. There\u2019s some reason why they want to highlight that particular link.&nbsp;<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>The problem is that some paid links look no different from earned links. Think about the difference between a link in a paid review vs. a link in an unpaid review.<\/p>\n<p>On the face of it, both links will look identical. That\u2019s why there needs to be a way to disclose the paid one to Google.<\/p>\n<p>Think of it like this: There are two ways to get an&nbsp;Oscar:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Option #1:<\/strong>&nbsp;Live to act, continuously hone your craft, and work hard for&nbsp;years.<br>\n<strong>Option #2:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gold-Award-Trophies-Trophy-Statues\/dp\/B06XFZ61BV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buy 6 of them for $8.97 on Amazon<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The nofollow tag (on paid links) is to Google what the $8.97 sticker on the bottom of your fake Oscar is to your friends: a tell-tale sign that you didn\u2019t earn this legitimately and thus, don\u2019t deserve credit for your <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">tomfoolery<\/span>&nbsp;manipulative efforts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\">\n<h2>Do nofollow links help with&nbsp;SEO?<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Let\u2019s briefly recap what Google says about the way they handle nofollowed links:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across these&nbsp;links.<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>That all seems clear enough until you read the sentence that precedes it:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> <strong>In general, we don\u2019t follow them. <\/strong>This means that Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across these&nbsp;links.&nbsp;<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>In general<\/em>, I think this statement is vaguer than it needs to be and implies that they follow nofollowed links in some instances.<\/p>\n<p>What those cases may be, nobody knows.<\/p>\n<p>Some believe that all nofollowed links still transfer some PageRank. Some think that Google transfers PageRank to some, but not all nofollowed links. Others believe that people are reading too much into <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130714093949\/https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/96569?hl=en#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wording that hasn\u2019t changed for the best part of seven years<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, we <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/links-with-traffic-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">studied 44,589 SERPs<\/a> to see if there was any correlation between Google rankings and various backlink attributes\u2014one of which was the number of followed backlinks.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what we&nbsp;found:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"751\" class=\"wp-image-26511\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/new-01_how_rankings_correlate_with_backlink_metrics_image-2.png\" alt=\"new 01 how rankings correlate with backlink metrics image 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/new-01_how_rankings_correlate_with_backlink_metrics_image-2.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/new-01_how_rankings_correlate_with_backlink_metrics_image-2-768x641.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/new-01_how_rankings_correlate_with_backlink_metrics_image-2-509x425.png 509w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>The correlation for the number of \u201cdofollow\u201d backlinks is a little bit weaker than that of the total number of backlinks.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/tim\">Tim<\/a>&nbsp;said about&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> This <strong>could<\/strong>&nbsp;be an indication that Google values some nofollowed links from strong pages more than followed links from weak pages. <strong>#whoknows<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tim Soulo\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Tim_Soulo_new_ava_smalller-425x425.jpg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Tim Soulo,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">CMO <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\" target=\"_blank\">Ahrefs<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Take this finding with a large pinch of salt. The primary aim of this study was not to analyze the impact of nofollowed vs. followed links and as such, we didn\u2019t make any effort to isolate this factor.<\/p>\n<p>But even if we assume that nofollowed links have no <strong>direct<\/strong>&nbsp;impact on SEO, they can still have an <strong>indirect<\/strong>&nbsp;impact because:<\/p>\n<h3>1. They help diversify your link profile<\/h3>\n<p>Natural backlink profiles are diverse.<\/p>\n<p>Some links are followed, and others are nofollowed. That fact is unavoidable because some people will inevitably link to you via nofollowed links\u2026 no matter how much you might wish this wasn\u2019t the&nbsp;case.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, most of the backlinks you get from following places are nofollowed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Forums (Reddit, Quora, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Press releases<\/li>\n<li>Guestbooks (hello, 1998!)<\/li>\n<li>Wikipedia (hint: <em>anyone<\/em>&nbsp;can edit a Wikipedia page)<\/li>\n<li>Pingbacks<\/li>\n<li>Directories<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Long story short, if a website only has followed backlinks or a conspicuously high percentage of followed backlinks, then that\u2019s a tell-tale sign something fishy is going&nbsp;on.<\/p>\n<p>To check the proportion of followed vs. nofollowed links for any website or webpage, use the <strong>Overview<\/strong>&nbsp;report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter any domain, URL, or subfolder &gt; Overview<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"393\" class=\"wp-image-26497\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-referring-domains-ahrefs-2.jpg\" alt=\"nofollow referring domains ahrefs 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-referring-domains-ahrefs-2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-referring-domains-ahrefs-2-768x335.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-referring-domains-ahrefs-2-680x297.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>It looks like 85% of the referring domains (linking websites) to the Ahrefs blog are followed.<\/p>\n<p>Is this good or bad? Honestly, as long as there\u2019s some diversity here, that\u2019s a good&nbsp;sign.<\/p>\n<p>What you don\u2019t want to see is 100% \u201cdofollow\u201d or anything close because that\u2019s a definite sign of manipulation. From experience, I\u2019d say anywhere from 60-90% is normal\u2014but that range isn\u2019t definitive. If you suspect foul play, delve deeper.<\/p>\n<h3>2. They drive traffic, and traffic drives followed links<\/h3>\n<p>Links aren\u2019t only useful for SEO purposes. They drive referral traffic too.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019re so active on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quora<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t heard of Quora before, it\u2019s a Q&amp;A website where anyone can answer the questions people post. Within those answers, Quora allows links to relevant resources.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a recent answer posted by our Marketing Manager, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itsrbek?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rebekah Bek<\/a>, where she links to the Ahrefs blog:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"478\" class=\"wp-image-26501\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/quora-answer-2.png\" alt=\"quora answer 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/quora-answer-2.png 630w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/quora-answer-2-560x425.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, as all outbound links on Quora are nofollowed, that link has no direct SEO effect.<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the interesting part:<\/p>\n<p>If we check the <strong>Backlinks<\/strong>&nbsp;report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;for <em>ahrefs.com<\/em>&nbsp;and filter for only \u201cdofollow\u201d links, here\u2019s one of the many backlinks we&nbsp;see:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"155\" class=\"wp-image-26510\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-ahrefs-link-2.jpg\" alt=\"dofollow ahrefs link 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-ahrefs-link-2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-ahrefs-link-2-768x132.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-ahrefs-link-2-680x117.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Now let\u2019s take a closer look at the referring page (the page the followed link comes&nbsp;from):<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"864\" height=\"714\" class=\"wp-image-26503\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/linking-page-quora-2.jpg\" alt=\"linking page quora 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/linking-page-quora-2.jpg 864w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/linking-page-quora-2-768x635.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/linking-page-quora-2-514x425.jpg 514w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\"><\/p>\n<p>The only reason we got this <strong>followed<\/strong>&nbsp;link is because the author of this article stumbled upon Rebekah\u2019s Quora answer. In other words, the nofollowed link indirectly led to a followed link.<\/p>\n<p>So remember this: for someone to link to you, three things have to happen in this&nbsp;order:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>They <strong>see<\/strong>&nbsp;your content<\/li>\n<li>They <strong>enjoy<\/strong>&nbsp;your content<\/li>\n<li>They <strong>recommend<\/strong>&nbsp;it to others (via links on their&nbsp;site)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Because nofollow links can help with that first step, they\u2019re often a catalyst for followed links.<\/p>\n<h3>3. They can protect against Google penalties<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes there are legitimate reasons to pay for&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n<p>If a website gets tons of traffic, buying a sponsored post on that site may make total sense. And if you\u2019re paying good money for a feature, then you\u2019ll probably want to include a backlink so that the readers can easily find your website.<\/p>\n<p>The problem? Google states that followed paid links are against their Webmaster Guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>That said, the SEO community is generally divided into two&nbsp;camps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Those who believe Google <strong>can<\/strong>&nbsp;accurately identify paid links algorithmically.<\/li>\n<li>Those who believe Google <strong>can\u2019t<\/strong>&nbsp;accurately identify paid links algorithmically.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Which camp is correct is a debate for another day.<\/p>\n<p>For now, let\u2019s assume that camp #2 is correct and that Google struggles to identify any and all paid links. That means you\u2019re safe to buy and sell links to your heart\u2019s content, right? Not so&nbsp;fast.<\/p>\n<p>Google has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/webmasters\/tools\/paidlinks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a tool<\/a>&nbsp;which allows anyone to report a website for buying or selling links.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26498\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26498\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26498\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/report-paid-links-5.png\" alt width=\"400\" height=\"292\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-26498\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google\u2019s tool for reporting paid&nbsp;links.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Translation: it may not be Google that you should fear\u2014but rather your competitors.<\/p>\n<p>Think about it: If a competitor sees you ranking well for their target keyword, and they use a tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs\u2019 Site Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;to delve into your backlinks, only to discover followed links like&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"623\" height=\"94\" class=\"wp-image-26515\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/paid-link-2.jpg\" alt=\"paid link 2\"><\/p>\n<p>Then why wouldn\u2019t they report you?<\/p>\n<p>If doing so results in Google\u2019s webspam team taking a look at your website, discovering the paid links, and issuing a manual penalty, then that\u2019s one less competitor for them to compete with in the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us neatly to:<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\">\n<h2>How to audit your website for issues related to nofollow links<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Having followed backlinks that violate Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines is&nbsp;risky.<\/p>\n<p>The same is true for outbound links on your website that should be nofollowed.<\/p>\n<p>But this isn\u2019t only about the wrath of Google (i.e., <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-penalties\/\">penalties<\/a>). It may also be the case that certain internal nofollowed links are hindering your SEO performance.<\/p>\n<p>What follows is a quick audit to help identify and eliminate any such issues.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Look for followed backlinks with keyword-rich anchors<\/h3>\n<p>For the most part, people won\u2019t use exact-match anchors when linking to your site. That\u2019s why followed links with exact-match anchors <em>can<\/em>&nbsp;be a sign of backlink manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>To find them, use the Anchors report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter your domain &gt; Anchors &gt; dofollow filter<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"468\" class=\"wp-image-26493\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-3.jpg\" alt=\"payday loans paid link 3\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-3.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-3-768x399.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-3-680x354.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here, we see that most of this website\u2019s anchors are branded or generic (blurred for privacy purposes), but there are nineteen websites (referring domains) that link using the phrase \u201cpayday loans\u201d as the anchor.<\/p>\n<p>If we hit the caret, then Referring domains, we can see what these websites are.<\/p>\n<p>Then, if we hit the caret again, we can see the context of all the links from each domain.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"358\" class=\"wp-image-26507\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-2-2.jpg\" alt=\"payday loans paid link 2 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-2-2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-2-2-768x305.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/payday-loans-paid-link-2-2-680x270.jpg 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>Here are some rough guidelines for dealing with different <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/types-of-backlinks\/\">types of links<\/a> you find&nbsp;here:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bought links on low-quality sites. <\/strong>Ask for the link to be removed (preferably) or nofollowed. Disavow at the page or domain-level if they fail to do&nbsp;so.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guest posts bio links. <\/strong>Have you previously used keyword-rich anchors in your guest post author bios? Ask the person in charge of that site to swap out the keyword-rich link for a branded one. Or, if you prefer to keep the anchored link, ask for it to be nofollowed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Widget links.<\/strong>&nbsp;Change the HTML of your widget so that the link is nofollowed. Ask those who\u2019ve already embedded your widget to nofollow the&nbsp;link.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sitewide links.<\/strong>&nbsp;Ask for the link to be nofollowed or changed to a branded anchor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that exact-match followed links aren\u2019t always indicative of low-quality or paid links. Such links can occur naturally and under legit circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why you should always make sure to investigate links in-depth before disavowing them or asking for them to be nofollowed.<\/p>\n<p>Fail to do that, and you could end up doing more harm than&nbsp;good.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>For large websites, there can be hundreds or thousands of different anchors in the <strong>Anchors<\/strong>&nbsp;report. Sifting through all of them can be time-consuming.<\/p>\n<p>So here\u2019s a quick trick you can&nbsp;use:<\/p>\n<p>First, export the full list of followed anchors.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter your domain &gt; Anchors &gt; add \u201cdofollow\u201d filter &gt; Export &gt;&nbsp;CSV<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Then copy and paste them into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\">Ahrefs Keywords Explorer<\/a>&nbsp;in batches&nbsp;of up to 10,000 at a&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n<p>Hit search to generate a report, then sort by the CPC column from high to&nbsp;low.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"665\" height=\"424\" class=\"wp-image-26509\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/keywords-explorer-high-cpc-anchors-2.png\" alt=\"keywords explorer high cpc anchors 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/keywords-explorer-high-cpc-anchors-2.png 665w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/keywords-explorer-high-cpc-anchors-2-260x166.png 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\"><\/p>\n<p>Because high CPC anchors are often more likely to be the spammy ones, this should result in spammy anchors rising to the top of the&nbsp;list.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, search for any spammy-looking anchors in the <strong>Anchors<\/strong>&nbsp;report in Site Explorer and investigate further.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"830\" height=\"212\" class=\"wp-image-26505\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/best-personal-loans-anchor-2.png\" alt=\"best personal loans anchor 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/best-personal-loans-anchor-2.png 830w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/best-personal-loans-anchor-2-768x196.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/best-personal-loans-anchor-2-680x174.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>2. Look for followed sponsored backlinks<\/h3>\n<p>Backlinks from sponsored posts should always be nofollowed.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because you\u2019re effectively paying for the link, so it shouldn\u2019t pass PageRank.<\/p>\n<p>To find such links, search for the word \u201csponsored\u201d in the <strong>Backlinks<\/strong>&nbsp;report for your website in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; Backlinks &gt; search for \u201csponsored\u201d &gt; filter for \u201cdofollow\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"899\" height=\"315\" class=\"wp-image-26496\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-backlink-dofollow-2.png\" alt=\"sponsored backlink dofollow 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-backlink-dofollow-2.png 899w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-backlink-dofollow-2-768x269.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-backlink-dofollow-2-680x238.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 899px) 100vw, 899px\"><\/p>\n<p>Reach out and ask for any such links to be nofollowed.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Look for keyword-rich followed outgoing links on your website<\/h3>\n<p>Did you know that Forbes nofollowed all of their outbound links in&nbsp;2017?<\/p>\n<p>This move came after they noticed that some of their contributors were selling followed links from their articles. Because they have so many contributors, they decided it was impossible to vet all links on the site, and so took the lazy option to nofollow everything.<\/p>\n<p>Why is this relevant?<\/p>\n<p>Because if you\u2019ve ever accepted guest posts on your site, or have any user-generated content, you could have the same&nbsp;issue.<\/p>\n<p>To find out if that\u2019s the case, take a look at your outgoing anchors in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter your domain &gt; Outgoing links &gt; Anchors &gt; add \u201cdofollow\u201d filter<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"348\" height=\"218\" class=\"wp-image-26513\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/outgoing-anchor-2.png\" alt=\"outgoing anchor 2\"><\/p>\n<p>Look for suspicious words and phrases that you wouldn\u2019t expect to see on your site, and remove or nofollow any that appear manipulative (e.g., keyword-rich anchors in guest post bios,&nbsp;etc.).<\/p>\n<p>As for why this is important, Google <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/96569?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">explains<\/a>&nbsp;this best:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\"> If you can\u2019t or don\u2019t want to vouch for the content of pages you link to from your site \u2014 for example, untrusted user comments or guestbook entries \u2014 you should nofollow those links. <strong>This can discourage spammers from targeting your site, and will help keep your site from inadvertently passing PageRank to bad neighborhoods on the web.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Do you see lots of anchors?<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>Use the pro tip from step #1.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>4. Look for followed sponsored links on your&nbsp;site<\/h3>\n<p>Have you ever accepted a sponsored post on your website? Did you make sure to nofollow the&nbsp;link?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re unsure, it might be worth checking.<\/p>\n<p>To do that, search in Google for&nbsp;<code>site:yourwebsite.com \"sponsored post\"<\/code><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"215\" class=\"wp-image-26516\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-post-google-2.png\" alt=\"sponsored post google 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-post-google-2.png 799w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-post-google-2-768x207.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sponsored-post-google-2-680x183.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\"><\/p>\n<p>Open up any results one by one and locate the sponsored link.<\/p>\n<p>If you installed the <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/nofollow\/dfogidghaigoomjdeacndafapdijmiid?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nofollow Chrome extension<\/a>, all nofollow links on the page will be highlighted\u2014so the sponsored link should definitely be highlighted. If it isn\u2019t, it\u2019s a followed link.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"715\" height=\"296\" class=\"wp-image-26512\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/followed-sponsored-post-2.png\" alt=\"followed sponsored post 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/followed-sponsored-post-2.png 715w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/followed-sponsored-post-2-680x282.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px\"><\/p>\n<p>Confirm this is the case by digging into the&nbsp;HTML.<\/p>\n<p>Right-click on the link, hit \u201cInspect,\u201d and look for the rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d&nbsp;tag.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"726\" height=\"141\" class=\"wp-image-26494\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/no-rel-nofollow-2.png\" alt=\"no rel nofollow 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/no-rel-nofollow-2.png 726w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/no-rel-nofollow-2-680x132.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 726px) 100vw, 726px\"><\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s absent, then it\u2019s a followed link and you should add a nofollow tag.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Look for nofollowed internal links<\/h3>\n<p>No internal links should be nofollowed unless they point to unimportant pages or pages that you want to exclude from search engines\u2019 indexes.<\/p>\n<p>To find nofollowed internal links, use the <strong>Best by Links<\/strong>&nbsp;report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Ahrefs Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Site Explorer &gt; enter your domain &gt; Best by Links &gt; switch to Internal &gt; sort by the \u201cnofollow\u201d column&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"781\" height=\"320\" class=\"wp-image-26499\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-2.png\" alt=\"nofollow internal 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-2.png 781w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-2-768x315.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-2-680x279.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px\"><\/p>\n<p>If you see any pages with nofollowed internal links, hit the number to see where those links come from and investigate further. It may be the case that these make total sense (e.g., nofollowed internal links to a login&nbsp;page).<\/p>\n<p>However, if there\u2019s no obvious reason for the links to be nofollowed, remove the nofollow tag.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the case here. For some reason, we have a nofollowed link from one blog post to another.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"287\" class=\"wp-image-26500\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-link-blog-2.png\" alt=\"nofollow internal link blog 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-link-blog-2.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-link-blog-2-768x245.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-internal-link-blog-2-680x217.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>For a more granular breakdown of internal nofollowed link issues on your website, run a fresh crawl in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site Audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Not only does this give you 100% fresh data, but it also alerts you to a bunch of specific issues relating to internal and external nofollow links.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"635\" height=\"243\" class=\"wp-image-26514\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/site-audit-internal-link-error-2.png\" alt=\"site audit internal link error 2\"><\/p>\n<p>Example of issues related to nofollow internal links in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Ahrefs Site&nbsp;Audit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Learn how to set up your first crawl in Site Audit in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjinWqfGyVE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this video<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-ljinwqfgyve\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-ljinwqfgyve\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LjinWqfGyVE?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/LjinWqfGyVE?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title width=\"900\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Nofollow links play a vital role when it comes to&nbsp;SEO.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, this guide successfully armed you with the knowledge you need to make nofollow links work <em>for<\/em> you\u2026 not <em>against<\/em> you.<\/p>\n<p>Before I wrap this up, I have one final\u2014probably quite obvious\u2014point: If you\u2019re actively building links to your website, then it makes sense to prioritize the building of followed links. These are the ones that pass PageRank and have a direct impact on&nbsp;SEO.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>, all our backlink-related reports have \u201cdofollow\u201d and \u201cnofollow\u201d filters.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"251\" class=\"wp-image-26504\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-filter-ahrefs-2.png\" alt=\"dofollow filter ahrefs 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-filter-ahrefs-2.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-filter-ahrefs-2-768x214.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dofollow-filter-ahrefs-2-680x190.png 680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/p>\n<p>That makes it easy to prioritize when you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/find-competitors-backlinks\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/get-competitors-backlinks\/\">analyzing competitors\u2019 backlink profiles for replicable links<\/a>, or building a list of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/skyscraper-technique\/\">skyscraper<\/a>\u201d prospects, or whatever the case may&nbsp;be.<\/p>\n<p>Do you still have questions? Hit me up in the comments below or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuachardwick?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nofollow links are nothing new. They\u2019ve been around for 14&nbsp;years. If you care about your website\u2019s performance in search engines, then knowing when and when not to use nofollowed links isn\u2019t just important\u2014it\u2019s crucial. In this guide, I\u2019ll explain how<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":26519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,76,329],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-26517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","category-link-building","category-technical-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Is a Nofollow Link? Everything You Need to Know (No Jargon!)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nofollowed vs. followed links. What&#039;s the difference? How do they affect SEO? Learn everything you need to know in this complete guide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/nofollow-links\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nofollow vs. Follow Links: Everything You Need to Know\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how nofollow links can help or hinder your SEO efforts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/nofollow-links\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-27T00:17:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-04T14:13:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/nofollow-links-facebook-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Hardwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nofollow vs. Follow Links: Everything You Need to Know\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn how nofollow links can help or hinder your SEO efforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JoshuaCHardwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joshua Hardwick\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6a89cbde8e750d22996aa26e213e712\"},\"headline\":\"Nofollow vs. Follow Links: Everything You Need to&nbsp;Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-27T00:17:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-04T14:13:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3808,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/nofollow-links-facebook-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General SEO\",\"Link Building\",\"Technical SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/nofollow-links\\\/\",\"name\":\"What Is a Nofollow Link? 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