This guide to search engine optimization (SEO) guide addresses the question, “how do nofollow links work for SEO?”
Below, you’ll be able to get all the details of the nofollow link procedure with a comprehensive description of the various aspects of SEO which affect a website’s ranking in search engines.
There’s a section of additional resources for digital marketing that provide more details on the basics of nofollow links to assist you in creating the most efficient SEO strategy for your website.
Do Nofollow Links Work to help SEO?
Nofollow links are useful to aid SEO by telling Google not to index or assign PageRank to the destination URL. Nofollow links allow websites to build outbound links which aren’t becoming an editorial decision on the destination site, which means it won’t give additional weight to the search engine ranking.
Nofollow Link Process Explained
The process of making nofollow links is to add a rel=”nofollow” attribute on the HTML anchor tag on the link. It tells search engines that they should not follow the link, thereby giving limited SEO benefits to the page linked.
Nofollow links can also stop the owners of websites from being attributed to the site or the content they link to via their websites. Suppose the owner of a linked website is looking to avoid being perceived as a spokesman for the other website. In that case, a non-follow link must notify crawlers of the search engines about the relationship. This is particularly important when linking to sites with doubtful content or perceived as spammy.
The attribute “nofollow” is also mandatory when a site links to a different website that was paid for or received some exchange to obtain the backlink. This is because search engines consider these links as being unnatural and, therefore, must be labelled in a manner that is in line with the guidelines of search engines to protect the authority of the domain that is linking and confidence.
Nofollow Link Factors In SEO
Rel=”Nofollow” Tag
The primary way that nofollow links function in SEO is to tag them by their rel=”nofollow” attribute which is the standard method to identify these backlinks. This HTML attribute communicates to the search engine spiders that the link will not be followed or gives a PageRank to the destination URL when indexing and crawling websites.
By adding the nofollow label to a hyperlink, site owners can also inform search engines that they aren’t taking responsibility for any quality or authenticity of the content linked to. This SEO technique permits websites to easily connect to other websites with questionable content without being linked to the domain or transfer not earned link equity to improve off-page SEO.
Sponsored and UGC Attributes
Following links is also evolving to help search engines such as Google determine the origin of particular hyperlinks depending on the person who made them and what they are used for. For instance, Google recommends that any links that are created as part of sponsored relationships should be marked with the”sponsored” attribute (rel=”sponsored”).
Additionally, any links that are created within content created by users, like comments or forums, must be identified by UGC. UGC attribute (rel=”ugc”).
This new method of categorizing nofollow hyperlinks helps Google’s crawler comprehend the function of the link and allows the algorithm to decide how much weight to give to the URL in determining the algorithm for ranking in search engines. But Google treats all nofollow links like sponsored, nofollow, and UGC. That means the sponsored link could be labelled as non-nofollow, and the reverse is true.
Hint Not a Directive
Nofollow links are now used as a hint, not as a guideline to crawlers of search engines. Before this, nofollow links could not affect the ranking of search engines of the site’s destination since Google’s systems would not consider the link and, therefore, not allow PageRank or anchor text-related associations over to the destination site.
Google modified its ranking and indexing algorithms to take links that do not follow as a sign of confidence but not a direct instruction. This means that nofollow links will not be considered the same as hyperlinks that do follow (i.e. vote votes for links that have passed PageRank and trust signal). Google’s algorithms may still view nofollow links to indicate trust. This depends on the trust and quality of the domain linking to the web page.
Natural Element for Websites
One of the main elements of the nofollow process used for SEO is that it’s an organic part of the Internet. Google and other engines analyze the proportion of nofollow and dofollow hyperlinks on a site to determine the degree of genuine (or natural) they are for the website and the individual URL.
A website with numerous dofollow links but insufficient nofollow links can be considered an attempt to alter search engine rankings, and it could be penalized. However, the reverse can be the case. A website with many nofollow links than dofollow links could indicate that the website’s content or site could be more trustworthy and may be subject to ranking reductions in SERPs.
A healthy mix of dofollow and dofollow links can help make a more natural profile of backlinks for the site and individual URLs for the domain.
Drive Referral Traffic
Nofollow links can also be used to bring traffic to a specific page. Although search engines do not always count these hyperlinks as voting in SEO, users still click on them to get people to your site.
The ultimate goal of all inbound links must be generating more leads or customers and increasing sales for your business, not only the importance of SEO for better keyword rankings. Thus, nofollow backlinks can be beneficial for driving referral traffic that could result in sales and should be addressed when creating links for the offline SEO campaign.
Learn More About Nofollow Links
The following links will provide more information about nofollow hyperlinks and how to use them to optimize your search engine properly. Make use of these resources to broaden your knowledge of the topic.
Nofollow Links Work for SEO Summary
I hope you enjoy this guide that addresses how nofollow links help with SEO.
As you’ve seen that the nofollow link procedure informs Google not to index or assign PageRank to the destination URL. However, this signal is just an indication, not a direct instruction. Nofollow links also categorize the relationship between two websites to comply with the guidelines of search engines and generate referral traffic for companies and are a common aspect of the Internet that should be noticed. This is why it’s crucial to be aware of specific factors of nofollow backlinks to ensure the highest search engine results and increase organic exposure for your site.
