Nofollow links – rel=nofollow syntax, use cases and what the attribute means for SEO today

Definition

Nofollow is an HTML attribute (rel=nofollow) that indicates that a link should not count as an editorial recommendation from the linking page.

In practice, the attribute tells Google and other search engines not to pass link equity (link juice) to the target URL. It is written as rel="nofollow" on the <a> tag.

Google, Yahoo and MSN introduced nofollow in 2005 as a joint defence against comment spam. Since then its role has changed considerably – and in 2019 Google turned the attribute from a strict directive into a hint. It is an important nuance, and one that many people still miss.

How nofollow works technically

An ordinary link looks like this:

<a href="https://example.com/page">Anchor text</a>

A nofollow link looks like this:

<a href="https://example.com/page" rel="nofollow">Anchor text</a>

Historically, the effect was that search engines did not count the link as a vote for the target URL. In that sense, they did not "follow" it – no ranking signals passed from the source page to the target page. The user notices no difference: the link works exactly as normal in the browser.

In 2019, Google changed this. Nofollow became a hint rather than a directive – for ranking purposes straight away, and from March 2020 for crawling and indexing as well, as confirmed by Google Search Central. In practice, Google now decides for itself whether the link should count. It may follow the link for indexing. It may also choose to count it as a weak signal. Bing takes a similar position. For crawling and indexing purposes, nofollow is therefore no longer a hard block.

Two new sibling values: ugc and sponsored

Also in 2019, Google introduced two complementary values that specify why a link should not count as editorially endorsed:

• rel="ugc" – user-generated content. Used for links in comments, forums, guest posts and other user-generated content.
• rel="sponsored" – for links that are paid, sponsored or part of affiliate agreements.

These are more specific than nofollow, and Google recommends using them where they fit. You can also combine them:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored nofollow">Ad link</a>

Nofollow remains the general "do not count this link" signal when you do not want to be more specific.

When should you use nofollow?

• Sponsored or paid content. If a link is the result of a business deal – advertising, sponsored posts, affiliate programmes – Google's policy explicitly says it should not count as editorial. Use rel="sponsored".
• User-generated content. Comments, forums, reviews and guest posts where you do not moderate every link. Use rel="ugc".
• Unreliable sources you still have to link to. If a blog post needs to refer to a page you do not want to recommend – a bad example, a fraudulent domain or a claim you are taking apart – nofollow is the right choice.
• Internally: as a rule, no. It is common to see nofollow on internal links in misguided attempts to "steer" link equity (PageRank sculpting). It has not worked since 2009. Stop.

When not to use nofollow

By far the most common misuse is putting nofollow on internal links to try to preserve link juice for the "important" pages. That idea died in 2009, when Google made clear that it no longer redistributes PageRank that way – nofollow juice "evaporates" rather than being passed on to other links.

Other misconceptions:

• Nofollow does not stop a page from being indexed. The target URL can still be indexed if Google finds it via other links or the sitemap.xml. To block indexing, use noindex.
• Nofollow is not a way of hiding a link. It is a signal to search engines, not a way to conceal something in the HTML.
• Nofollow does not affect click-through. The user sees no difference.

Nofollow vs dofollow

"Dofollow" is not an official attribute. It is jargon for "an ordinary link without nofollow". A link is dofollow by default. The only way a link becomes nofollow is if someone explicitly adds the attribute. We use both terms in conversation, but in HTML only nofollow exists – the absence of nofollow is dofollow.

What nofollow means in practice for link building

For anyone working with backlinks and off-page SEO, the distinction matters – but it is not quite as binary as you might think. A nofollow link from a strong, relevant, high-traffic website can still have value:

• It drives referral traffic that does not depend on PageRank.
• It contributes to brand mentions and brand visibility.
• It can signal to AI systems and knowledge graphs that an entity exists and is mentioned in a relevant context.
• Since 2019, it is also a hint that Google can choose to count as a weak positive signal.

So a "dofollow only" policy is outdated. A natural link profile contains a mix. Profiles where 100% of inbound links are dofollow look, ironically, less natural than profiles with a mix of both.

How to find nofollow links

In most SEO tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz) you can filter the backlinks report by dofollow vs nofollow. For individual pages:

• Inspect the element in the browser and look at the rel attribute on the <a> tag.
• Use a browser extension that highlights nofollow links in red.
• A site audit report usually lists all outgoing nofollow links.

It is worth checking from time to time what you have nofollowed internally. Common accidents: an old CMS theme that adds nofollow to every footer link, a plugin that has put nofollow on the whole comments section including internal links, or a developer who forgot to remove a debug rule from staging.

Should you care about nofollow when you build links?

Our simple heuristic at SEOS Design: assess relevance and traffic first, the attribute last. A nofollow link from a website your customers read and trust is worth more than a dofollow link from an irrelevant link farm. The point is not to ignore the attribute, but not to make it your only yardstick.

From an AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) perspective, nofollow matters even less. AI systems choosing sources for answers care about brand presence, citations and consistent mentions as much as about traditional link equity. We go deeper into that shift in How is SEO affected by AI?

Summary

Nofollow is an HTML attribute that signals to search engines that a link should not count as an editorial recommendation. Since 2019, it has been a hint rather than a directive. It has the sibling values ugc and sponsored for specific cases. It should be used on paid links, user-generated content and unreliable sources – but, as a rule, not on internal links. A nofollow link is not worthless, especially not from a broader AEO perspective. And dofollow is not an attribute – it is just the absence of nofollow.