Do Follow vs No Follow Links — Which Should I Use for External Links
Considered by many to be among SEO’s most divisive issues. Here is Google’s official statement:
“In general, we don’t follow them.” Which would imply that, in some instances, they do. The percentage of links that do not follow might be an indication of how natural or unnatural a link profile is.
Let’s start at a closer look at what a Do Follow and No Follow Link is.
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What is a Do Follow Link?
A do-follow link is a standard HTML link that allows search engines to follow the link to the target web page. This means that search engine crawlers can index the linked page, which can potentially improve its search engine ranking.
Are Do-Follow Links important?
- Google loves do-follow links because they convey link equity to the connected page, which in turn boosts the website’s search engine rating.
- Site visitors flock to higher-ranked pages in search engines, which in turn increases visibility in organic search results.
- Increased website authority: People tend to give more weight to websites that have numerous do-follow links from other respectable websites.
Where can you find do-follow links?
- Backlinks: Links from other websites to yours.
- Internal links: Links within your own website.
- Social media: Links to your website shared on social media platforms.
- Directories: Links to your website in online directories.
- Guest posts: Links to your website in guest posts on other websites.
What is a No Follow Link?
The purpose of a no-follow link in HTML is to tell search engines not to crawl the linked website. This means that search engine crawlers will not index the linked page, and it will not contribute to the linked page’s search engine ranking.
The nofollow tag was created by Google to tackle the increasing problem of spam in blog comments. With the rise in popularity of blogs, spammers took advantage of the comment sections to post links to their own websites. This approach resulted in two significant issues: low-quality, spammy sites started to achieve high rankings on Google, displacing more reputable websites, and the excessive use of spam comments became unmanageable. In response to this issue, Google introduced the nofollow tag in 2005 and integrated it into their algorithm. Other search engines, including Bing and Yahoo, quickly adopted the trend.
Why Use No-Follow links?
- No-follow links are often used to prevent passing link equity to low-quality or spammy websites.
- A no-follow link can be used to remove yourself from a website’s association with content that you do not wish to be connected with.
- When managing internal linking on your own website, no-follow links can be utilised to avoid search engines favouring specific sites.
Where Can You Find No-Follow Links?
- Backlinks: Backlinks are hyperlinks from other websites to yours.
- Internal links are hyperlinks that are located within your own website.
- Sponsored content: Links in sponsored content or paid advertisements.
- Comment sections: Links in comment sections of websites.
- Forums: Links in forum posts.
When to Use a Do Follow Link
Utilising a do-follow link is essential when your goal is to:
- Enhance your website’s visibility in search results: Do-follow links can significantly elevate your website’s position in search rankings by transferring link equity to the associated page.
- Boosting your search engine rankings can significantly enhance your website traffic.
- Establish connections: By creating links to other websites, you can foster connections with other site owners and may have the opportunity to obtain reciprocal links.
- Enhance valuable content: When you identify a linked page that provides high-quality information, utilising a do-follow link can effectively boost that content and increase its visibility.
- It is crucial to utilise do-follow links with care. Connecting to numerous low-quality or spammy sites can negatively impact your site’s reputation and its rankings in search engines.
When to Use a No Follow Link
Implement a no-follow link when your goal is to:
- To avoid transferring link equity, consider using a no-follow link if you prefer not to give credit to a linked page or wish to prevent passing link equity to low-quality or spammy sites.
- Remove unwanted associations: If a website contains content that you prefer not to be linked with, utilising a no-follow link can effectively separate your website from it.
- Optimise internal linking: Utilising no-follow links can effectively control internal linking on your website, ensuring that search engines do not assign excessive importance to specific pages.
- When linking to sponsored content or paid advertisements, employing a no-follow link is essential to signal that the link does not serve as an endorsement.
- Keep in mind that while no-follow links can serve a purpose in specific contexts, excessive reliance on them may lead to negative consequences. Strategic use of these elements is crucial, and balancing them with do-follow links is essential for maintaining a robust link profile.
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