Nofollow

Nofollow was introduced to fight comment spam. Since 2019 Google has treated it as a hint rather than a strict rule: it may still use nofollowed links to discover pages or as a ranking signal in some cases. At the same time Google added two more specific values: rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.

Nofollow on a link is different from noindex on a page. Nofollow describes a single link; noindex keeps a whole page out of search results. They are often confused because both start with "no".

How it works

The attribute is added to the link element, for example rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc", and values can be combined. When Google sees one, it understands the linking site is not editorially endorsing the target, and it generally does not let that link pass the ranking credit a normal backlink would.

Many platforms add the attributes automatically: blog comments, forum posts, social networks and large publishers often mark outbound links this way. Paid placements, affiliate links and sponsored posts must be marked sponsored or nofollow under Google's spam policies. Other search engines may treat the attributes differently, but nofollow is widely recognised. The attributes say nothing about whether visitors may click the link; they work exactly as normal links for people, and many nofollowed links still bring visitors who become customers.

Because the attributes are hints, they do not fully stop Google from finding a page. If you want a page kept out of search results, nofollow on the links pointing to it will not do that; other sites may link to it normally, and Google may still crawl through the nofollowed link. Use noindex on the page itself for that job. Nofollow can also be set at page level in a robots meta tag, which applies to every link on the page.

Example

A food blogger is paid by a kitchen brand to review a mixer and link to the product page. She marks the link rel="sponsored". The brand still gets visitors and visibility from the review, the blogger stays within Google's rules, and neither risks a manual action for a paid link that passes ranking credit.

To check how a site's links are marked, an owner can right-click a link, choose Inspect in the browser and read the rel value in the link's code. Site crawlers can export all outbound links with their attributes, which makes it easy to confirm that affiliate and sponsored links are marked and that normal editorial links are not marked nofollow by an over-eager plugin.

Why it matters for your business

Using the right attribute protects your site when you publish paid, affiliate or user-submitted links. For links you earn, nofollowed ones are not worthless: they still bring real visitors and brand exposure, and Google may use them as a hint. Marking all your own outbound links nofollow, though, gains nothing and signals distrust of your own sources. A periodic check that sponsored links are labelled takes minutes and removes a real compliance risk.

Common mistakes

• Selling or exchanging links that pass ranking credit without marking them sponsored or nofollow.
• Adding nofollow to internal links to steer ranking credit, which does not work the way people expect.
• Treating nofollow links from respected sites as worthless and declining them.
• Confusing nofollow, which applies to one link, with noindex, which applies to a whole page.

Questions people ask

Do nofollow links help SEO?

They generally do not pass ranking credit, but Google treats nofollow as a hint and may use such links for discovery or as a signal. They can also bring real visitors and brand awareness, which lead to other mentions and followed links. A nofollow link from a relevant, popular site is worth having.

What is the difference between nofollow, sponsored and ugc?

All three tell Google not to treat a link as an editorial endorsement. Sponsored marks paid or affiliate links, ugc marks links in user-generated content such as comments and forums, and nofollow is the general option for anything else you do not vouch for. Google accepts nofollow for paid links too.

Should I make my outbound links nofollow?

Only when the link is paid, affiliate, user-submitted or to a source you do not trust. Normal editorial links to useful sources should be left as standard links. Marking every outbound link nofollow does not protect or improve your rankings and makes your citations look less trustworthy.