Nofollow, dofollow, and sponsored links

A blogger mentions your product in a review and links to your site. Does that link help your rankings? The answer depends on a small piece of HTML you never see as a reader: the link attribute.

Some links pass ranking signals to the page they point to. Others tell search engines to ignore the link for ranking purposes. Understanding nofollow, dofollow, and sponsored links helps you evaluate which links in your profile actually move the needle and which ones simply drive traffic.

Here is how each link type works and what it means for your SEO strategy.

What is a dofollow link?

A dofollow link is a standard hyperlink with no special attribute restricting it. Search engines crawl the link, follow it to the destination page, and may pass ranking credit (often called link equity) from the linking page to the linked page.

Most editorial links are dofollow by default. When a news site references your research in an article and links to your page without adding a nofollow attribute, that is a dofollow link. It is the type of link that directly supports your search rankings.

Dofollow links from relevant, trusted sites are the backbone of off-page SEO. They tell search engines that another website vouches for your content.

What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link includes a rel="nofollow" attribute in its HTML. This attribute tells search engines not to pass ranking credit through the link. The search engine can still crawl the destination page through other paths, but this specific link does not count as an editorial endorsement.

Nofollow links appear in blog comments, forum posts, social media profiles, and any place where users can add links without editorial review. Site owners use nofollow to prevent spam links from manipulating rankings.

Nofollow links still have value. They drive referral traffic, build brand visibility, and can lead to additional dofollow links when people discover your content through those visits.

What are sponsored and UGC link attributes?

Search engines introduced two additional link attributes beyond nofollow. Sponsored marks links that were paid for or created as part of an advertisement. UGC (user-generated content) marks links in content created by site visitors, like comments and forum posts.

These attributes give search engines more context about why a link exists. A sponsored link on a paid review tells search engines the connection is commercial, not editorial. A UGC link in a comment section signals the site owner did not choose to place that link.

In practice, all three attributes (nofollow, sponsored, and UGC) tell search engines to treat the link as a hint rather than a full endorsement. They may still crawl the linked page but assign less ranking weight to the connection.

Do nofollow links help SEO?

Nofollow links do not pass direct ranking credit the way dofollow links do. That does not mean they are worthless. A nofollow link from a high-traffic site can send meaningful referral visitors who may share your content, link to it from their own sites, or become customers.

Search engines have also indicated that they may treat nofollow as a hint rather than a strict command. A nofollow link from a highly relevant, trusted source might carry some signal, though less than a dofollow link from the same source.

A natural link profile includes both nofollow and dofollow links. A profile with only dofollow links looks manipulated. Real websites earn a mix through comments, social shares, directories, and editorial mentions.

When should you use nofollow on your own links?

Use nofollow on outbound links you do not fully endorse or that are paid placements. If you link to a sponsor, add rel="sponsored." If you link to a user-submitted resource you have not verified, use nofollow or UGC.

For internal links between your own pages, always use standard dofollow links. There is no reason to nofollow your own content. Internal dofollow links help search engines understand your site structure and distribute authority between pages.

When you publish guest content or allow contributors on your site, nofollow or UGC attributes on their outbound links protect your site from being associated with links you did not editorially approve.

How link attributes affect your link building strategy

When evaluating backlink quality, consider the link attribute alongside relevance and authority. A dofollow link from a relevant industry blog is the gold standard. A nofollow link from the same blog still has value but contributes less to rankings directly.

Do not avoid nofollow links in your outreach or content strategy. A mention on a popular industry forum with a nofollow link can drive traffic and awareness that leads to dofollow links later.

Pay attention to anchor text regardless of the link type. Descriptive anchor text on a nofollow link still helps readers understand what they will find, and it keeps your overall link profile looking natural.

Link attributes are technical details, but they shape how much each link contributes to your SEO. Pursue dofollow editorial links as your primary goal, value nofollow links for traffic and visibility, and label your own outbound links honestly.

Frequently asked questions