A lot is the same, but there’s a particularly interesting bit from 2013 that I think should still be in there today, as it really tells you how not to build links:
“Links that are inserted into articles with little coherence, for example:
most people sleep at night. you can buy cheap blankets at shops. a blanket keeps you warm at night. you can also buy a wholesale heater. It produces more warmth and you can just turn it off in summer when you are going on france vacation.“
*Note: Here’s the original source.
Sadly, that is still a common thing to do.
When You Shouldn’t Use A Nofollow
If you are giving someone a link because you want to, you think it’s a good resource, and you haven’t been given anything or paid for it, you don’t need to nofollow it.
If you don’t see that it in any way can be considered a link that is designed to manipulate PageRank, you don’t need to nofollow it.
Some webmasters have become so afraid of being penalized that they nofollow all outbound links.
In my opinion, this is unnecessary unless your site only exists to sell links.
What About Dofollow?
It doesn’t exist.
If a link isn’t nofollowed, it’s automatically followed.
(Unless it’s nofollowed through a meta robots tag on a page level. Read Google’s help doc on the topic for more information.)
What Value Does A Nofollowed Link Bring?
A nofollowed link may not help you rank higher – but with the decision to treat it as a hint instead of a directive, it still could.
Nofollowed links are also part of a natural link profile, and a site with no nofollowed links looks odd.
The best thing about nofollowed links is that they are good for traffic and can send you much more traffic than many followed links.
If the New York Times ran a story and gave you a nofollowed link, wouldn’t you still be happy with it?
I know I would.
How Can I See How Many Nofollowed Links I Have?
All major tools will tell you how many nofollowed and followed links you have.
Here are a few examples of what that looks like.
Ahrefs
Screenshot from Ahrefs, October 2024
Majestic
Screenshot from Majestic, October 2024
Semrush
Screenshot from Semrush, October 2024
How Do I Tell If A Link Is Nofollowed
I don’t like to use a lot of plugins, so I tend to head straight for the code.
I look to see if nofollow is in the code for my link.
Below is an example from this post.
<a href=”https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow“>Screaming Frog</a></li><li><a href=”https://www.semrush.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow“>SEMrush</a></li><li><a href=”https://ahrefs.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow“>Ahrefs</a></li><li><a href=”https://majestic.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow“>Majestic</a></li>
However, some plugins can highlight nofollows:
Detailed SEO Extension
Screenshot from author, October 2024
Ahrefs Chrome Plugin
Screenshot from author, October 2024
Igoreware Nofollow Extension
Screenshot from author, October 2024
To Nofollow Or Not To Nofollow?
Follow:
If you are linking out to a source and you trust the source.
Guest post: Unless they’re posting on a large scale. This is for a true guest post where you are not paying for the post.
Link to social media profiles.
Nofollow:
If you sold a link.
If someone paid you to post their content.
If you are in any way nervous that you might be penalized for the link.
Sitewide link to the person who designed your site, although many people will follow links to company names.
Widgets.
Nofollow In The Real World
Let’s face it. We don’t always stick to the rules as SEO pros.
We manipulate anything that works well, and it gradually becomes useless or dangerous.
So, are people using nofollow, UGC, and sponsored values as Google intends?
Time will tell.
More resources:
Featured Image: Moon Safari/Shutterstock