Off-page SEO
Nofollow Link
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What is Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link is a hyperlink that includes the `rel="nofollow"` attribute, which signals to search engines that the linking page does not want to endorse or pass PageRank to the linked destination. Google introduced the nofollow attribute in 2005 as a mechanism for webmasters to flag paid, user-generated, or otherwise untrusted links without facing penalties for linking to low-quality pages.
In 2019, Google updated its nofollow guidance, reclassifying it as a "hint" rather than a directive — meaning Google may still choose to crawl and partially credit nofollow links at its discretion. Two additional link attributes were also introduced: `rel="sponsored"` for paid links and `rel="ugc"` for user-generated content. Despite not passing full link juice, nofollow links can still drive referral traffic and contribute to brand visibility.
Why it matters for SEO
A natural backlink profile includes a mix of dofollow and nofollow links, and an unnaturally all-dofollow profile can itself be a red flag. While nofollow links do not pass full link equity, they still contribute to brand exposure, referral traffic, and the overall diversity of your link profile.
Example
A blog comment links to the commenter's website. The blogging platform automatically writes the link as <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow ugc">, telling search engines the site owner does not vouch for it. Similarly, a sponsored product review should mark its affiliate or paid links with rel="sponsored". Readers can still click these links normally; only the signal to search engines changes.
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