Nofollow Link: The Bloggers Guide

Last Updated April 11, 2024

Are you a blogger looking to control the SEO value you give to external sites when linking to them? NoFollow links are the perfect solution. By setting the relationship of a link to “nofollow,” you can tell search engines not to follow the link or give it any SEO value.

What is a NoFollow Link?

A NoFollow link is a type of HTML attribute that instructs search engines and web crawlers not to follow a specific link or pass on any link equity (SEO value) to the target webpage. When you add the rel="nofollow" attribute to a link, it essentially tells search engines like Google to ignore that link when calculating rankings.

Why Use NoFollow Links?

There are several reasons why you might want to use NoFollow links:

Linking to Competitors: If you need to link to a competitor’s website, using a NoFollow link ensures that you’re not inadvertently boosting their search engine rankings.
Paid Links or Sponsored Content: If you’re being paid to link to a website or promoting sponsored content, it’s important to use NoFollow links to comply with search engine guidelines and avoid potential penalties. Keep in mind you’ll also want to add rel="sponsored" to sponsored links as well.
User-Generated Content: If your blog allows user comments or has forums, adding NoFollow to links within user-generated content can help prevent spam and discourage people from leaving links just for SEO purposes. Typically WordPress does this for you in the comments section.

How to Create a NoFollow Link

Creating a NoFollow link is simple. Just add the rel="nofollow" attribute to your HTML link tag, like this:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example Website</a>

Of course if you’re using the WordPress block editor you can click the “advanced” area and select that you want the link to be set to nofollow without editing HTML.

Checking if a Link is NoFollow

To check if a link on a website is using the NoFollow attribute, simply:

Right-click on the link
Select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” from the context menu
Look for the rel="nofollow" attribute within the link’s HTML

If the attribute is present, the link is NoFollow. If it’s not there, the link is DoFollow, meaning it passes on SEO value.

Using WordPress Plugins for NoFollow Links

If your blog runs on WordPress, you can easily manage NoFollow links using plugins. One popular option is the “External Links” plugin, which allows you to automatically add the NoFollow attribute to all external links on your site.

What’s great about these plugins is that they often include an “allow list” feature. This enables you to specify certain links or domains that you want to remain DoFollow, giving you granular control over which external sites receive SEO value from your blog.

Conclusion

NoFollow links are a powerful tool for bloggers looking to control the flow of SEO value from their site. By using the rel="nofollow" attribute strategically, you can link to external resources without worrying about unintentionally boosting their search engine rankings.

Whether you’re linking to competitors, managing sponsored content, or dealing with user-generated links, understanding and utilizing NoFollow links is an essential skill for any blogger. So, start implementing NoFollow links today and take control of your blog’s SEO!

Do nofollow links help my SEO at all, or are they useless?

Nofollow links can still help your SEO, even if they do not pass full link equity. They can send real visitors to your site, which leads to more traffic, brand searches, and potential customers.

Search engines also look at your link profile as a whole. A natural mix of dofollow and nofollow links looks more trustworthy than only having dofollow backlinks.

If people discover and share your content after visiting through a nofollow link, you can earn new dofollow backlinks over time. So nofollow links are not useless, they just work in a more indirect way.

When should I use nofollow vs dofollow on external links?

Use dofollow links for trusted resources that truly help your reader, like helpful guides, tools, or sources you stand behind. These links can support your content and build relationships with other site owners.

Use nofollow links when you do not want to pass SEO value, such as paid links, affiliate links, or links to competitors. This keeps you safer with search engine rules and gives you more control over your link equity.

You can also nofollow links in user-generated content, like comments or forums, to cut down on spam. For more context on how links work in SEO, check out this simple guide to external links.

Can using too many nofollow links hurt my blog’s rankings?

Using many nofollow links on your blog will not directly hurt your rankings. Search engines mainly ignore them for ranking signals, so they do not count for or against you in the same way as dofollow links.

Problems happen only if your overall link strategy looks spammy or unnatural. For example, if most of your outgoing links are paid or low quality, even with nofollow, search engines may see your site as less helpful.

Focus on linking mostly to high quality, relevant resources and use nofollow where it makes sense. A healthy mix of internal links, dofollow, and nofollow links is normal and safe.

How can RightBlogger help me manage nofollow links and improve my SEO?

RightBlogger cannot edit your HTML for you, but it can make planning and writing SEO-friendly posts much faster. You can use the AI Article Writer to draft posts that naturally include smart internal links and clear spots for external resources where you can decide to use nofollow.

Once your content is live, you can use RightBlogger’s SEO reports to spot posts that need better linking and on-page optimization. This helps you decide where to add or adjust nofollow and dofollow links to match your goals.

By combining good content, smart internal linking, and careful use of nofollow on paid or risky links, you build a stronger overall SEO strategy. RightBlogger simply makes that ongoing process faster and easier to manage.