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 blog’s SEO at all, or are they useless?

NoFollow links do not pass link equity, but they still help your SEO in indirect ways. They keep you safe from penalties when linking to sponsored content or low quality sites.

They also make your link profile look more natural. A healthy mix of DoFollow and NoFollow links is a normal pattern that search engines expect to see.

NoFollow links can bring you real traffic if people click them. That extra traffic can lead to more shares, more email subscribers, and even natural DoFollow backlinks later.

If you want to go deeper into how link value works, it helps to understand PageRank and how it influences rankings. That context makes it easier to decide which links should be NoFollow and which should stay DoFollow.

When should I use NoFollow vs DoFollow links on my blog posts?

Use DoFollow links for trusted, high quality resources that truly help your readers. These are sites you want to support and are happy to pass SEO value to.

Use NoFollow for sponsored links, affiliate links, untrusted sources, and competitor pages you must reference but do not want to boost. For paid content, also add rel="sponsored" so you follow search engine rules.

For things like comments and forums, NoFollow is usually the safest default. This keeps random users from gaining SEO value by dropping links on your site.

You can also think in terms of link types: external links you do not fully trust or control are often good candidates for NoFollow. Links inside your own site, known as internal links, should almost always be DoFollow to help your own SEO.

How can RightBlogger help me manage NoFollow links and overall link strategy?

RightBlogger cannot flip a switch in WordPress to set NoFollow, but it can help you plan a smart linking strategy. When you use the AI Article Writer, you can guide it to include certain links as trusted resources and keep others limited.

You can then edit those links in WordPress and mark the ones you do not want to pass SEO value as NoFollow. This workflow saves time because the structure and anchor text are already in place.

If you want to see which backlinks already point to your site, the RightBlogger Backlink Tool can help. Knowing what links you are getting from other sites makes it easier to choose which sites you want to support with DoFollow links in return.

As your blog grows, you can also use RightBlogger’s SEO focused tools and reports to spot posts that need better linking. That way, you use NoFollow on riskier links while strengthening the posts that bring you the most traffic.

Is it bad if I NoFollow all external links on my blog?

No, it is not usually harmful to NoFollow all external links, but it is not ideal. When you never pass SEO value to any site, you miss chances to build good relationships and trust in your niche.

Search engines also look at how you link out to understand what your content is about. Linking to strong, related resources with DoFollow can help show that your post is part of a helpful topic cluster.

A better approach is to use a plugin that adds NoFollow to most external links, then create an “allow list” for high quality sites. This lets you keep control while still rewarding trusted sources.

If you are planning a full SEO strategy around links and authority, you might also want to learn how backlinks work in general. That bigger picture can guide which sites you choose to keep DoFollow.