Little direct ranking value. Nofollow tells Google not to vouch for a link. Since 2019 it is a hint, so Google may use some of these links, but don’t count on them for rankings.
Real value elsewhere. A nofollow link on a popular page can still send visitors, put your brand in front of new readers and lead to links that do count.
Price them fairly. If you are buying a link for rankings, ask whether it is dofollow before you pay.
Nofollow links usually don’t help your rankings directly, because the rel="nofollow" attribute asks Google not to treat the link as a vote. Since 2019, though, Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a strict rule, so it may still use some of these links. They can also help SEO indirectly, by sending visitors and getting your brand seen by people who later link to you.
Most of the links we sell are dofollow: 21,754 of the 22,073 sites in our catalog give dofollow links. So we have no reason to oversell nofollow links, and no reason to dismiss them either.
What a nofollow link is
A nofollow link is a normal link with an extra attribute in its HTML code:
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example</a>
Readers can’t see the difference, and the link works the same way for them. The attribute only speaks to search engines. Google’s guide to qualifying outbound links explains when to use nofollow. It says to use it “when other values don’t apply, and you’d rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site.” It also offers two more specific values: rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.
Does Google ignore nofollow links?
Not completely, not any more. In September 2019, Google announced that “all the link attributes—sponsored, ugc, and nofollow—are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.” In the same post it asked, “Why not completely ignore such links, as had been the case with nofollow?” It explained that links contain useful information, such as how the words in a link describe the page it points to. For crawling and indexing, nofollow became a hint on March 1, 2020.
A hint is not a promise. Google uses these hints along with other signals, and it doesn’t say how often it counts a nofollow link. So treat any ranking benefit as a bonus, not the reason to get the link.
| Link type | What it tells Google | Ranking credit |
|---|---|---|
| No attribute (dofollow) | A normal link the site stands behind | Can pass ranking credit |
rel="nofollow" | The site doesn’t want to vouch for the link | A hint; usually little or none |
rel="sponsored" | The link is paid or an ad | A hint; not meant to pass credit |
rel="ugc" | The link sits in user content, like a comment | A hint; usually little or none |
How nofollow links can still help
- Visitors. People click links whatever their attributes. A nofollow link on a busy, relevant page can send readers who are actually interested in your topic.
- Brand visibility. Being mentioned on a well-known site puts your name in front of a new audience, and some of them may search for you later.
- More links later. Readers who find you through a nofollow link, including bloggers and journalists, may link to you from their own sites with links that do count.
- Discovery. Google says pages behind these links “may still be crawled,” and it can find them through sitemaps or other sites too.
That is also why sponsored posts on big news sites can be worth buying even though their links are marked. The value comes from the audience, as we explain in what a sponsored post is.
Should you build nofollow links?
Yes, when the page is relevant and people actually read it. Comment links, forum signatures and profile links added only for SEO are a different story. Google’s spam policies list “forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature” as an example of link spam.
If you are paying for links to improve rankings, check the link type first. Ask the seller whether the link will be dofollow, nofollow or sponsored, and don’t pay dofollow prices for a link that will be marked. Our links are dofollow unless a publisher says otherwise, and our catalog shows the link type for each site. Our guide to whether buying backlinks is safe explains when a paid link should be marked.
Filter to dofollow sites and see DR, traffic and price for each.
How to check if a link is nofollow
- Right-click the link and choose Inspect in your browser.
- Look at the
<a>tag. If it containsrel="nofollow",rel="sponsored"orrel="ugc", the link is marked. - If you have many links to check, tools like Ahrefs and Semrush show the link type for each backlink.
When to use nofollow on your own site
The same rules apply when you link out. Google’s guide to qualifying outbound links suggests:
- Paid links and ads:
rel="sponsored". Nofollow is still accepted, but sponsored is preferred. - Links in comments and forum posts:
rel="ugc". - Other links you don’t want to vouch for:
rel="nofollow". - Links to your own pages: leave them followed. If you need to stop Google fetching one of your pages, Google says to use a robots.txt
disallowrule instead.
Normal links to good sources can stay as they are. Linking out to useful pages helps your readers.
Frequently asked questions
Do nofollow links help SEO?
Not much directly. Google treats nofollow as a hint, so some links may count a little, but the main value is indirect: visitors, brand visibility and the followed links that can come later.
Does Google crawl nofollow links?
It can. Since March 1, 2020, nofollow has been a hint for crawling and indexing, and Google says linked pages may still be crawled if it finds them in other ways.
Are nofollow links bad for SEO?
No. They are a normal part of the web. Only spammy ones, such as comment and forum links added just for SEO, are a problem.
Do I need to change old nofollow links to sponsored?
No. Google said you don’t need to change existing nofollow links. Sponsored is preferred for paid links, but nofollow is still accepted.
Is a sponsored link the same as a nofollow link?
Both are hints that Google shouldn’t treat the link as a normal vote. Sponsored is more specific: it says the link was paid for.
Do I need nofollow links for a natural link profile?
No. Google hasn’t given a ratio to aim for. Most sites pick up some nofollow links on their own, from social posts, forums and news mentions. There’s no need to buy them just to look natural.
Want dofollow links on real sites?
Tell us your niche, and we’ll send dofollow options with DR, traffic and prices.
Muhammad Suleman is the founder of Markzone. He has done guest posting and link building since 2018 and has worked with hundreds of clients. Today his team handles 300–400 orders a month for brands and SEO agencies, with publisher sites in every major niche. He leads outreach, site checks and reporting, and writes about link building from his daily work with publishers and clients.