A nofollow link is a hyperlink with a special HTML attribute (rel=”nofollow”) that tells search engines not to pass authority or link juice to the linked page. Without this tag, a regular link (called a dofollow link) transfers some SEO value from the linking site to the destination.
When Are Nofollow Links Used?
- Paid or sponsored links (required by Google’s guidelines)
- User-generated content like blog comments, to prevent spam links from affecting rankings
- Affiliate links, where Google recommends using rel=”sponsored”
- Links you want to reference but don’t want to vouch for
Dofollow vs Nofollow
Dofollow links are what SEOs work hard to earn because they boost a page’s authority in Google’s eyes. Nofollow links don’t pass authority, but they can still send real traffic and bring exposure.
Nofollow in WordPress
For affiliate links in your posts, you’ll need to add the attribute manually or use a plugin like Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates, which can apply it automatically to all your affiliate links.
Related: Backlinks
