Here's a breakdown of "dofollow" and "nofollow" links:
The Basic Idea
When one website links to another, it's like a vote of confidence. Search engines use these links to understand how websites are connected and how much authority they have. "Dofollow" and "nofollow" are attributes that tell search engines how to treat that "vote."
Dofollow Links
The default: By default, all links are "dofollow" unless specified otherwise.
Pass "link juice": This means they pass on SEO value (or "link equity") to the linked website. This helps improve the linked site's search engine rankings.
Example:
<a href="https://www.example.com">ExampleWebsite</a>(This is a dofollow link because there's no "rel" attribute specifying otherwise.)
Nofollow Links
Added with
rel="nofollow": This attribute tells search engines not to pass on link equity.Example:
<a href="https://www.example.com" rel="nofollow">Example Website</a>Originally created to combat spam: Nofollow was introduced to prevent people from artificially boosting their rankings by spamming blog comments and forums with links.
Why Use Nofollow?
Paid links: Google requires the use of nofollow for paid links or advertisements.
Untrusted content: If you're linking to a source you don't fully trust, nofollow is a good practice.
User-generated content: On forums or blog comments where users can post links, nofollow helps prevent spam.
Are Nofollow Links Useless?
Not entirely! While they don't directly boost rankings, they can still:
Drive traffic: People can still click on nofollow links and visit your site.
Increase brand awareness: Getting mentioned on relevant websites, even with nofollow links, can improve your brand's visibility.
Create a natural link profile: A healthy mix of dofollow and nofollow links looks more natural to search engines.
Key Takeaways
Dofollow links are more valuable for SEO in terms of directly influencing rankings.
Nofollow links have other benefits and are important for a balanced link profile.
Focus on earning high-quality dofollow links from reputable sources, but don't disregard nofollow links entirely.
I hope this clarifies the difference between dofollow and nofollow links! Let me know if you have any more questions.