What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link is a hyperlink with the attribute rel="nofollow", which the linking page uses to tell search engines that it does not endorse the target and does not want to be associated with it. Since September 2019, Google has treated nofollow as a hint and decides for itself whether to follow the link or count it for ranking. A link without this attribute is colloquially called a dofollow link.

Term profile

What does a nofollow link look like in HTML?

A nofollow link carries the attribute rel with the value nofollow in the a element. To visitors the link looks like any other, and the marking only appears in the source code:

<!-- link without endorsement -->
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="nofollow">Example page</a>

<!-- paid link, for example in an advertorial -->
<a href="https://shop.example.com/" rel="sponsored">Visit the store</a>

<!-- link from a comment, multiple values are allowed -->
<a href="https://blog.example.com/" rel="ugc nofollow">my blog</a>

Google allows multiple values in the same attribute, separated by spaces or commas. Values like noopener and noreferrer often appear alongside them. They concern security and the passing of the referrer in the browser and have no influence on ranking.

The meta robots tag <meta name="robots" content="nofollow"> or the HTTP header X-Robots-Tag with the same value works page-wide. Both apply to every link on the page.

What is the difference between nofollow, sponsored, and ugc?

The three values nofollow, sponsored, and ugc describe different reasons why a page does not endorse a link. Google treats all three as hints, and for link equity sponsored and ugc count the same as nofollow.

What counts as user-generated content is decided by the platform operator. Many networks, forums, and wikis add one of these values to outbound links by default.

How do nofollow links affect rankings?

A nofollow link usually passes no link equity to the target, but it remains a hint that Google may still evaluate. Until 2019, Google said it did not use such links for ranking. Since the switch to the hint model, Google can take individual nofollow links into account, for example to detect spam more reliably. Google does not disclose when that happens.

For search engine optimization, nofollow links have 3 indirect effects:

• Visitors: A nofollow link from a widely read article brings real readers, regardless of the attribute.
• Mentions: The linked name still appears in the text. Such brand mentions connect a brand with a topic, for search engines and for AI systems.
• Discovery: Other authors find the page through the link and later link to it themselves, often without nofollow.

Almost every naturally grown link profile contains nofollow links, because large platforms such as Wikipedia, social networks, and forums mark outbound links this way by default. How a backlink works therefore always depends on the attribute and on the linking page. The entry on link juice explains more about how link equity is passed on.

When should you mark links as nofollow?

You mark a link as nofollow, sponsored, or ugc when it is paid, comes from users, or points to a source you don’t want to vouch for. The marking is appropriate in 4 cases:

1. Paid links: Google’s spam policies require sponsored or nofollow for bought or exchanged links. An unmarked paid link counts as link spam and is one of the methods of black hat SEO.
2. Affiliate links: Commission links count as paid placements and carry sponsored.
3. Comments and forums: Links that visitors set themselves carry ugc. This removes the incentive for spammers.
4. Unverified sources: A link to a page whose quality you cannot assess carries nofollow.

An internal link, on the other hand, stays without an attribute. Nofollow on internal links interrupts the flow of link equity within your own website, and Google treats it as only a hint there as well. If you want to manage your crawl budget, use other tools: For areas Google should not crawl, Google recommends the robots.txt, and for pages that should stay out of the index, the noindex attribute.

How do you check whether a link is nofollow?

Whether a link is nofollow is shown in the source code of the linking page, in the link’s rel attribute. The check works in 3 steps:

1. Read the attribute: Right-click in the browser, choose “Inspect”, and check whether the rel attribute of the a element contains nofollow, sponsored, or ugc.
2. Check page-wide settings: Search the source code for meta name="robots" and the HTTP response headers for the X-Robots-Tag. A page-wide nofollow overrides every individual link.
3. Look at the actual listing page: A portal’s documentation often describes a different state than the page it actually serves. The only reliable check is to fetch the specific page your link is on.

How important the third step is, taismo measured in September 2026 across several directories and platforms. A design directory with a very strong domain marks all directory links as nofollow. A large product platform marks links with ugc, and the links in the README files of GitHub repositories carry nofollow. Smaller specialist directories, of all places, delivered usable regular links. A link without the value nofollow is therefore only a regular link once ugc and sponsored are missing as well.

Are nofollow links worth it for link building?

Nofollow links are worth it for link building when they bring reach, mentions, or trust, and they are evaluated on exactly those terms. A specialist article on a widely read portal with a nofollow link can bring more inquiries than a regular link from an unknown directory. It gets expensive when a nofollow link is sold and paid for as a backlink.

For off-page optimization, this means: Every link source is measured on the specific listing page, by its rel attribute and by the strength of that exact page. How ongoing SEO services select and evaluate link sources depends on this distinction.

Frequently asked questions about nofollow links

Is there a dofollow attribute?
No. Dofollow is a colloquial term for a link without nofollow, sponsored, or ugc. An attribute rel="dofollow" does not exist in the HTML standard and is ignored by search engines.

Can too many nofollow links hurt my website?
No. Incoming nofollow links do not hurt a website. They are part of every naturally grown link profile, because many large platforms mark outbound links this way.

Does Google still follow a nofollow link?
Google generally does not follow such links, but since March 2020 it has also treated nofollow as a hint for crawling. The linked page can also be found and indexed through sitemaps or other links.

Are links on social networks nofollow?
Most social networks mark links in posts and profiles as nofollow or ugc. Their value lies in reach and visitors.