What Are Nofollow and Dofollow Links?

Nofollow and dofollow links are types of hyperlinks that determine how search engines should interpret links from one web page to another. The key difference lies in whether these links send a signal to search engines or not. A “dofollow” link tells search engines, “this page I’m linking to is trustworthy and valuable; take it into account.” On the other hand, a “nofollow” link says, “I’m directing users to this page, but I don’t want it to gain any ranking advantage.” Although both links are clickable for users, search engines see and assess this distinction.

What Are the Differences Between Nofollow and Dofollow Links?

These differences are particularly important in terms of SEO (search engine optimization). Dofollow links can increase the authority of the target page because search engines like Google treat them as a kind of “vote of confidence.”

These “votes” can directly influence rankings. Nofollow links, however, are often used in comments, forum posts, sponsored content, or user-generated sections. That’s because links in these areas are not always trustworthy. Google introduced the nofollow attribute in 2005 to help sites avoid responsibility in such cases. With an update in 2019, Google announced that it may now treat these links as hints, meaning they may not be completely ignored.

On the technical side, defining these link types is quite simple. When the attribute rel="nofollow" is added to a link’s HTML code, search engine bots receive a command not to pass SEO value through that link.

There’s no need to write extra code for dofollow links; they are considered dofollow by default. Developers use dofollow for internal links to trusted pages and nofollow for user-generated, sponsored, or suspicious sources, maintaining the overall SEO health of the site. In short, these tags are both a technical decision and a strategic choice, allowing you to control which links should transfer authority.

Why Are Links Categorized Into Different Types?

Links between websites do more than just redirect users to other pages—they carry significant meaning for search engines too. Search engines like Google treat a site’s outbound links as a form of trust. These links are an important factor in determining which pages appear higher in search results.

However, not all links are created equal or reflect the same level of trust. For example, a link placed within an article on a news website reflects editorial approval, while a link posted in a user comment does not come under the direct control of the site owner. This is where link types come into play.

This distinction was developed to prevent search engine manipulation via spammy content and to give webmasters more flexibility in managing link responsibility. Especially in sponsored content, user comments, and forum posts, using nofollow links helps preserve a site's authority.

What About Nofollow? Does Google Completely Ignore These Links?

For a long time, nofollow links were completely disregarded in Google's ranking algorithms. Introduced in 2005, the nofollow attribute was created to combat spam from user-generated content like blog comments. With the rel="nofollow" tag, webmasters could tell search engines, “I don’t trust this link—don’t consider it for rankings.” This helped prevent link manipulation and was the standard for many years.

However, this approach began to shift in 2019. Google officially announced that nofollow links would no longer be completely ignored, and that in some cases, they would be treated as “hints.” This means Google’s algorithm can now analyze content context, anchor text, and link patterns even from nofollow links and extract potential value.

At the same time, Google introduced two new link attributes: rel="sponsored" (for ads and sponsored content) and rel="ugc" (for user-generated content such as comments). These additions allow search engines to understand the nature of each link more precisely.

What Are Sponsored and UGC Links?

In 2019, Google introduced two new link attributes in addition to nofollow, aiming to better understand the nature of links: rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc". These tags are used to clearly indicate the reason behind the link to search engines. This helps algorithms function more accurately and gives webmasters a way to describe link intent more specifically.

• rel="sponsored" is used for links provided as part of advertisements, sponsored content, or paid partnerships. For example, if a brand pays to place content or a banner link on another site, that link should be tagged with “sponsored.”

• rel="ugc" stands for “User Generated Content” and applies to links added in areas such as blog comments, forum posts, or user profiles.
  

By using this tag, webmasters inform search engines that the link was added by a user and not under editorial control. This helps reduce site responsibility and neutralizes SEO value for potential spam links. Sometimes, the ugc attribute can also be used alongside nofollow.

How Should We Decide Between Dofollow and Nofollow?

Whether a link should be dofollow or nofollow depends on the source, intent, and trust level of that link. According to Google’s guidelines, links within ads, affiliate content, or sponsorships must be tagged as nofollow or rel="sponsored". The table below summarizes which tag to use based on the type of link: