What Is a Nofollow Link?

Nofollow links are one of the most misunderstood parts of SEO. Half the industry says they are worthless. The other half says they are secretly powerful. The truth sits in between and has shifted in the last few years as Google has changed how it interprets the attribute.

I will walk through what nofollow actually is, how it differs from the newer sponsored and ugc attributes, when to use each, and how nofollow links affect your rankings in 2026. Real client examples throughout so you can see how this plays out in practice, not just in theory.

What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link is a hyperlink with the HTML attribute rel="nofollow" added to it. Here is what a normal link and a nofollow link look like in code:

Regular (follow) link: <a href="https://example.com">Example</a>

Nofollow link: <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example</a>

The rel attribute is a signal to search engines about the relationship between the linking page and the linked page. When you add rel="nofollow", you are telling Google, "I am linking to this page, but I do not want to vouch for it or pass my ranking credit to it."

Google introduced nofollow in 2005 to help site owners flag spam comments, paid links, and untrusted content without having to remove the link entirely. It let people link to a site (for human readers) without endorsing that site's SEO value. In 2019, Google added two more specific attributes (sponsored and ugc) to give site owners better vocabulary for different types of untrusted links.

How nofollow affects SEO

The core rule for years was: nofollow links do not pass PageRank (the ranking credit Google assigns to every URL). If a page with high authority linked to your site with rel="nofollow", none of that authority would flow to your page. In practice, a nofollow backlink was treated as if it did not exist for ranking purposes.

That changed in March 2020. Google announced that nofollow (along with sponsored and ugc) would be treated as a "hint" rather than a strict directive. This means Google may choose to consider a nofollow link for ranking purposes if it looks legitimate and relevant. The exact criteria are opaque, but the shift matters: nofollow backlinks are no longer guaranteed to be ignored.

Even before the 2020 change, nofollow links delivered real SEO benefits in ways most people missed:

• Referral traffic. A nofollow link on a high-traffic page can send hundreds or thousands of visitors, some of whom become customers, subscribers, or eventual link partners.
• Brand awareness. Every mention of your brand alongside a link builds recognition, even without direct ranking credit.
• Backlink profile diversity. A site with only dofollow backlinks looks suspicious. Natural backlink profiles have a healthy mix of both. Nofollow links from social media, forums, and comments help you look normal to Google.
• Discovery. A nofollow link from a popular blog often leads other writers to discover you and eventually link with regular follow links.

For a Pune dental clinic client, a single nofollow mention in a health blog brought 340 visits over two months and led to two new regular (follow) citations from other health writers who discovered the clinic through the original nofollow post. The nofollow itself contributed no direct PageRank, but the chain of events it kicked off was measurable and valuable.

Nofollow, sponsored, and ugc: what each one means

In September 2019, Google introduced two more specific attributes to sit alongside nofollow. The three attributes now cover three different reasons you might not want to fully vouch for an outbound link.

rel="nofollow"

The original catch-all attribute. Use it for any link where you cannot or do not want to endorse the destination for ranking purposes, and where the more specific sponsored or ugc attributes do not apply. Common uses include linking to a competitor for context, linking to a source you have not fully verified, or linking to an outdated resource that might change.

rel="sponsored"

Introduced in 2019. Use for any link that was paid for, including advertisements, affiliate links, sponsored content, and paid partnerships. If Google detects a paid link that is not marked sponsored (or nofollow), the linking site can face a manual penalty. Since 2020, sponsored has been the recommended attribute for paid links.

rel="ugc"

Also introduced in 2019. UGC stands for "user-generated content." Use for links inside blog comments, forum posts, user reviews, and any other content contributed by users rather than the site owner. Wikipedia, Reddit, and most forums apply rel="ugc" (sometimes combined with nofollow) to outbound links inside their user content.

Combining attributes

You can combine multiple rel values in a single link. Common combinations include:

• rel="sponsored nofollow" for paid links where you want the extra explicit signal.
• rel="ugc nofollow" for user comments where you also want the older nofollow signal.
• rel="noopener noreferrer" (unrelated to nofollow) for external links that open in new tabs, for security.

Where nofollow links come from

Most of the nofollow links pointing to your site probably come from these sources without you doing anything.

Social media platforms

Every link you post on Instagram, Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube is automatically nofollow. Platforms do this to prevent spam and to avoid passing platform authority to every random link users post. But these links still drive massive referral traffic. My own Instagram content has hit 742K+ views with 94 percent from non-followers, and the profile link (nofollow) has driven substantial site visits.

Wikipedia and Wikipedia-like sites

Wikipedia links are always nofollow (usually with ugc added too). But a Wikipedia mention brings significant referral traffic and often triggers other writers to cite you, adding follow links downstream.

Blog comments and forums

Nearly every comment section and forum applies nofollow (and often ugc) to outbound links, precisely to discourage comment spam. Do not waste time on comment spam. It rarely helps rankings and often gets you banned.

Directory listings

Many general directories apply nofollow to submitted business URLs. For local SEO, industry-specific directories like Justdial, Practo (for healthcare), and Zomato (for restaurants) matter more for citations than for link equity. See my local citation building guide for the ones that count.

Press releases

Google specifically stated in 2013 that links in press releases should be nofollow. Most legitimate press release distribution services now automatically nofollow all links. Buying dofollow links via press releases is against Google's guidelines.

Sponsored content and advertorials

Any paid placement must be marked sponsored (or nofollow). Sites that fail to mark paid links face manual penalties.

When to use nofollow on your own outbound links

As a site owner, you decide when to add nofollow, sponsored, or ugc to links leaving your site. Here is the practical decision framework I use with clients.

Add rel="sponsored" when:

• The link is part of a paid advertisement, affiliate arrangement, or sponsored post.
• You accepted money, a product, or a service in exchange for the link.
• The link is in a review of a product you were paid or gifted to review.

Add rel="ugc" when:

• The link appears in a comment, forum post, review, or other user-submitted content.
• You cannot moderate or edit the content the link appears in.

Add rel="nofollow" when:

• You are linking to a site you cannot fully vouch for (a controversial source, an untested tool).
• You are linking to a login page, sign-up form, or resource that Google should not spend crawl budget indexing.
• You have too many outbound links on a single page and want to concentrate ranking credit on the ones that matter most.

Keep links as regular (follow) when:

• You are linking to a source you trust and want to endorse.
• You are linking to your own pages (internal linking should almost always be follow).
• You are citing authoritative research, government data, or well-known publications.
• The link genuinely helps your reader and you would recommend the destination.

How to add nofollow to a link

In HTML

Add the rel attribute directly to the anchor tag:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example</a>

In WordPress classic editor

Click the link, click the pencil icon, click the gear icon, and check the "Open link in a new tab" or "Add nofollow to link" options depending on your version. Many themes and SEO plugins add nofollow toggle controls.

In WordPress block editor (Gutenberg)

Select the linked text, open the link options in the toolbar, and toggle "Mark as nofollow" (usually via the arrow dropdown or with a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math).

Bulk with plugins

SEO plugins like Yoast, Rank Math, and All in One SEO offer options to automatically nofollow all external links or all links from specific sections (like comments). Use these carefully. Nofollowing every external link makes your site look stingy and unhelpful to Google.

Nofollow myths I hear repeatedly

Myth: Nofollow links have zero SEO value

False. Since 2020, Google treats nofollow as a hint. Beyond that, nofollow links drive referral traffic, build brand mentions, and diversify your backlink profile. They also frequently lead to future dofollow links when other people discover you through the original nofollow.

Myth: You should nofollow all external links to preserve your PageRank

False and outdated. This "PageRank sculpting" tactic stopped working around 2009 when Google changed how it distributes link equity. Nofollowing internal links or trusted external references makes your site look artificial and can hurt rankings.

Myth: Nofollow links can hurt your rankings

False. Google does not penalise sites for having nofollow backlinks. The attribute simply tells Google not to fully trust the link. It never counts against you. What can hurt you is a pattern of paid or spammy dofollow backlinks, which is why the sponsored attribute exists.

Myth: All backlinks from social media are worthless

False. Social media links are nofollow, but they still bring traffic, awareness, and downstream discovery. Focus on social platforms that match your audience rather than dismissing them for SEO reasons.

Myth: If a link is not nofollow, it must be dofollow

Technically true but misleading. There is no rel="dofollow" attribute. A link without rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" is a regular link that passes ranking credit by default. "Dofollow" is just SEO jargon for "not nofollow."

How to audit nofollow links on your site

You should periodically check which of your outbound links are nofollow and whether the attributes are correct.

1. Install a nofollow highlighter browser extension like NoFollow for Chrome or Firefox. It visually marks every nofollow link on any page you visit, so you can quickly scan your own pages.
2. Right-click links and inspect the HTML to see the rel attribute directly.
3. Run my free SEO checker on your key pages to see link-related issues flagged in the report.
4. Check your backlink profile in Google Search Console (Links section) to see which external sites link to you and understand the balance of follow vs nofollow inbound links.
5. Compare your domain authority against competitors with my website authority checker to understand whether you need more follow backlinks or whether other factors are limiting you.

The truth about building nofollow links strategically

Some SEOs specifically target nofollow links from high-authority sites (like Wikipedia, HuffPost user profiles, high-DR forums) as a strategy. The theory is that even nofollow links from strong domains provide some signal since 2020, and the referral traffic and brand-building value are real.

I have seen this work when done well. For a Pune restaurant client, a mention in a Reddit food thread (nofollow, ugc) brought a spike of 800 visits in a week, generated 12 Google reviews, and one food blogger who ate there wrote a follow-up post with a regular follow link.

But do not go build hundreds of low-quality nofollow links thinking they will move rankings. Focus on:

• Getting mentioned in high-traffic publications, even if the links are nofollow.
• Being active in industry forums where your expertise is genuinely useful.
• Building a strong social presence (all social links are nofollow but drive traffic and awareness).
• Guest posting on authoritative sites, even when they nofollow author bio links.

Combine this with earning follow backlinks through original research, useful tools, and content that other people naturally want to cite. My guide on what is off-page SEO covers the full backlink and authority-building picture.

Related SEO guides

• What is off-page SEO — the complete backlink and authority overview.
• Local citation building guide — the directories that matter for local SEO.
• What is local SEO — how off-page and local signals fit together.
• How long does SEO take — realistic timelines for backlink work to show results.
• Free website SEO audit guide — how to evaluate your full SEO footprint.

Frequently asked questions

What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link is a hyperlink with rel="nofollow" added to its HTML. This attribute tells Google and other search engines not to pass ranking credit (link equity) from your page to the linked page. Nofollow links still send human visitors and can still bring traffic. They just do not directly contribute to the linked page's rankings the way a regular (dofollow) link does. Google introduced nofollow in 2005 to help site owners flag untrusted, paid, or user-generated links.

Do nofollow links help SEO at all?

Yes, more than most people assume. Since March 2020 Google treats nofollow as a "hint" rather than a strict directive, meaning it may still consider the link for ranking in some cases. Nofollow links also drive referral traffic, build brand awareness, diversify your backlink profile (which looks natural), and often lead to future dofollow links when someone finds you through the nofollow one. For a Pune clinic client, a nofollow mention in a health blog brought 340 visits and two new dofollow citations within two months.

When should I use nofollow on outbound links?

Use nofollow when you cannot vouch for the linked page, when the link is paid or sponsored, when it appears in user-generated content like comments, or when it points to an untrusted site. Since 2019, Google added more specific attributes: rel="sponsored" for paid or affiliate links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content links. Use these instead of plain nofollow where they fit. Trusted editorial links to authoritative sources should stay as regular follow links.

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

All three tell Google not to fully trust the link, but they signal different reasons. Nofollow is the general "do not pass credit" attribute (introduced 2005). Sponsored (introduced 2019) marks paid links, affiliate links, and advertisements. UGC marks links in user-generated content like comments, forum posts, and reviews. Since 2020, Google prefers the specific attributes (sponsored and ugc) over generic nofollow when they apply. You can also combine them: rel="sponsored nofollow" works if you want to be explicit.

How do I check if a link is nofollow?

Right-click any link and select "Inspect" in your browser. Look for the rel attribute in the anchor tag. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", the link is not passing full credit. You can also install browser extensions like NoFollow (Chrome) that visually highlight nofollow links on any page. To audit your own site's outbound links, run my free SEO checker and see which link attributes you are using across your key pages.

Your next step

Look at your last three blog posts. Are your outbound links marked correctly with sponsored, ugc, or nofollow where they should be? Run my free SEO checker to spot link issues, and then check your domain authority with my website authority checker to see where your follow backlinks stand against competitors.