In this guide, you’ll learn:
For search engine optimization (SEO), backlinks are a critical factor.
Although search engine algorithms have changed over the years, backlinks remain a powerful ranking signal.
There is one distinction when creating a link profile: do you use follow or nofollow links?
Below, we’ll discuss follow vs. nofollow links and how they can impact your website’s SEO.
Navigation:
- What is a Follow Link?
- What is a Nofollow Link?
- Are Nofollow Links Good for Link Building?
- Do You Build Nofollow Links at Getmentioned?
- How to Build Nofollow Backlinks (Main Methods)
- How to Build Follow Backlinks (Main Methods)
- Short Summary
- FAQs
- TL;DR
What is a Follow Link?
A follow link signals search engines to count it as a “vote” for the page or website being linked to.
When someone connects to your website with a follow link, it tells search engines that the linking site has endorsed your content in some way. Therefore encouraging them to give your page higher rankings.
Follow links are also referred to as “dofollow links.”
This is because the HTML code behind it does not contain an attribute telling search engines to ignore it.
An example of a follow link would be a link from quality sites or pages with established authority.
What is a Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link is a particular link that tells search engine bots to ignore it through a “nofollow” attribute in the HTML code.
This prevents it from counting as a positive ranking signal for your site.
Nofollow links typically include paid links, blog comments (especially blog comment spam), and links in forum posts.
They can also be used on any page where you don’t want to pass link juice or ranking power to another website.
Nofollow links can still be quality links – they just don’t affect your SEO directly.
| Follow Links | Nofollow Links |
| Passes link juice from one page to another | Do not pass link juice and tell search engines to ignore them |
| a href=”https://getmentioned.today/” | a href=”https://getmentioned.today/” rel=”nofollow” |
| Examples: External links to sites with good authority |
Examples:
|
Are Nofollow Links Good for Link Building?
You may think that because they’re called nofollow links, they’re bad for SEO.
But this isn’t entirely true.
Nofollow links can still bring traffic to your web page.
As SEO consultant Mervin Lance points out, nofollow links can contribute to referral traffic.
Ninad Pathak, an experienced content marketer, also adds that having a good mix of both dofollow and nofollow links is better.
Too many follow links make it obvious that you’re building them manually.
Meanwhile, too many nofollow links can make it appear like you don’t have any authority on the topic.
In general, here are the benefits you can get out of nofollow links:
- When paired with dofollow links, they can help sites build natural link profiles.
- They can introduce your linked website to new audiences.
- A nofollow link still counts as social proof that others are talking about your brand and content.
- They add legitimacy and authority to your website, which may influence other websites to link back to yours in the future.
Diversifying your website’s backlink profile is essential, as it will show search engines that your site has natural links.
Too many of one type may get the Google algorithm to flag them as unnatural.
Do You Build Nofollow Links at Getmentioned?
No, we only build follow links at Getmentioned.
Follow links have several benefits for SEO that can balance out the potential negatives of nofollow links.
- A dofollow backlink is powerful because it’s seen as an endorsement from the linking website.
- Follow links often bring more organic traffic from search results since search engines see them as a “vote” for your content.
- Follow links help increase your website’s authority and can lead to higher page rankings over time.
How to Build Nofollow Backlinks (Main Methods)
If you want to add outgoing links to your website, there are a few different helpful methods experts recommend.
Provide Valuable Content
For Pradeep Malakar, Marketing Manager of Linkly, it’s all about providing valuable content to users. Here are his top ways to do that:
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a good way to get backlinks from large publications.
This service connects journalists with sources who are able and willing to provide information on a specific topic or event.
It is available to anyone who wants to become a source for media publications.
Besides backlinks, It will also increase awareness of your brand and products.
Social media platforms such as Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are also great places to promote your content, get nofollow backlinks, and generate traffic to your website.
Participate in Other Platforms
Rod, Founder of ManyLoop.com, suggests a few more methods to help with your site’s discoverability.
Quora is a quick one. Choose a recently published question with a reasonable number of views to answer, including a link.
For reference, Quora is a platform that allows anyone to ask and answer questions on any topic.
Reddit can be an option as well – read our article devoted to earning links on this platform.
It’s a great way to get some exposure for your website.
Rod also recommends writing on open-submission outlets and including outbound links to your site in the article.
By posting on a successful website like Medium, which has high domain authority, you’ll get a good backlink and additional traffic.
Get Listed
SEO Consultant Mervin Lance also reminds us that nofollow backlinks can be created when your site gets listed in directories.
Here are his extra tips for building them:
Many online directories, such as Yelp and Yellow Pages, use nofollow links for the websites they list.
By getting your site listed on these directories, you can build nofollow links that can help to increase your online visibility and drive traffic to your site.
We highly recommend you Help A B2B writer. You can sign up for a newsletter as an expert on a certain topic (logistics, SEO, marketing).
Another way is through online press releases.
By distributing online press releases through a reputable press release distribution service, you can often build no-follow links back to your website.
This can be a great way to increase your online visibility and get your news and information in front of a wider audience.
Just be sure to write a high-quality press release that is newsworthy and relevant to your target audience.
Engage in Sponsored Content
For SEO Specialist and Market Jar Founder James Nathan, engaging in sponsorships is also an effective method.
These types of arrangements often involve the exchange of nofollow links, and can be a good way to get your website in front of a new audience.
A paid link will often be marked as nofollow, meaning it won’t pass any SEO value.
But can still bring traffic through referrals.
How to Build Follow Backlinks (Main Methods)
To improve your site’s search engine rankings, you need to build follow backlinks.
Here are some of the most effective ways to do this:
Write Guest Posts
The most popular method of link building is guest posting.
This involves writing content and having it published on other websites in exchange for a link back to your website.
Ideally, links in guest posts are inserted within the body of the article rather than in an author bio or any other section.
Remember our article ‘5 Fun Zoom Icebreakers to Get Your Team Engaged and Connected’?
That is an example of what guest post is:)
They are included naturally and not shoehorned in.
Respond to Journalist Requests
HARO can help build both follow and nofollow backlinks.
It depends on the publication site whether to include a follow link or not.
Regardless of the link type, HARO can help improve your website’s visibility.
If a journalist uses your quote, it can lead to more traffic and brand awareness.
Ben Tibbits, Manager of Broadband Deals, offers a tip for connecting with journalists.
Search #journorequest on Twitter for relevant opportunities, and don’t forget to include your website link when responding. While there’s no guarantee that the backlinks you win will all be dofollow links, many of them are, and it’s possible to get backlinks from high-authority sites in your niche using this approach.
Create Valuable Content
While it’s easier said than done, the best way to get other websites to link back to yours is by creating content people want to link.
This can be anything from a comprehensive guide on a topic or an interesting opinion piece.
Our experts agreed on the fact high-quality content is going to be #1 Google Ranking Factor in 2023. You can read more about it here.
Natalia Brzezinska, Marketing & Outreach Manager at PhotoAiD, calls this “digital PR.”
She also recommends producing this type of content:
You can compile surveys, studies, or stats, compile them into one article and use email (or social media) outreach to the people who can be interested in your work.
Important! Inbound links from spammy or untrustworthy websites can ruin your reputation and organic traffic from different search engines.
Short Summary
Follow links directly pass link juice to the website they’re linking to, while nofollow links do not.
Follow links are generally seen as more valuable in terms of SEO.
However, nofollow links impact SEO indirectly by driving referral traffic and helping you build relationships with other websites.
It’s important to use a mix of both follow and nofollow links in your SEO strategy
This will ensure that you’re taking advantage of all the benefits each type has to offer.
Some of the best ways to create dofollow links include writing a guest post, responding to journalist queries, and creating valuable content, like infographics or statistics.
For nofollow links, a few of the best sources are social media sites and online repositories.
FAQs
1. Are nofollow links good for SEO?
Nofollow links are still valuable for SEO, even though they don’t directly count as a ranking signal.
They can help drive referral traffic and boost your site’s ranking indirectly.
2. How do I know if my link is follow or nofollow?
You can check the link attributes to see if they have nofollow tags.
If you can’t find a nofollow tag, then it is a follow link.
3. What is better – follow or no-follow backlink?
It depends on your website’s goals.
Follow backlinks offer more SEO benefits, as they pass more link juice from one website to another and can help your site rank higher in
Google search results or other search engines.
However, nofollow links are still useful for driving referral traffic to your linked page and gaining visibility.
4. How can I build follow backlink?
Common ways to build a follow backlink include a guest blog post, HARO, and content that other websites want to link out to.
5. How can I build nofollow backlink?
Nofollow backlinks can be built by adding the nofollow link HTML tag.
This tells search engine spiders not to pass any PageRank across this link.
The most common way to create nofollow links is via social media or comments on blogs and forums.
TL;DR
- All the links in your website contribute to SEO but in different ways.
- Follow links are the most valuable type of backlink, as they tell search engines to count and pass link juice.
- Nofollow links don’t pass link juice but can still be useful in generating traffic, building relationships with other websites, and improving your website’s visibility.
- Having too much of one type of link can be a bad thing, so it’s important to use both follow and nofollow links in moderation.
- A good mix of both helps build a healthy link profile and gives your website a better chance of ranking higher in search engine results.
View another articles