Nofollow

What is nofollow?

Nofollow is a value of the rel attribute on a link, used to tell search engines you do not want to endorse the linked website. Since 2019, Google has treated nofollow as a hint rather than a strict command. Google may therefore still use the link, for example to discover the page.

Why is nofollow important?

• No unwanted endorsement: you do not pass link value to sites you have not chosen yourself.
• Google’s guidelines: paid links should be labeled as such.
• Safer link profiles: you avoid user contributions or ads polluting your profile.

Examples of nofollow

• <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">example</a>
• A link in a comment below a blog article
• A link to a source you would rather not endorse

How do you use nofollow?

Add rel="nofollow" to links you do not want to endorse. For paid links, prefer rel="sponsored", and for contributions from visitors, rel="ugc". Read more about building strong links under link building.