Do follow vs no follow: both are used to identify a link and determine how Google interacts with it. Understanding these terms is essential to enhancing your website’s authority in SERPS.
A good starting point is to look at the basic meaning of do follow vs no follow. Do follow refers to a link that passes a page rank signal to Google. No follow refers to a link that doesn’t pass on a rank signal. Keep reading to uncover more details of the difference between these types of links, nofollow backlink options, and which type you should use for external links.
Do Follow vs No Follow – What are Do Follow Links?
A dofollow link passes the authority of the site of origin onto the destination site. You’ll often see this authority referred to as “link juice.” Gaining this “link juice” from reputable sites increases your website’s authority and improves your position in search results. Therefore, it is essential to focus on acquiring dofollow backlinks to your site, so that you can enhance your brand’s visibility and improve your customer acquisition.
Types of Dofollow Links
There are several types of dofollow links that you should invest time in acquiring. These types of authority links are:
- Guest posts
- Editorials
- Acknowledgements
- Press releases
- Testimonials
- Reviews
- Resources
Do Follow vs No Follow – What are No Follow Links?
A nofollow link does not transfer any authority to the destination site. You’ll want to use this type of link when you don’t want to endorse a website you’re linking to. Creating a nofollow link is simply a case of adding an attribute to the code for the link.
Types of Nofollow Links
There are different types of nofollow links that suit the occasions when you’ll want to use them. They are:
- Paid links for advertisements and paid placements should be added to the code when the rel=” sponsored” attribute.
- UGC links for user-generated content, such as comments when the rel=” ugc” attribute, should be added to the code.
- Nofollow links are to be used when the other types aren’t applicable. The attribute to be added in this case is rel=” nofollow.”
You can also use multiple rel values if more than one applies. For example, rel= “ugc sponsored” is a legitimate attribute.
Different No Follow Backlink Options for Google
The option for identifying sponsored and UGC nofollow links were only introduced by Google in 2019. Before that, rel=” nofollow was used on all occasions. A closer look at these recently introduced attributes gives you a better understanding of when to use them.
When you use the sponsored attribute for a link, it looks like this:
<a href=”http://www.example.com/” rel=”sponsored”>Anchor text
You should use this attribute when the link is part of an advertising or sponsorship agreement. This attribute is the most suitable if a payment is involved with a link.
When you use a user-generated content, or UGC, attribute for a link, it looks like this:
<a href=”http://www.example.com/” rel=”ugc”>Anchor text
This attribute can be used in comments or forums to prevent unwanted associations with links added by users. You can remove the attribute if you want search engines to recognise links posted by specific trusted and regular contributors.
Dofollow vs Nofollow – Which to Use for External Links
Overall, the difference between a dofollow vs nofollow link depends on the user’s purpose when linking their site to another. Use a nofollow link if your website does not endorse another’s site. You should also do this when the link is untrusted, sponsored, UGC, or you’re protecting yourself from potential Google penalties.
Alternatively, dofollow links are appropriate when your site endorses the linked website. However, be careful when using dofollow links, as your brand will be associated with the destination website. When choosing which is appropriate for you, remember that dofollow links tend to increase SEO, while nofollow links might only generate modest hits. A user might find that having a higher split of dofollow vs nofollow links in their portfolio generates the best outcome for SEO.
Do Follow vs No Follow FAQs
1. What’s the difference between do follow vs no follow links?
The difference between nofollow vs dofollow links is that dofollow links pass on a page rank signal to search engines, whereas nofollow links don’t pass on any page rank signal.
2. How do follow vs no follow links affect SEO?
Looking at the difference between do follow vs no follow links, search engines use dofollow links to determine how sites relate to each other and recognise the authority of a site with links. They skip over nofollow links. Usually, the more dofollow links a web page has, the higher it ranks.
3. What types of do follow links are there?
There are several dofollow links you can acquire. These links that add authority to your site include those from guest posts, editorials, acknowledgements, press releases, testimonials, reviews, and resources.
4. What types of no follow links are there?
There are three types of nofollow links you can use on your website. These types are “sponsored” for any paid links, “UGC” for user-generated content like forums and comments, and “nofollow” for links that aren’t in the other categories.
5. Which between do follow vs no follow links should be used for external linking?
If you want to link to a valuable resource, use a dofollow link. If you don’t want to endorse a website, the link you’re including is paid, or the link is user generated, use a nofollow link.