Nofollow Links SEO: Do They Pass Value and Help Rankings?

What Is a Nofollow Link

rel="nofollow" is an HTML attribute added to anchor tags to tell Google not to follow the link or pass PageRank. It was introduced in 2005 to combat comment spam — when blogs opened up comments, spammers flooded them with links to manipulate rankings. The nofollow attribute gave publishers a way to link without endorsing. A link without rel="nofollow" is a dofollow link by default and passes PageRank to the destination. Here is what the two look like in HTML:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Link text</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">Sponsored Link</a>

The 2019 Update: Nofollow as a Hint

In September 2019, Google changed nofollow from a directive to a hint. Previously, nofollow was a hard instruction — Google would not follow the link or pass PageRank. After the update, Google may choose to follow and use nofollow links for crawling and indexing purposes. They still may not pass full PageRank, but Google can use them to discover URLs it didn't know about. This shifted the practical impact significantly: nofollow links from authoritative sites may now contribute more value than previously assumed, particularly for URL discovery and crawl coverage of your site.

Dofollow vs Nofollow: The PageRank Difference

Dofollow links pass PageRank — the link equity that contributes to a page's authority and its ability to rank for competitive keywords. Nofollow links traditionally pass no PageRank. In practice, since Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a directive, some degree of PageRank transfer may occur from high-authority nofollow links. The safest working assumption for SEO strategy is that dofollow links are significantly more valuable for rankings. When evaluating link building opportunities, a dofollow link from a moderately authoritative site is generally more impactful than a nofollow link from a high-authority site — though both have value.

Sponsored and UGC Link Attributes

Google introduced two new link attributes alongside the 2019 nofollow update. rel="sponsored" is for paid or affiliate links — use this on any link that exists because money changed hands, including sponsored content, display advertising, and affiliate product links. rel="ugc" is for user-generated content such as forum posts, comment sections, and community-contributed links. Both work like nofollow — they are hints to Google, not hard directives. Use sponsored for paid links to avoid triggering a manual action for paid link schemes. These attributes can be combined: rel="sponsored nofollow" is valid and tells Google both that the link is paid and that you want it nofollowed.

When You Must Use Nofollow

Links from paid placements — sponsored posts, display ads, and affiliate links — must be marked nofollow or sponsored per Google's webmaster guidelines. Violating this rule is classified as a link scheme and can result in a manual action that tanks your rankings. Links in press releases should be nofollow if they are self-promotional — Google views press release links as potentially manipulative when followed. Links embedded in widgets and embeds distributed across many sites should also be nofollow, since a single widget creating thousands of dofollow links to your site is a classic link scheme pattern that Google detects algorithmically.

When Nofollow Links Still Help SEO

A nofollow link from a high-authority site still sends referral traffic regardless of PageRank transfer — a nofollow mention on Forbes drives real readers to your site, which signals user interest and brand relevance. Brand visibility and awareness built through nofollow placements contributes to branded search volume, which is a strong indirect ranking signal. A natural backlink profile includes some nofollow links — a profile that is 100% dofollow can look manipulative to algorithmic review. Social media links are all nofollow, yet influencer-driven traffic and social amplification create indirect SEO value through increased branded searches and natural link acquisition from people who discover content via social. Nofollow links also diversify your anchor text profile in a way that looks natural.

Nofollow Links in Your Internal Link Structure

Never use nofollow on internal links. Adding rel="nofollow" to your own internal links wastes your own PageRank — it prevents link equity from flowing between pages on your site, which can deprive important pages of the authority they need to rank. Some CMS plugins automatically add nofollow to category links, tag pages, or paginated URLs — always audit your internal links to check. If you want to prevent PageRank from flowing to certain internal pages such as duplicate content, use rel=canonical instead of nofollow. The canonical tag consolidates signals to your preferred URL without creating PageRank dead ends in your internal link graph.

How to Check a Link's Follow Status

In any browser, right-click the link, select Inspect, and look for the rel attribute in the anchor tag — if rel="nofollow" is present, it's a nofollow link; if there is no rel attribute or rel="dofollow", it passes PageRank. Ahrefs Site Explorer shows the dofollow versus nofollow split in its backlink reports and lets you filter your backlink profile by link type. Chrome extensions like MozBar display nofollow and dofollow status visually with colored overlays on any page you visit. Google Search Console shows your top linking pages but does not reveal follow status — for that you need a third-party backlink tool like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Majestic.

Disavow and Toxic Nofollow Links

Nofollow links from toxic or spammy sites rarely need disavowing since they don't pass PageRank in the traditional sense. Focus your disavow efforts on dofollow links from low-quality sites — those are the ones that can drag down your domain's trust signals. The exception is a massive volume of nofollow spam pointing at your site: a coordinated negative SEO campaign sending millions of nofollow links could potentially raise a flag for manual review, though Google's John Mueller has stated this is very rare and Google is generally good at ignoring spam. If you do disavow, target dofollow toxic links from PBNs, link farms, and hacked sites first.

Building a Natural Link Profile

A healthy backlink profile typically has roughly 70 to 80 percent dofollow links and 20 to 30 percent nofollow links. It features branded anchor text as the dominant anchor type, links from topically relevant domains, and a wide variety of referring domains rather than many links from a small number of sites. Don't obsessively chase only dofollow links — link diversity signals authenticity to Google's algorithms. A nofollow link from a high-authority domain still adds to your overall brand authority, drives referral traffic, and contributes to the natural-looking profile that algorithmic review rewards. The goal is a backlink profile that looks like what you'd earn if your content was genuinely the best resource on a topic.