What is the Nofollow Attribute?
The nofollow attribute tells Google not to transfer SEO authority ('link juice') through a link.
The nofollow attribute (rel="nofollow") is an HTML attribute added to hyperlinks to tell search engines not to transfer SEO authority through that link.
Syntax
Link
When to use it?
- ●Links in user comments
- ●Sponsored or advertising links (use
rel="sponsored") - ●User-generated content (
rel="ugc") - ●Links to unreliable sites
Modern variants
- ●
rel="nofollow": Suggestion not to follow - ●
rel="sponsored": Paid/advertising link - ●
rel="ugc": User-generated content
SEO Impact
Since 2020, Google treats nofollow as a "suggestion" rather than a directive. However, it remains important for signaling the nature of outbound links.
Related Terms
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link from another website pointing to yours. It's one of the most important ranking factors in SEO.
What is Internal Linking?
Internal linking is the strategy of linking between pages on your own site to distribute authority and improve navigation.
What is Anchor Text?
Anchor text is the clickable text of a hyperlink. Optimizing it helps Google understand the destination page's content.
What is Domain Authority (DA)?
Domain Authority is a 0-100 score (created by Moz) that predicts a site's ability to rank in Google.
What are Backlinks?
Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to yours. It's one of the top 3 ranking factors.
What is an Orphan Page?
An orphan page is a page on your site with no internal links pointing to it.