Do nofollow links help seo? Actually carry any weight at all? Indeed — but not according to what most of us envision in our minds. This is the original theory that nofollow links pass no ranking value. Then real-world data proved otherwise. Then in 2019 Google made its own rule official. Your beliefs of what nofollow links are today may be robbing you of rankings, traffic and credibility without you even realizing it.
- Links that utilize a nofollow tag are still capable of getting your pages found and into the Google index.
- Even Wikipedia — one of the largest sites in history and an authority on nearly every topic you can think of uses only nofollow links to powere search results.
- Up until October 2023, nofollow was a command to search engines not to count your link75 (for the most part) against anyone.
Table of Contents
So, What Is a Nofollow Link?
Think of it this way. Every time you click, you introduce yourself no matter how small or silent that introduction is.
Now And here is a nice mnemonic to help you keep this difference straight:
- You learn to Dofollow= “Congratulations, Google for this site
- Nofollow= I link to here but this is not my endorsement-Google
- It is the dofollow links that get your rankings for trusted sites, amongst which ratio, IS into limits for your business
- Why the nofollow was never meant for part torso rocket science In actuality, it was quite a basic code that only accomplished one thing. As you are going to say, it got a lot bigger — and guess:fruit?
Nofollow vs. Dofollow — What’s the Difference?
| Dofollow Link | Nofollow Link | |
| Passes SEO value? | ✅ Yes | ❌ Officially, no |
| Helps rankings? | ✅ Directly | 🤔 Possibly, indirectly |
| Common on | Editorial mentions, press | Wikipedia, social media, ads |
Think of a dofollow link as a formal recommendation letter. A nofollow link is more like someone mentioning your name in passing — officially it “doesn’t count,” but people still hear it.
History Of Nofollow Links?
Google’s Original Promise in 2005
The nofollow attribute was introduced by Google over a decade ago … back in 2005 to be exact, and for one specific purpose: comment spam.
Blog comments were filled with links to spammers’ web pages simply as a way to trick Google rankings. The trick that Google came up with was the nofollow tag — a way of saying, “this link was made by a random user and not an endorsement of this site.”
Back then, Google was very clear about:
- Those links weren’t credited when we calculate a website’s ranking on our search results.
- Simple. Clean. Done.
- Except, it wasn’t like that for long.
SoAPI, this is how the rules changed without telling us.
Before long Google was recommending nofollow on a host of stuff well beyond comment spam. Not long afterwards, the recommendations began to pick up pace:
Paid advertisements and sponsored content
Widget links embedded on websites
Infographic links
Product review links
Webmasters quickly turned around to this mantra “Nofollow saves me from rank impact, then I will apply it on all my links.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The legendary search engine optimization tactics (SEO) that were released back decades ago had Google high up the ranks till Wikipedia, one of those sites that prove content is king, decided to no-follow all outbound links. Every. Single. One.
The result? Collaboratively, we have developed one of the greatest success stories in SEO with over 50% of all searches getting a placement in the top 10 on Google!
Because the logic here was nofollow all, worry about none.
Are Nofollow links worth anything to SEO?
This is the fun part — and the point where my maligning of Google begins.
What the Experiments Actually Found
For years after Google made this announcement in October 2005 SEO researchers experimented. And the results continued to lean one way: nofollow links were aiding rankings.
Some notable findings:
- Gym achieves a 288% growth by earning these 88 nofollow links from low authority sites →
- One site experienced a 271% growth from a BuzzFeed nofollow link
- They were mass-indexing SurveyMonkey content through just a nofollow link
- These aren’t anomalies. Twenty similar experiments during the following nine years produced the same results.
The Wikipedia Effect: A Real-World Proof
What is the simplest test any SEO could do? Second, land a nofollow link from Wikipedia — and preferably from one of their smaller, less-watched language subdomains. Now send that nofollow link to a brand new page targeting LSI low competition keyword and see what you discover. The page gets indexed faster. Rankings improve.
This was sufficiently reliable for years that it became a staple of SEO.
None of this would be possible if these nofollow links did not pass zero value.
The Truth: Google Finally Owned up To It In 2019
In 2019, Google changed its tune for the first time in nearly a decade of accumulating evidence—but quietly.
They said they were now treating nofollow as a “hint” and not strict directive. Translation: Google retained the option of counting nofollow links, whenever it fancy it.
This was a significant admission. It essentially validated what testers had known long before it — nofollow links were more or less ignored.
Read up on the Two New Link Types You Need to Know
In an effort to regain some control, Google launched two new link attributes:-
rel=”ugc” — For user-generated content (comments, forum posts) This is what nofollow was created for!
rel=”sponsored” — For advertising or paid links.
The original nofollow still remains and functions — but these new tags provide Google better indications of why a link exists.
These are not something you need to do as a business owner. However, they do exist and it’s good to know about if you’re working with a developer or an SEO agency.
So, Why Should You Care About Nofollow Links?
Short, very short answer: Yes — but do not obsess them.
Five things you should know that are practical:
Those big websites still give relevance to the nofollow links. Even if the mention includes a nofollow tag, a feature on an authoritative news site generates real traffic and genuine visibility.
They can still index your pages Because, search engines discover new pages by crawling through the links — including the nofollow ones.
Your link profile is supposed to have a balance of both. It actually looks suspicious to Google if you have only dofollow links for your website. A healthy mix is normal.
Links from social media almost always nofollow — and yet social activity correlates strongly with higher rankings. Indirect value is still value.
Don’t pay for nofollow links. Any website selling links should label such content “sponsored” after 12 months from the ruling date. Buying nofollow links directly for the purpose of improving SEO is a waste of money — the upside is too ambiguous to merit the expense.
More readings:
FAQ
Q: Can nofollow links harm my website?
NO. Google has not wavered on this point — nofollow links cannot hurt your site. In the worst case, it passes zero value.
Q: Should you still bother trying to get nofollow links?
Yes, for traffic, brand visibility and indexing purposes. But, do not hunt them purely as an SEO benefit.
Q: Is Wikipedia linking to me beneficial for SEO?
More than likely yes — despite using a nofollow tag. There is always some sort of indirect value in these links as proven by the evidence.
Q: What is the difference between a nofollow link and sponsored links?
“Nofollow” is the old catch-all. The term “sponsored” used for sponsored results is the newer, more precise tag for paid placements. Both asks Google not to pass full ranking credit.
Summary
The story of nofollow links is itself an SEO story — really, a history that tells us Google does not follow its own rules. So here is the very short version you can take to heart: business owners must always remember, Nofollow links are not worthless. Sometimes — actually, sort of. Focus on building real mentions and links from authority websites. This visibility and credibility compounds, regardless of whether those links are nofollow or dofollow. The techno speak can distract from what really matters — making something worth talking about, sharing and linking to on social media.
