Contents
Introduction
So what are no follow links exactly? Why do you need them during SEO? Do they really help in SEO? This article explores what you need to know about them and how to use. Below is a video that briefly explains Nofollow links:It aptly explains the differences between nofollow links and dofollow links.
What Are Nofollow Links
These are links that have rel=”nofollow”. They are found in the source code. Their job is to tell search engines to ignore them. Since they are ignored by search engine algorithms, they do not impact page ranking as such.In dofollow links, on the other hand, they have follow tag in the code. All the same, users cannot really tell whether or not they are using follow links as was highlighted by Brian Dean in Backlinko Brian Dean in Backlinko.
If you are running a website, you will want to use a mixture of both. Follow links in particular will affect your page ranking. The reason for this is that algorithms look for links throughout the page
Why Was Nofollow Link Tag Created
When the popularity of blogs surged tremendously from the mid 2000’s, there was a consequent increase in spam as well according to Heyoya. People were pulling out all the stops to ensure that they got new traffic. They even put out content that was not related to the blog they were commenting just to get the new numbers.It was a chaotic mess. Search engines were littered with search results that some users found irrelevant and unhelpful. In short, their reputation was quickly becoming affected by these spammy posts.
Since spammy posts were growing at very huge rates and were outranking, sites with relevant information, something had to be done.
In 2005, Google devised the nofollow tag to combat spammy blog comments as was highlighted by Chris Clouteir in Small Biz Trends. They put it in their algorithm and the rest is history. Let’s just say, the strictness of the algorithms set people straight and soon other search engines followed suit.
Types of Nofollow Links
By now you are very eager to learn about the types of nofollow links. This section highlights them in detail. It also gives you tips on how you can use them to great effect to impact your overall success in the market.Basically a nofollow link is any link that contains a nofollow tag. They could be inbound links or outbound links. In addition, any links you have to pay for, they must be nofollow.
The latter is a Google webmaster policy. It is strictly enforced and you must adhere to the rules. Otherwise, you risk very hefty penalties for any gross violation of the same.
Below are examples of inbound links that are nofollow: widget links, press release links, blogs, news sites, forum posts, comments on blogs and social media. As for outbound links, they include links to sites like YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Quora and Medium.
Paid links include Google ads. This search engine needs those links to be nofollow. The key reason for this is that they need those links to be legitimately sought after and obtained for free.
A Deeper Exploration Into Whether Nofollow Links Help In SEO
There are varying viewpoints about the subject of nofollow links in SEO as evidenced by Jenny Halasz in her post on Search Engine Journal. Some people view them as non-consequential and unimportant. Others view them as essential. This section explores the true impact and answers the burning question of to use or discard nofollow links.Right off the bat when you checkout information about nofollow links online, you will find that Google proclaims that they are unimportant. However, there is no way of knowing whether they use them because people who have used these tags have benefitted immensely from them.
Other search engines have kept the information about their use secret. There is no way of knowing whether your ranking will suffer if you use these tags in your source codes.
Even as these search engines play their cards close to their chest, you still have a decision to make. Even if they say they gloss over these links, there have been some reported cases of people using them and getting ranked better. Therefore, would it not be a wise course to just use them and see what happens?
For you to truly make nofollow links to work to your advantage, you need to ensure they come from related sites. They also need to come from sites that have authority and rank well. This will give you a great edge when it comes to ranking after the pages have been indexed.
What Do You Stand To Gain From Nofollow Links?
A lot has been mentioned about Nofollow Links. So what is in it for you as a user? Why put all your effort to get nofollow links that matter to your website.They Help Your SEO
As was mentioned above, there have been reported cases of people benefitting from these links. Overall, it is better to use them now and see if you can benefit from them. Ride out your luck and see if you can get something out of it.Gain Traffic
When you are running a site, getting good traffic is important. It is one of the crucial things that help you rank well in search engines. It also has be unique and translate to something.In your journey to get a good ranking online, you must strive to promote yourself in every way possible. It is important that you get your word out there to the right audience. Also, your presentation needs to be flawless.
You are a budding expert in your niche. Why not visit blogs in your niche and comment on them? Share interesting information there and give them links to your website.
Nofollow links in these many forums will help you get the kind of traffic you desire according to Ifteseo. A little work on the right places and doing the right things will help you a lot. All you have to do is simply focus on getting the best and most helpful information out there and the rest will follow.
Can Lead To Helpful Dofollow Links
Dofollow links are examined closely by search engines. For pages to rank well, these links need to be tiptop and legit. So how does a dofollow link tie in with a nofollow link?There are some nofollow links from popular site that could lead to legit dofollow links. This in turn translates to additional traffic to your website, which consequently means a high ranking on search engines as well according to Nicole Kohler in Moz. Basically, some nofollow links can bring you good luck from sites with dofollow links.
This can be achieved by guest posting on other blogs. You can get referral traffic from those post. People will eventually find you from that post and boost your unique traffic numbers.
You Are NOT At Risk Of Google Penalty
Google is very particular about the links in source codes. They are usually on the hunt for link profiles that are ‘unnatural’. If they are found to be unnatural, Google penalizes you with a very low ranking according to Morgan Taylor in Monitorbacklinks.Nofollow links, on the other hand, are part of a natural link profile. They are safe to use because a majority of the big sites have them in large quantities.