What Is a Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link is a hyperlink with a rel=“nofollow” attribute that tells search engines not to pass ranking authority (link equity) to the linked page.
Why it matters
Nofollow was introduced to combat comment spam and to mark links a site doesn’t want to formally endorse — such as paid links, user-generated content, or affiliate links. While nofollow links typically don’t pass direct ranking power, they still drive referral traffic, build brand awareness, and create a natural-looking link profile. A backlink profile made up only of dofollow links can itself look suspicious.
Example
Links in social media posts, sponsored articles, and blog comments are usually nofollow. A link from an editorial news article that genuinely recommends your resource is typically dofollow — and passes authority.
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