Both external links and internal links are an important part of search engine optimisation. Links are used by search engines to crawl, discover, and index web pages. Crawlers use links to determine the authority and relevance of web pages to the search query. This is why it is important to understand the value of links. This post talks about nofollow vs dofollow links and how they affect search engine optimisation.
Understanding this topic would be maddening for you if you don’t know much about the SEO techniques or even the basics of SEO. And, though you have your fundamentals clear, we would suggest you to visit & review the blog on PARAMETERS OF OFF-PAGE SEO: KNOW HOW OFF-PAGE SEO IS DONE so you to grasp the concept quickly.
What is a nofollow link?
A nofollow link instructs search engine crawlers that this link should not influence the target domain’s ranking in the search engine result pages. This link type does not boost page rank, the googlebot doesn’t crawl it and doesn’t pass link juice. Also, a nofollow link is generated with the HTML code and it is created to combat spam.
On the other hand, a dofollow link allows search engine crawlers to follow the link and reach the target domain. Such links pass link juice and help in achieving a good page rank. By default all the links are dofollow.
If a website receives a dofollow link from a high authority website, it increases credibility and boosts SEO efforts. You may also like to visit & check our blog on HOW TO BOOST LOCAL SEO: A FEW SIMPLE STEPS to increase your search traffic.
How to check if links are dofollow or nofollow?
There is an easy way to check if a link is dofollow or nofollow. Right click on the link and then click on inspect element. This will show you the HTML code for a backlink. Check the rel attribute to determine the link type.
There is another way to check if links are dofollow or nofollow. Right click anywhere on the webpage and click on view page source. Then, press Ctrl+F and search for the website domain. Check the rel attribute to see if the link is dofollow or nofollow.
How search engines interpret Nofollow Vs Dofollow links?
How search engines interpret nofollow links varies from search engine to search engine. Google counts a nofollow link as an outgoing link, but it does not index the page. Yahoo follows the link as well, but does not use that link as a factor while ranking. Bing does not count the link while ranking, but it isn’t sure of it follows the link or not.
As mentioned before, search engines crawl and index dofollow links. Search engines acknowledge the link if a nofollow tag isn’t used.
Nofollow Vs Dofollow links: When should you use nofollow tag?
Even though nofollow links do not provide link value they do provide referral traffic. There are certain links which are less important, these links include links to pages which do not change like the about us or home page. You can use the nofollow attribute if you allow people to comment on your website, or for user generated content, untrusted content and paid links.
Nofollow Vs Dofollow links: When should you use dofollow tag?
Using the dofollow tag, helps to build the target domain’s credibility and authority. Dofollow links build awareness, lead to more referral traffic, increase leads and increase rankings. Using a dofollow attribute is a great way to give back to the community and build relationships with others in your niche.
Links boost SEO efforts and help a website to appear as a more credible resource in there niche. The nofollow links do not pass on link juice but they may lead to a website getting dofollow links from other websites. So, for instance, when a credible website links to you using a nofollow tag, a number of other websites may link back though a dofollow tag.
In brief, you require both nofollow and dofollow tags while linking to content, gaining links and creating relationships with others in your niche. It is important to know about nofollow vs dofollow links so that you can create a balance of both links and build a perfect link profile. As you might have realised that it’s not a duck soup for amateurs. Working on advanced SEO might require you to take SEO services by experts. They can assist you in each aspect to ensure that you get more & more traffic to your website.
