Do Nofollow Links Help SEO? Real Impact Explained

Today’s topic: Do nofollow links help SEO?

Generally, Google depends on likes for an understanding of how your website works. 

And on that note, I am here to discuss how nofollow links impact your website’s ranking in search results and overall organic traffic. 

Stay tuned. 

Key Takeaways:

1. While nofollow links don’t actually pass any SEO value to your website, they can still get organic traffic to your website. 
2. In the eyes of search engines, it is more important to get both nofollow and dofollow links. 
3. Nofollow links come with other benefits, including social signals and brand visibility. 
4. You can find out if any link is dofollow or nofollow – how? By checking the source code of the page. 
5. Also, using both types of links contributes to a much stronger SEO strategy. 

What Are NoFollow Links?

Nofollow links exist to let search engines know that they aren’t supposed to pass authority to a different page. 

Moreover, these links are valuable for showing which particular links shouldn’t impact search results. 

Simply put, nofollow links are a special type of hyperlink that comes with a small tag for telling seach engines not to pass authority to another page. 

This means nofollow links cannot help linked pages to improve ranking in SERPs. 

Moreover, the point of these links is to help a site avoid passing any authority or credit to paid or spammy links. 

As a result, while these links cannot directly improve your ranking, they can definitely send visitors to your site. 

Additionally, when you place these links on websites with heavy traffic, they can attract visitors, raising brand awareness. 

That is precisely why you should use these links properly for the best results.

NoFollow Vs DoFollow Links: Types Of Links

Understanding the standard difference between nofollow and dofollow links can help you build an effective SEO strategy. 

On that note, I’ve made a table to highlight the difference between the two links:

So, dofollow links typically display that a site trusts the web page it is linking to – this means, dofollow links can directly improve the ranking of a page in search results. 

However, people use nofollow links when they don’t want to promote the content they are linking to – and this typically happens for paid links or blog comments. 

Also, you can check whether a particular link is nofollow or not. Just by checking the page’s source code. To do that, just right-click on any page and tap on the ‘View Page’ option. 

Then, just look for ‘nofollow.’

How To Check For NoFollow Links?

Like I was just saying, it is really easy to check for nofollow links and super useful for anyone planning an SEO strategy. 

Here’s how to go about it. 

1. Open a page.
2. Now, right-click – and do it anywhere on your screen.
3. Then, go for the ‘View Page Source’ option.
4. Use ‘Command+F’ or ‘Ctrl+F’ and search for ‘nofollow.’ 
5. Now check your link tag. Remember, all nofollow links come with rel=”nofollow”.

Also, you can use tools like SEMrush or Moz to identify nofollow links. In addition, you can use these tools for tracking your link profile. 

Do Nofollow Links Help SEO?

To some professionals, including me, nofollow links does have an impact on search rankings. And there are other SEO experts who believe that these links support SEO in some other way.

On that note, I’ve done my best to collect industry insights on how nofollow links impact your SEO strategy. 

Do Nofollow Links Help SEO? Arguments For And Against The Statement

So, there are some SEO professionals who believe that nofollow links does not help a website’s SEO strategy in any way. 

For this group of SEO experts, since a nofollow link doesn’t pass authority to another web page, it holds negligible ranking power. 

However, for so many others, nofollow links matter. How? Because these links can get visitors to a website. 

And more visitors lead to more shares and sales – sometimes, it could even lead to more organic backlinks. 

Considering all these are valuable for a site’s SEO strategy, many digital marketing professionals use a combination of both kinds. 

Industry Experiments And Studies: 

According to Moz’s experiments, nofollow links were able to boost organic traffic on websites. 

How? By boosting the number of visitors coming to your website, you can generally improve a site’s SEO strategy over time. 

However, according to Google, nofollow links don’t pass authority to another page. But most experiments and tests on the matter show that these links still play a crucial role as part of mixed link profiles. 

Moreover, most marketing professionals also agree that nofollow links indirectly drive traffic, boost brand awareness, and can even get you dofollow links eventually.

And all these indirect benefits can help your website to grow. 

What Is The Role Of NoFollow Links In SEO?

Of course, it is clear that nofollow links cannot boost your rankings directly. But that doesn’t mean these links cannot support your overall SEO strategy. 

Can NoFollow Links Help With Search Rankings Indirectly?

Yes, nofollow links can boost your ranking in search results – but indirectly. 

As I have been saying, nofollow links can get you more visitors on your website, and an increase in visitors clearly shows that people are getting interested in your website. 

This can get you engagement, brand mentions, and social shares. Moreover, these signs all show that people are interested – and this, in turn, can improve your website’s online visibility. 

Also, if someone comes across your website via nofolow links and decides to share the site somewhere, then you can even earn some dofollow links later. 

This, in turn, builds authority for you over time. 

Any Other Advantages Of Using NoFollow Links:

Nofollow links can help you with:

1. Traffic: These links can get you visitors to the website. 
2. Brand Exposure: These links can get your brand more visibility and exposure. 
3. Social Signals: These links can generate mentions and shares, which in turn build trust. 
4. Referral Sales: Visitors you get from nofollow links are potential customers, and you can successfully convert them.

So, using these nofollow links on popular websites can help many small business owners find new audiences. 

Why Is A Balanced Link Profile Important?

Having a link profile with both types of links makes your backlink profile appear natural and organic. It is the healthy combination that search engines reward. 

As a result, having a mix of dollow and nofollow links is actually more beneficial than you thought. 

This is because using dofollow links only appears to be very shady to most search engines. 

A clear combination highlights how your website receives attention from different sources. This, in turn, makes your website appear more balanced and trustworthy. 

Are You Using NoFollow Links? Best Practices To Follow:

So, here’s how you can use nofollow links as a part of your SEO strategy:

1. Use these links as a part of your forum or blog comments for avoiding spam. 
2. Add these links to your affiliate links for ensuring compliance with the rules of search engines. 
3. Share these links on social media platforms to drive traffic and boost brand awareness. 
4. Combine both link types within your content. 
5. Track performance to find what traffic they are bringing. 
6. Build different partnerships, even if you are using nofollow links. 
7. Ensure your anchor texts are clear – that way, visitors will know where a particular link will take them. 
8. For nofollow backlinks, target only reputable websites.
9. Stay up-to-date with all changes and updates related to search engines. 

NoFollow Links Are Essential For Your Website’s SEO:

NoFollow links don’t pass any authority to other web pages, but these links still matter. They can easily bring in organic traffic, increase online visibility, and support your overall SEO efforts. 

As a result, an effective SEO strategy includes both dofollow and nofollow links. This, in turn, creates a solid and organic backlink profile. 

Moreover, small business owners shouldn’t overlook the many advantages of using nofllow links. When used right, these links can improve your website’s online presence.