Every backlink carries a small instruction for search engines: should this link count as a vote? That instruction lives in the link's rel attribute, and it's the whole difference between a “dofollow” and a “nofollow” link. Get it wrong and you either pay for links that never help your rankings, or hand out endorsements you never meant to give.
This guide covers what each type does, the newer sponsored and ugc values, how to check any link in under a minute, and what a natural mix actually looks like.
What is a dofollow link?
Definition
A dofollow link is a standard hyperlink with no nofollow, sponsored or ugc value in its rel attribute. Search engines can treat it as an endorsement and pass ranking signals (often called “link equity”) to the destination.
There's no special code for it. A plain link is followed by default, which is why “dofollow” is really just SEO slang:
<a href="https://example.com/guide">our crate training guide</a>Followed links from relevant, trusted pages are the backbone of off-page SEO. When Google's original PageRank paper described links as votes, these are the votes it meant. They're the links most worth earning — and the ones most worth protecting once you have them.
What is a nofollow link?
A nofollow link has rel="nofollow" on it. It tells search engines “I'm linking to this, but I don't vouch for it.” Google introduced nofollow in 2005 to fight blog comment spam, and it quickly became the default on comments, forums, social networks and many large publishers' outbound links.
<a href="https://example.com/guide" rel="nofollow">our crate training guide</a>To a human visitor, the two links above are identical. They look the same, click the same and send the same traffic. The only difference is how search engines are asked to treat them.
rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc"
In September 2019 Google added two more specific values so site owners could say why they weren't vouching for a link:
rel="sponsored"— for ads, paid placements, affiliate links or any link given in exchange for something of value.rel="ugc"— for links in user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.rel="nofollow"— still valid as a catch-all when you don't want to endorse a link and neither of the above fits.
You can combine them (rel="ugc nofollow"), and nofollow remains an acceptable substitute for sponsored. At the same time Google announced that from March 2020 it would treat all three as hints rather than strict directives — it may choose to use a nofollowed link for crawling, indexing or ranking.
Paid links must be qualified
rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Buying followed links is exactly the kind of “link scheme” that can lead to ranking demotions or a manual action.Dofollow vs nofollow side by side
| Dofollow (no qualifier) | nofollow | sponsored | ugc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passes ranking signals | Yes | Hint only | Hint only | Hint only |
| Sends referral traffic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Typical use | Editorial links, citations, resources | Untrusted or unvetted links | Ads, affiliate, paid placements | Comments, forums, reviews |
| OK for paid links? | No | Yes | Yes (preferred) | No |
| Where you'll see it | Blogs, news, niche sites | Social media, big publishers | Sponsored posts, affiliates | Forums, Q&A, comment sections |
Do nofollow links help SEO?
Indirectly, yes — and sometimes directly. Since nofollow became a hint, Google can choose to count some nofollowed links. You can't control or measure that, so don't build a strategy around it. The reliable benefits are elsewhere:
- Referral traffic. A nofollowed link from a busy forum thread or a major publication can send more visitors than a dozen followed links from quiet blogs.
- Discovery. Writers who see your content cited often go on to link to it themselves — with followed links.
- Brand signals. Mentions drive branded searches, and a recognisable brand earns more editorial links over time.
- A natural profile. Real websites collect a mix of link types. A profile that's 100% followed, keyword-rich links is a classic sign of manipulation.
When to use each attribute on your own site
Outbound links are part of your site's quality too. Use this as your rule of thumb:
- 1
Editorial link you'd stand behind → no qualifier
Citing a study, recommending a tool you use, linking a helpful resource. Leave these followed; linking out to good sources is normal and healthy. - 2
Anything paid, sponsored or affiliate → sponsored
Affiliate links, sponsored reviews, banner ads, links included because someone gave you money, products or services. - 3
Content your visitors wrote → ugc
Blog comments, forum signatures, community posts. Many CMSs add this automatically — check yours. - 4
Links you can't vouch for → nofollow
A source you're criticising, a site you don't trust, or anything you'd rather not be associated with.
Good practice
- Follow links to genuinely useful, relevant sources
- Mark affiliate and sponsored links consistently
- Audit outbound links when you buy or inherit a site
Common mistakes
- Adding rel="dofollow" (it doesn't exist)
- Nofollowing every outbound link “to keep link juice”
- Selling followed links or accepting them for payment
How to check if a link is dofollow
You have three quick options:
- Use a checker. Paste the page URL and your domain into our free backlink checker. It fetches the page, finds every link to you and reports followed / nofollow / sponsored / ugc, the anchor text and where on the page it sits.
- Inspect the element. Right-click the link → Inspect, and read the
relattribute in the highlighted HTML. - View source. Press
Ctrl/Cmd + U, search for your domain, and look forrel=on the matching<a>tag.
Check the page, not just the link
<meta name="robots" content="noindex"> — or an X-Robots-Tag: noindex header — is unlikely to help you, because the page itself isn't in the index. Good checkers test for this too.What's the ideal dofollow/nofollow ratio?
There is no magic number, and anyone quoting a precise “safe ratio” is guessing. What matters is that your profile looks earned. In practice that means:
- Some nofollow links are normal. Social profiles, directories, forum mentions and press coverage often arrive nofollowed.
- Followed links should come from relevant pages. Ten followed links from sites in your niche beat a hundred from unrelated blogs.
- Watch for sudden shifts. If followed links spike overnight with exact-match anchors, that's a pattern, not a profile.
Pair this with a healthy anchor text distribution and steady link acquisition, and the ratio takes care of itself.