If you’ve spent any time learning SEO, you’ve probably run into these two terms and wondered what they actually mean for your website. The short answer: do-follow links pass SEO value from one site to another, while no-follow links don’t. But there’s a lot more nuance to it, and understanding that nuance can shape how you approach link building, guest posting, and even the outbound links on your own site.

This guide breaks down what do-follow and no-follow links are, how search engines treat each one, and how to use both types the right way.

What Is a Do-Follow Link?

A do-follow link is a regular hyperlink with no special attribute attached to it. When Google or any other search engine crawls a page and finds a do-follow link, it follows that link and passes along a portion of the linking page’s authority to the page it points to. This is often called “link equity” or “link juice.”

In plain HTML, a do-follow link looks like this:

<a href=”https://example.com”>anchor text</a>

No rel attribute means no restriction. The search engine treats it as a genuine vote of confidence from one page to another.

Do-follow links are the backbone of off-page SEO. When a reputable site links to yours with a do-follow link, it signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and worth ranking.

What Is a No-Follow Link?

A no-follow link tells search engines not to pass authority through that link. It still works fine for human visitors who click it, but it carries a code attribute that asks crawlers to treat it differently.

A no-follow link looks like this:

<a href=”https://example.com” rel=”nofollow”>anchor text</a>

The rel=”nofollow” attribute was introduced by Google back in 2005 to fight comment spam and paid link schemes. Since then, its meaning has expanded, and Google now treats it more as a “hint” than a strict rule, but the core idea is the same: this link isn’t meant to be an editorial endorsement.

Do-Follow vs No-Follow: Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Do-Follow Link	No-Follow Link
Passes link equity	Yes	No (or treated as a hint, per Google)
HTML attribute	None	rel=”nofollow”
Common use case	Editorial links, guest posts, natural mentions	Comments, paid links, user-generated content, ads
Impact on rankings	Direct SEO value	Indirect (referral traffic, brand visibility)
Required by Google for	N/A	Sponsored/paid links, untrusted user content

Other Link Attributes You Should Know

Google added two more attributes in 2019 to give webmasters more precise control:

• rel=”sponsored” — Use this for paid links, affiliate links, or any link tied to advertising or compensation.
• rel=”ugc” — Stands for “user-generated content.” Use this for links in blog comments, forum posts, or reviews.

Both of these work similarly to no-follow in that they tell Google not to treat the link as a full editorial vote. Google has confirmed it may still use these links as signals when training its systems, but they generally won’t pass ranking authority the way a clean do-follow link does.

Does Google Really Ignore No-Follow Links?

Not entirely. Since March 2020, Google has treated nofollow, sponsored, and ugc as hints rather than directives. This means Google may choose to crawl and consider these links in some contexts, especially for discovery purposes, even if it doesn’t pass full ranking value through them.

In practice, this changes very little for most site owners. If you want a link to count fully toward your rankings, a clean do-follow link is still the safest bet.

Why No-Follow Links Still Matter

It’s tempting to write off no-follow links as useless, but that’s a mistake. Here’s why they still deserve a place in your SEO strategy:

• Referral traffic: A no-follow link on a high-traffic site can send real visitors your way, regardless of its SEO value.
• Brand visibility: Being mentioned on well-known platforms (Reddit, Quora, Wikipedia, major news sites) builds recognition, even without passing link equity.
• Natural link profile: A backlink profile made up entirely of do-follow links looks unnatural to search engines. A healthy mix of do-follow and no-follow links is what real, organic growth looks like.
• AI visibility (AEO/GEO): AI-driven answer engines like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews often pull from widely-cited sources regardless of link attribute. Getting mentioned on authoritative platforms, even with no-follow links, can improve your chances of being cited by AI tools.

How to Check If a Link Is Do-Follow or No-Follow

You don’t need expensive tools to check this. Here are three simple ways:

1. View page source: Right-click the page, select “View Page Source,” and search (Ctrl+F) for the link’s anchor text to see if rel=”nofollow” appears nearby.
2. Browser extensions: Tools like “NoFollow” (Chrome extension) automatically highlight no-follow links in a different color as you browse.
3. Backlink checker tools: Platforms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest show you whether backlinks pointing to your site are do-follow or no-follow, often in bulk.

Best Practices for Link Building

• Prioritize earning do-follow backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites in your niche.
• Don’t panic if some of your backlinks are no-follow — a natural mix is expected and healthy.
• Use rel=”sponsored” for any paid placements or affiliate links to stay compliant with Google’s guidelines.
• Use rel=”ugc” for comment sections and forums to avoid being penalized for spammy user content.
• When guest posting, aim for contextual, do-follow links placed naturally within the content rather than in an author bio stuffed with keywords.
• Avoid link schemes that promise guaranteed do-follow backlinks in bulk, these often violate Google’s guidelines and can lead to penalties.

Do-Follow vs No-Follow: Which Should You Focus On?

Both. A strong SEO strategy isn’t about chasing do-follow links exclusively and ignoring everything else. It’s about building a diverse, natural backlink profile that includes:

• High-quality do-follow links from relevant, trustworthy sites
• No-follow mentions from popular platforms that drive traffic and visibility
• A healthy balance that mirrors how real websites earn links over time

Search engines are good at spotting unnatural patterns. A profile with only do-follow links from low-quality sites will do more harm than a smaller number of well-earned links across both types.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a no-follow link a waste of time?

No. While it doesn’t pass direct SEO ranking value, a no-follow link can still bring referral traffic, build brand awareness, and contribute to a natural-looking backlink profile.

Can a no-follow link still help my rankings?

Indirectly, yes. Google has said it may use no-follow links as a hint for crawling and indexing, and the traffic or brand exposure they bring can lead to more do-follow links over time.

How do I make a link no-follow on my own website?

Add rel=”nofollow” inside the anchor tag, like this: <a href=”URL” rel=”nofollow”>anchor text</a>. Most CMS platforms, including WordPress, also let you toggle this in the link settings without touching code.

Should all outbound links on my site be do-follow?

Not necessarily. Use do-follow for genuine, editorial links to trustworthy sources, and no-follow (or sponsored/ugc) for paid links, affiliate links, and user-submitted content.

What’s the difference between no-follow and sponsored links?

No-follow is a general-purpose attribute for any link you don’t want to pass authority through. Sponsored is a more specific version meant for paid or advertising-related links, which Google recommends using instead of plain no-follow in those cases.

Related reading: On-Page SEO vs Off-Page SEO: What’s the Difference?, link building and backlinks are a core part of off-page SEO. For a full SEO strategy tailored to your website, check out BizClick Digital’s AI SEO services.