Do backlinks need to be “Follow” or “NoFollow”?
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There’s many “age-old” questions in the world of SEO. One of the most widely discussed and debated is whether backlinks to your website should have a “follow” or “no follow” link attribute assigned to them, and what impact each of these has on your SEO performance.
In this article, we’ll be taking a deeper look at the impact backlinks have on your SEO performance and whether that coveted “followed” link to your website is really as important as it’s made out to be.
To follow or not to follow: What are they?
A “Follow” or “Followed” link is an internal or external link on a website that has a “Follow” link attribute assigned to it (i.e. rel=”follow”). This is essentially an instruction to Search Engines saying they can “follow” this link to its destination (i.e. another internal page or an external website).
A “NoFollow” or “NoFollowed” link is an internal or external link that has a “NoFollow” link attribute assigned to it (i.e. rel=”nofollow”). This hints to Search Engines that they don’t have to follow this link through to its intended destination and can ignore it if it so choose. Historically, Search Engines followed link attributes without question by obediently following a “follow” link to its final destination and halting at a “no follow” link. This has since changed (more on that later…)
Why are backlinks important for SEO?
Backlinks pointing to your website from other websites are important for SEO as they help Search Engines understand your brand’s credibility. As a rule of thumb, the higher the volume of good quality backlinks you build to your website, the more credible you’ll be perceived and the higher you’ll ultimately rank. I like to think of this as the digital form of word-of-mouth advertising, which is considered the most powerful form of marketing, and incredibly important in getting a user to build brand loyalty and advocacy.
Follow vs No Follow links: Pros and Cons
The Pros and Cons of Follow & No Follow links aren’t rocket science and can be broken down fairly simply, as you can see below:
“Follow” links
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong indicator to Search Engines that the website trusts you | Having too many low-quality “follow” links can result in a manual penalty |
| It can be perceived as more authoritative and valuable | Due to their value, they can be difficult to acquire and webmasters can often refuse to include a “follow” link |
“No Follow” links
| Pros | Cons |
| Good for diversifying a website’s backlink profile, by having a mix of “follow” and “no follow” links | There’s a risk that Search Engines will ignore them |
| Can be perceived as equal in value to a “follow” link | It can be less effective in competitive industries that require authoritative, “follow” links (i.e. medical) |
As you can see, there are benefits and drawbacks for both “follow” and “no follow” links. The pros and cons of Follow vs No Follow links used to be much simpler, whereas “No Follow” links were seen as the clear weaker option. This has now changed and becomes more complicated, as you’ll see in the next section.
Google’s Verdict on Follow vs No Follow links
It used to be clear. No Follow links are not worth pursuing when there’s so much power and potential behind Follow links. This simply isn’t true anymore. Google announced on September 10th 2019 that the “nofollow” link attribute would become a “hint” to Search Engines, as opposed to a directive. This means that Google now has the autonomy to ignore “nofollow” link attributes and follow the links anyway.
- Source: Twitter.com & Search Engine Journal
What does this mean?
This means that “NoFollow” links do in fact add value to your website’s backlink profile and can subsequently drive positive SEO performance, as opposed to toxic backlinks that would require disavowing. Do not disregard the value of “NoFollow” links – not only do they add value in the traditional sense, but they also diversify your website’s backlink profile and help you appear more credible and natural to Search Engines, which lends itself to improved SEO performance.
Data Studies on Follow vs No Follow links
- Source: Backlinko.com
Do “NoFollow” links really add SEO value to a website? Curious SEOs in the community have taken it upon themselves to test this out. One such curious SEO was Adam White from SEOJet.net who shot from position #19 to position #1 for “backlink software” in less than a month by acquiring one site-wide “NoFollow” link to his blog. Pics or it didn’t happen? Please see below… (Source: Backlinko.com)
The Verdict: Should your backlinks be Follow or No Follow?
Definitely aim for “Follow” links, but do not turn your nose up at “NoFollow” links or conclude that they add NO value to your website or SEO strategy. The “Follow” and “NoFollow” attributes are hints to Google, they are no longer directives that are blindly and obediently followed.
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