“Dofollow” is an informal SEO term for a normal HTML link that does not need a special rel value. Nofollow is different: it is an actual link qualification, written as rel=”nofollow”. Google also supports rel=”sponsored” for paid relationships and rel=”ugc” for user-generated links.
The practical decision is therefore not which link type is “better” for SEO. It is whether the link relationship is being described accurately. A trusted editorial citation can normally remain an ordinary link. A paid placement should be qualified, user-generated links have their own recommended value, and nofollow is available when the other values do not apply and you would rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the destination from, that link.
- “Dofollow” is not an official HTML attribute. A regular link normally needs no SEO-specific rel value.
- Google treats nofollow, sponsored, and ugc as hints for Search rather than absolute instructions about ranking treatment.
- Use rel=”sponsored” for advertisements, paid placements, sponsorships, and compensated links. Google says nofollow is still acceptable for paid links, although sponsored is preferred.
- Use rel=”ugc” for links in user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.
- Do not use nofollow as a substitute for proper internal crawl or indexing controls.
What Is a Dofollow Link?
A dofollow link is simply a normal crawlable link in common SEO terminology. There is no required rel=”dofollow” attribute. For example, this is an ordinary link:
<a href="https://example.com/">Example resource</a>
Google’s current guidance says regular links that it should fetch and parse without qualification do not need a rel attribute. That makes an ordinary link the appropriate default when the destination is a genuine editorial reference and there is no paid, user-generated, or other relationship that needs qualification.
Do Dofollow Links Pass PageRank?
Links are part of Google’s ranking systems, and an ordinary link can be considered when Google evaluates the linked page. However, “passing link juice” can create the wrong mental model because there is no public formula that lets an editor calculate a fixed amount of ranking value from a particular link.
For practical SEO work, concentrate on why the link exists. A relevant citation on a useful page is a stronger editorial decision than a link added only because someone wants a “dofollow backlink”. If you are planning acquisition rather than outbound linking, the same distinction matters in sustainable link building strategies: the placement should make sense for the reader before ranking value is considered.
When a Normal Link Makes Sense
Use a regular link when you have chosen the destination editorially and no qualification is needed. Typical examples include an official specification, original research, a trusted reference, or another page that gives the reader useful context.
That does not mean every external URL deserves a regular link. If the destination is unnecessary, weak, misleading, or risky, removing the link can be a better editorial choice than keeping it and adding nofollow.
What Is a Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link includes rel=”nofollow”:
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="nofollow">Example resource</a>
Google’s current outbound-link documentation says to use nofollow when the other qualification values do not apply and you would rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site. Google’s earlier announcement of the modern link-attribute model also explains that nofollow is treated as a hint, not an absolute instruction, for ranking purposes.
Nofollow Does Not Guarantee That a Page Will Not Be Crawled or Indexed
Nofollow should not be treated as a blocking mechanism. Google says links marked with these qualification values generally will not be followed, but the destination can still be discovered through sitemaps, other websites, or other routes. If you control the destination page and need to manage crawling or indexing, use the appropriate technical control instead of relying on an outbound nofollow link.
This distinction matters most on your own site. Internal link structure should help users and crawlers reach important pages. If an internal page should not be crawled or indexed, review the actual crawl and indexing setup rather than adding nofollow to ordinary navigation or contextual links. MOCOBIN’s internal linking strategy guide covers the site-structure side of that decision.
Can a Nofollow Link Still Be Useful?
Yes, but not because you can assume a specific amount of ranking credit. A nofollow link can still send referral traffic, put a useful resource in front of the right audience, or create visibility that later leads to independent mentions. Google may also use qualified links as hints when analysing the web.
For that reason, evaluating a backlink only by whether it is dofollow or nofollow is too narrow. Relevance, audience, editorial context, traffic potential, and the reason the link exists can matter more to the business value of the placement.
Dofollow vs Nofollow, Sponsored, and UGC
The clearest way to compare these links is by relationship rather than by trying to rank them from strongest to weakest.
| Link Type | HTML | What It Communicates | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular or “dofollow” link | No SEO-specific rel value required | No special qualification is being added | Trusted editorial references and ordinary links |
| Nofollow link | rel=”nofollow” | You would rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the destination from, this link when another qualification does not apply | Non-endorsed or otherwise unqualified references that you still need to keep |
| Sponsored link | rel=”sponsored” | The link exists because of advertising, sponsorship, payment, or another compensation arrangement | Ads, paid placements, sponsorships, and compensated affiliate links |
| UGC link | rel=”ugc” | The link was created in user-generated content rather than placed as an ordinary editorial citation | Comments, forums, community posts, and similar user contributions |
Paid Links: Sponsored Is Preferred
Google’s spam policies identify buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. Paid links are allowed for advertising and sponsorship, but Google says they should be qualified with rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”. Its outbound-link guidance states that sponsored is the preferred value for advertisements and paid placements.
This is an important correction to the common idea that every non-editorial link can simply be labelled nofollow. Nofollow remains available, but a specific relationship should use the more specific value when one exists.
User-Generated Links: Use UGC Where Appropriate
Google recommends rel=”ugc” for links in user-generated content such as comments and forum posts. The attribute identifies who created the link relationship. Google also notes that publishers may remove the UGC value from links posted by contributors who have consistently made high-quality contributions, so this is not a rule that every user-created link must remain permanently qualified in the same way.
Can You Combine rel Values?
Yes. Google allows multiple values, such as rel=”ugc nofollow”. This can be useful when more than one relationship or handling preference applies. The values can be space-separated or comma-separated, although space-separated values are easier for people to read and maintain.
Common Dofollow and Nofollow Mistakes
Mistake 1: Treating Dofollow as a Special Attribute
Adding rel=”dofollow” is unnecessary. The useful distinction is between an ordinary link and a link that carries a recognised qualification such as nofollow, sponsored, or UGC.
Mistake 2: Leaving Paid Links Unqualified
A paid placement should not be made to look like an independent editorial citation for ranking purposes. Google’s spam policies specifically cover paid links that pass ranking credit, advertorial links, and other compensated arrangements. Qualify the relationship instead of trying to disguise it.
Mistake 3: Nofollowing Every External Citation
A blanket nofollow rule is not required by Google. Trusted editorial citations can remain ordinary links. Applying nofollow automatically to every external source also makes it harder for editors to use the attribute for the situations it is intended to describe.
Mistake 4: Using Nofollow to Control Internal Indexing
If a page on your own site should not appear in Google Search, nofollow on internal links is not a reliable solution. A destination may still be discovered elsewhere. Review crawl access, indexability, canonicalisation, authentication, and other page-level controls according to the actual problem.
Mistake 5: Judging Backlinks Only by Link Attribute
A dofollow link is not automatically a good link, and a nofollow link is not automatically worthless. A low-quality placement created mainly to manipulate rankings can be risky regardless of the sales pitch around it. A relevant qualified link may still reach the right readers and support wider visibility. This is one reason off-page SEO should be evaluated as more than a count of followed backlinks.
Mistake 6: Forcing Exact-Match Anchor Text Into Paid or Scaled Placements
Google’s spam policies specifically identify optimised anchor text in paid advertorials, guest posts, press releases, and forum links as examples that can form part of link spam. Anchor text should describe the destination naturally. It should not be engineered across many placements simply to repeat a target query.
How to Choose the Right Link Attribute
Start with the reason the link exists. This keeps the decision tied to editorial reality rather than to a hoped-for SEO outcome.
- Editorial and trusted: use a normal link when no qualification is needed.
- Paid, sponsored, or compensated: use rel=”sponsored”. Google also accepts nofollow for paid links, but sponsored is preferred.
- User-generated: use rel=”ugc” where appropriate.
- No specific relationship value applies, but you would rather Google not associate your site with or crawl the destination from this link: use rel=”nofollow”.
- The link is unnecessary, unsafe, or adds no reader value: remove it rather than treating a rel attribute as a cure for a poor citation.
A Practical Link Audit
During a content audit, review outbound and internal links separately. For outbound links, identify why each link exists, whether compensation or user contribution is involved, whether the destination still supports the surrounding claim, and whether the current rel value matches that relationship. For internal links, check whether the destination is the correct live URL and whether the link helps the reader move to a genuinely related page.
The same principle applies to broader white-hat SEO practice: the technical markup should describe what is actually happening. If the commercial, editorial, or user-generated relationship is clear, choosing the rel value becomes a straightforward maintenance decision rather than a link-sculpting tactic.
What to Check Before Publishing
Before publishing or updating a page, inspect the links that could change how the relationship is understood:
- Confirm that ordinary editorial citations do not carry an unnecessary nofollow, sponsored, or UGC value.
- Confirm that compensated links are qualified as sponsored or, where appropriate, nofollow.
- Confirm that user-generated areas apply UGC handling consistently with the site’s moderation policy.
- Check that nofollow is not being used as the only method for controlling internal crawling or indexing.
- Remove outdated or weak references that no longer help the reader.
That final check is more useful than trying to maintain a particular ratio of dofollow to nofollow links. The correct mix is whatever accurately reflects the links your page actually contains.
