A do-follow backlink is a standard hyperlink that instructs search engine crawlers to follow the link and pass link equity (commonly called "link juice" or PageRank) from the linking page to the destination page. Do-follow is the default link state — all links are do-follow unless explicitly marked otherwise with the rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" attributes. Earning do-follow backlinks from authoritative websites is one of the most impactful factors in improving search rankings.

Do-Follow vs. No-Follow Links

The distinction between do-follow and no-follow links is critical in link building. A do-follow link passes PageRank and tells search engines to count the link as a vote of confidence for the linked page. A no-follow link includes rel="nofollow" in its HTML, signaling to search engines not to follow the link for ranking purposes. While Google now treats no-follow as a "hint" rather than an absolute directive, do-follow links are still significantly more valuable for SEO. Most editorial links — those earned naturally through quality content — are do-follow by default.

Key point: The term "do-follow" is slightly informal — there is no actual rel="dofollow" HTML attribute. A do-follow link is simply a link that lacks any rel attribute instructing crawlers to ignore it.

How to Identify Do-Follow Links

You can identify whether a link is do-follow or no-follow by inspecting the link's HTML:

  • A do-follow link looks like: <a href="https://example.com">Anchor Text</a>
  • A no-follow link looks like: <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Anchor Text</a>
  • SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush label links as "dofollow" or "nofollow" in their backlink reports
  • Browser extensions like MozBar can highlight link types as you browse

Why It Matters for SEO

Do-follow backlinks are the primary currency of off-page SEO. Each do-follow link from an authoritative, relevant website passes PageRank to the linked page, strengthening its authority and improving its likelihood of ranking well. A targeted link building strategy focused on earning high-quality do-follow links from topically relevant websites consistently produces some of the strongest ranking improvements available to SEOs. Link quality — the authority and relevance of the linking domain — matters far more than sheer link quantity.