Nofollow is an HTML link attribute added as rel="nofollow" on an anchor tag that instructs search engine crawlers not to follow the link or pass link equity (PageRank) to the destination page. It was introduced by Google in 2005 as a way to combat comment spam and has since become a standard tool for controlling how link equity flows across your site and to external destinations.

How Nofollow Works

A standard dofollow link looks like this:

<a href="https://example.com">Link text</a>

A nofollow link looks like this:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Link text</a></pre>

When Googlebot encounters the nofollow attribute, it treats it as a hint (not a command, as of 2019) that the link should not be followed and link equity should not be passed. Google may still crawl the destination URL through other means, but the link will not contribute to the destination page's ranking power.

Dofollow vs Nofollow vs Sponsored vs UGC rel="dofollow" (no attribute) Passes PageRank Crawler follows link Counts as endorsement Editorial links rel="nofollow" General untrusted links Hint to not pass PR May still be crawled No ranking credit Comments, forums rel="sponsored" Paid/affiliate links No PageRank passed Required by Google for paid placements Ads, sponsorships rel="ugc" User-generated content No PageRank passed Signals untrusted user-added links Blog comments, wikis

The Three Nofollow Variants (2019 Update)

In September 2019, Google introduced two new link attributes alongside nofollow, giving webmasters more precise control:

  • rel="nofollow" — General purpose: use when you do not want to vouch for a link but none of the more specific attributes applies. Covers untrusted links, links in widgets, and general outbound links you do not endorse
  • rel="sponsored" — Required for all paid links: advertorials, sponsored posts, affiliate links, and any link that was placed in exchange for money, products, or services. Failure to use this on paid links is a Google Webmaster Guidelines violation
  • rel="ugc" (User Generated Content) — For links added by users in comments, forum posts, or community sections where you have no editorial control over the linked content

You can combine attributes: rel="nofollow sponsored" or rel="ugc nofollow" are both valid.

Nofollow as a Hint, Not a Command

Since 2019, Google officially treats nofollow as a hint rather than a directive. This means Google may choose to crawl and even index the destination URL despite the nofollow attribute, but it will not pass PageRank credit. In practice, Google rarely crawls nofollow links unless the destination is already known to it, but you cannot rely on nofollow to block indexing. To prevent a page from being indexed, use the noindex tag.

When to Use Nofollow

  • All paid links and affiliate links (use rel="sponsored" specifically)
  • Links in comment sections and user-submitted content (use rel="ugc")
  • Links to untrusted or low-quality external sites you need to reference but do not want to endorse
  • Login pages, privacy policy, and other utility pages where internal link equity is better directed elsewhere
  • Widget and embedded content links

When NOT to Use Nofollow

  • Editorial links to high-quality external resources you genuinely endorse
  • Internal links (never nofollow your own site's navigation or content links)
  • Natural links to partner sites or sources you cite
Important: Adding nofollow to internal links is one of the most damaging mistakes in SEO. It blocks PageRank from flowing to your own pages, starving them of link equity. Only use nofollow on outbound external links to untrusted or paid sources.

Nofollow vs Noindex

These two attributes are often confused but do completely different things:

  • rel="nofollow" on a link — tells crawlers not to follow that specific link and not to pass PageRank through it
  • meta name="robots" content="noindex" on a page — tells crawlers not to include that page in the search index

Nofollow is placed on links. Noindex is placed on pages. They are not interchangeable.