Nofollow links are links that have a special tag in the HTML that tells search engines to ignore them. This basically means that nofollow links do not actually affect rankings on search engines. This is opposite of dofollow links, which are normal links that can be followed. Both types of links are found on your site, but have differences. In this article, we will discuss how to find nofollow links, their importance, and their impact on SEO.
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How To Check If A Link Is Nofollow
We all want to know which links help and hurt our website. So, checking for a nofollow link on your site or other sites is a must. Let’s go over on how to check that a link is a dofollow or nofollow. First, have the link found on the site you are on. Then, right click on the page, and press view page source. Next, take a look for that link in the HTML of the page. This is where you need to pay attention.
If the text rel=”nofollow” is seen as an attribute, it is a nofollow link. In any other case, the link is a dofollow link. This will help you understand the types of links, and how to know which ones are which. Remember, not every link should be a follow link, only because it will overwhelm the algorithm.
Nofollow Links’ SEO
Nofollow links’ SEO contribution is a very debated subject. Some argue that nofollow links’ SEO value is tiny. When comparing them to other backlinks, it could be said as true. They are labeled as nofollow and the search engine knows to not push your rankings up. There are many reasons why Google and others do this. This is because spam commenting on blogs should not help push up your rankings. Fake accounts could spam and give exposure to sites that should not have it.
Also, advertisements’ links have to be labeled as nofollow. Having ads will not increase exposure for your site. You are essentially being paid to have those links there. It will increase your revenue, which can help in creating better content, though. Nofollow links’ SEO contribution may be minimal, but they still hold some value.
Importance of Nofollow Links
Well, nofollow links do provide some value. Experts have said that websites need a good mixture of dofollow and nofollow backlinks. Having 100% follow backlinks is not going to look good for Google’s algorithm. Another change that happened in March of 2020 was the hinting change.
Google made a big announcement that nofollow links will now be used as hints. The hint would help the search engine determine if the link should help rank the page. This is good news. Pages can now rank (or potentially try to rank), with their nofollow links. Don’t entirely rely on this, as follow links are still better to help you rank. Nofollow links may not be as useful, but they are starting to provide more value.
Follow Backlinks
Next, let’s discuss dofollow vs nofollow links. Follow backlinks, or dofollow backlinks, are normal links on your site that help attract traffic. Having a successful strategy for backlinks involves auditing, researching, and learning how to build them.
Essentially, you want other sites to have links on them to your site. This way, their readers will click these links and come to your site. Now that you’ve read that, you must really want to know how to get follow backlinks. Don’t worry, we will discuss some strategies below.
Strategies for Link Building
Follow backlinks are great to have. They help you increase the traffic to your website. In order to do some link building, you will need to have a strategy. Some strategies include creating relevant content, promoting your content, and doing competitor research. This will help you increase the prominence of your site, and potentially attract more viewers. The higher the popularity, the higher the chance for someone to link to your site. This creates a follow backlink, and the more you get, the better.
Other SEO Strategies
Every business wants to grow. Of course, follow and nofollow links are a part of your business’s SEO strategy. They can help or hurt a business, depending on how they are used. Other SEO strategies should also be implemented in order to have a successful business. Some of these strategies include keyword research, and off page SEO. Keyword research can be helpful with link building. When you link something from another site, you usually want to put the link with keywords that relate to the topic. Well, having successful keyword research can lead to more backlinks to your site. The keywords will certainly help.
Off-page SEO is another strategy. It ties into SEO that is done outside of your website. Essentially, it means that you should have other platforms for your website to increase its prominence. This can include social media channels, which we will discuss too. Backlinks through social media are very popular. Search engines like to see those backlinks being clicked, and visitors being directed to your site.
A Nofollow Link’s SEO Value
A nofollow link’s SEO value can be interpreted in different ways. This is because nofollow links are different from each other. Some just happen to be paid links. Others include spam blog posts, and spam social media account signups. And finally, there are nofollow links that do not harm your site. The main reasons that a nofollow link’s SEO value is lower is because Google combats paid advertising. Yet, sometimes it is difficult to tell a paid link apart from an earned link. We will discuss paid and earned links, and which one is better to have.
Paid Link vs Earned Link
A paid link will not add any value to a website in terms of SEO. What will add value is an earned link. Earned links don’t involve payment or pressure to be placed on your website. Instead they are placed by the content creator as a way to enhance the value of the information presented. Google loves this. It sees it as a way of providing better content. Basically, when someone puts a backlink on their site that leads to yours, you gain more audience. It also tells the algorithm that you probably have a trustworthy site. You want earned links. Earned links provide much more value to your site. A nofollow link’s SEO value may be questionable, but an earned link’s value is not.
How To Get Earned Links
Getting earned links is a task and a half. While nofollow links are everywhere, earned links are not guaranteed. In fact, the simplest way to start is by using reverse psychology. Write a review about another site and link them to yours. Most sites get notifications when they are linked somewhere else. They will see the link and very well may return the favor if they like the article. This would be a great way to earn a link, and they might write an article about your content too.
Another way to earn a link is to write quality content. This should be done in general. Quality content will help a site grow over time. Content creation services can help you write great content. This is great for those who have a higher budget and are starting out. Later on, your content will improve and you may not need the service anymore. Quality content sooner or later will attract earned links to it.
The third and maybe the best way to earn a link is to start using more than one platform. Using platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter can help build your brand. With more exposure on these platforms, your website can end up earning links on other sites. Also, when your social media account links to your website, this counts as an earned link. Even if you are the owner of both, your website still earned a link. Therefore, use more than one platform, and you can have more earned link opportunities.
So, Do Nofollow Links Have Any Value or Not?
Now, after discussing earned links, we can see that clearly they are very valuable. On the other hand, nofollow links don’t provide as much value. It prompts us to ask if they have any value at all. Well, the answer is yes. Nofollow links may not help you rank as much as follow links and earned links, but they still play an important role. Nofollow links do help guide the algorithm through hinting, but it alone does not rank your site. That shouldn’t be worrying, though. Nofollow links still have a place on your site, whether it is for image URLs or comments. Having a mixture of dofollow and nofollow links is important. The algorithm likes that, because it doesn’t think that your site is full of spam. Nofollow links should be placed accordingly, in order for you to take full advantage of their benefits.
FAQs about Nofollow Links:
- What is the definition of a nofollow link?
- What is a backlink?
- How many links does my site need?
- When should I use nofollow links?
- Can nofollow links hurt you?
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