"Nofollow" directive

A nofollow attribute on a link tells search engines not to associate the linking page with its destination — meaning the link should not pass ranking signals (often referred to as "link equity" or "PageRank").

nofollow in practice

On an individual link:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example</a>

As a page-level directive (applies to every link on the page):

<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">

How Google treats nofollow

Until March 2020, nofollow was a strict directive — Google would not pass any ranking signal through a nofollow link. With the March update, this practice was changed, and Google started treating nofollow as a "hint" rather than a strict instruction. This means Google may, in some cases, still use the link for ranking purposes (though an unambiguous dofollow link is still the best for inbound link value).

In practice, the impact of this for most sites was insignificant. The shift in approach was about giving Google more flexibility to interpret links, not about changing publisher behaviour.

The link attribute family

Google also introduced two companion attributes alongside the 2020 nofollow change:

• rel="nofollow" — original generic attribute. Use when you don't want to vouch for the destination.
• rel="sponsored" — for paid links: advertisements, paid placements, sponsored content. This is required by Google's quality guidelines for paid links, to prevent manipulating rankings through buying links (using nofollow for paid links is also acceptable).
• rel="ugc" — for user-generated content: blog comments, forum posts, user reviews.

You can combine them where multiple apply:

<a href="..." rel="sponsored nofollow">...</a>

When to use nofollow (or its modern variants)

sponsored

• Paid links — advertorials, affiliate links, sponsored posts, or banner ads. sponsored is preferred, but nofollow is also acceptable under Google's quality guidelines. Failing to mark paid links can lead to manual actions affecting either the linking site or the linked site.

ugc

• User-generated links you can't vouch for: blog comments, forum posts, user-submitted reviews, etc.
• Helps protect your site from being penalised for the behaviour of its users.

nofollow

• Links to external sources you don't want to endorse.

When NOT to use nofollow

• Internal links within your own site that you control. In the early days of search engines, websites could "sculpt" PageRank by selectively nofollowing internal links; by adding nofollow to all links except those pointing to particular trophy pages, websites could shift undue PageRank to these pages rather than have it flow appropriately through the site's natural hierarchy. This practice is long dead. Today, nofollow internal links still consume "link equity" from the source page, just without passing it on. The result is wasted authority.
• Editorial links to high-quality sources. If you're citing a credible reference, a regular followed link signals trust and is part of the natural fabric of the web.
• Trusted partner sites you genuinely vouch for.

Misconceptions

"Nofollow blocks crawling"

Nofollow is a ranking signal, not a crawl directive. Google and other search engines may still crawl the destination URL — it just may not associate it with the source.

"All my outbound links should be nofollow to preserve PageRank"

Not correct. Linking out to authoritative sources is a normal, expected part of the internet and high-quality content. Sites that link out generously are not penalised.

"Nofollow protects my website from spam"

Partially true. Spammers do look for sites that allow blog comments and user-generated content with follow links, but ugc is the modern method to address these links while still allowing user contributions.

Linking quick reference

• Internal links: don't nofollow.
• Editorial outbound links to trusted sources: don't nofollow.
• Paid or sponsored links: use rel="sponsored".
• User-generated content: use rel="ugc".
• Untrusted or unreviewed outbound links: use rel="nofollow".
• Be consistent in your usage of the above throughout your website.

Bots, crawlers, and linking

Disclaimer: All information contained herein is for informational purposes only. It is not advice or instructional.