Modern Guide to Nofollow Links in SEO

For ecommerce operators, securing backlinks is often the top priority for driving organic traffic. But as you analyze your link profile, you will inevitably encounter a confusing metric: the nofollow link.

Common SEO wisdom once claimed these links were worthless for rankings. Today, that advice is dangerously outdated.

If you are searching for the SEO value of nofollow links or wondering if you should pursue a link that doesn’t pass “authority,” you need the modern facts. Google’s algorithms have evolved, transforming nofollow links from simple “stop” signs into valuable hints that can drive referral sales and build brand trust.

This guide cuts through the technical jargon to explain the difference between dofollow vs. nofollow, the impact of the 2019 “Hint” update, and why a diverse link profile is essential for your store’s growth.

At its simplest, a nofollow link is a hyperlink with a small piece of code attached to it that tells search engines: “I am linking to this page, but I don’t necessarily vouch for it.”

In the HTML code of a website, the syntax looks like this:

<a href="https://example-store.com" rel="nofollow">Link Text</a>

This nofollow attribute is invisible to the user—they can click the link just like any other—but it sends a specific signal to bots crawling the page.

The Origin Story

Google introduced this nofollow tag back in 2005. At the time, the internet was suffering from a plague of comment spam. Bots were posting millions of links in blog comments to artificially inflate rankings.

Google’s solution was to create a way for webmasters to deter link spam. By adding this attribute, site owners could prevent spammers from gaining SEO value from unmoderated comments. While dofollow links pass authority (often called “link juice” or PageRank), nofollow links were historically designed to tell google and other search engines to ignore the link entirely.

However, as you will see, the way search engines value these links has changed.

Nofollow vs. Dofollow vs. Sponsored vs. UGC

For years, we only had “dofollow” and “nofollow.” But in 2019, Google realized the web was too complex for just two options. They introduced new link attributes to help their algorithms better understand the nature of external links.

Here is the breakdown of the types of links you need to know:

  • Dofollow Links: There is technically no such thing as a “dofollow” attribute. It is simply the default state. If you don’t add a tag, it is a dofollow link. These tell Google, “I trust this site, please pass my authority to them.”
  • Nofollow (rel="nofollow"): The catch-all. You use the nofollow tag when you want to link to a page but don’t want to pass authority, or when the other tags don’t quite fit.
  • Sponsored (rel="sponsored"): This is designed specifically for paid links. If you bought an advertisement, a banner, or a sponsored article, using this tag is preferred over a generic nofollow.
  • UGC (rel="ugc"): This stands for User Generated Content. This is intended for forum posts and the comments section.

Note: While Google prefers you use specific tags like “sponsored” or “ugc,” using the classic nofollow attribute is still perfectly acceptable for all these scenarios. The key is understanding the difference between nofollow and dofollow to ensure you aren’t accidentally vouching for low-quality sites.

If you ask an SEO purist, they might say “no” because links do not pass PageRank when tagged this way. But for an ecommerce business owner, the answer is a definitive “Yes, but indirectly.”

Here is how nofollow links impact SEO:

1. The Natural Link Profile Google is suspicious of perfection. If your online store has 1,000 backlinks and 100% of them are follow links, it looks manipulative. It suggests you paid for every link. A natural, healthy website has a balance of nofollow and dofollow links. Nofollow backlinks prove to Google that your site is participating in the real, organic web ecosystem.

2. The Trust Factor Some of the most authoritative sites on the internet—Wikipedia, Forbes, and major news outlets—automatically add tags to make sure every link is nofollow.

If you get a mention in a Forbes article, it will likely be a nofollow link. Does that mean the link is worthless? Absolutely not. It is a massive trust signal. SEO professionals agree that being cited by industry giants improves your brand’s authority, even if the links don’t pass direct equity.

The 2019 “Hint” Model Update

This is the most critical technical detail to understand regarding your SEO strategy. Before September 2019, “nofollow” was a directive. It was a hard rule that commanded Google: “Do not look at this link. Do not count it.”

That changed.

Google announced that for crawling and indexing, the nofollow attribute is now treated as a hint.

This means search engines may choose to traverse these links to discover new content. The tag now offers hints about which links to consider or exclude within search. This change allows Google to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems that were previously ignored. If a high-quality news site links to your product page with a nofollow tag, Google’s algorithm may decide to follow that link and give you credit for it anyway.

The “Bank Shot” Effect: Traffic and User Signals

In billiards, a “bank shot” is when you hit the ball off the cushion to sink it. Nofollow links work the same way in content marketing.

Even if the link itself doesn’t boost your search engine rankings directly, it drives traffic to your website.

  1. A potential customer reads a review (with a nofollow link).
  2. They click the link to visit your store.
  3. They browse multiple products (increasing dwell time) and perhaps make a purchase.

These positive user signals tell Google, “People like this website.”

Furthermore, nofollow links build brand awareness. A journalist might see your store via a nofollow link on social media, like your product, and then write an article about you on their own blog using a standard dofollow link. The nofollow link was the spark that created the new links that eventually pass PageRank.

The industry consensus is that Google looks at click-stream data. If real humans are clicking on a nofollow link and finding value on the linked page, Google takes notice. A “dead” link that no one clicks provides no value, but an “active” link validates your site’s relevance. This suggests that nofollow links likely carry more weight than previously thought when they generate high engagement.

When to Use Nofollow Attributes (Best Practices)

As a site operator, you aren’t just receiving links; you are also creating them. Knowing when to use a nofollow link on your own site is a crucial part of technical SEO.

You should apply these tags to outbound links in these scenarios to avoid a Google penalty:

  • Paid Advertisements: If someone pays you to place a banner or text link, you must tag it as sponsored links or nofollow.
  • Affiliate Links: If you run an affiliate program or link to Amazon products, those links are commercial. Programs like Amazon Associates require you to tag these links to comply with guidelines.
  • Press Releases: Links inside distributed press releases should generally be nofollowed, as they are often considered self-promotional link schemes.
  • Untrusted Content: If you allow people to post user-generated content on your site, auto-tag those links back to the original source to protect your site’s reputation.

Common Mistakes: Internal Nofollows and Sculpting

Finally, a warning against an old tactic that refuses to die: PageRank Sculpting.

Years ago, SEOs thought they could “hoard” their website’s authority by putting “nofollow” tags on internal links (like links to their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service). They believed this would force more “juice” to flow to their important product pages.

Do not do this.

Since 2009, this math hasn’t worked. When you nofollow an internal link, the link equity that would have gone to that page doesn’t get redirected to your other pages—it simply evaporates. You are wasting your site’s power.

  • The Better Solution: If you have a page you don’t want Google to index or rank (like a “Thank You for Purchasing” page), do not use a nofollow link. Instead, add a noindex tag to that specific page. This keeps the page out of search results but allows your internal link authority to flow naturally.

Next Step for Your Business

Open your website’s backlink checker tool today. Filter your report to show only nofollow backlinks. Instead of ignoring them, identify which ones are sending you referral traffic. Reach out to those specific publishers and thank them—building that relationship could turn a nofollow mention into a powerful dofollow link in the future.

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