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Nofollow, dofollow, follow links: difference and impact on SEO promotion
In this article we will look at what nofollow, dofollow and follow links are, how they differ and how they affect SEO promotion. One of our subscribers asked the question: “What is the difference between follow and dofollow links?”
So let's start with the basics.
Technically, the term “dofollow” does not exist. This is more of a colloquial designation for links that do not contain the nofollow attribute. Links with the nofollow attribute indicate to search engines that they should not consider the link when determining rankings or passing link juice. But the follow and dofollow attributes do not officially exist in the context of links.
The follow attribute is used in the robots block on the page itself. For example, you can set the parameter “noindex, follow”, which means that the page will not be indexed, but links from it will work. This often causes confusion, as some people believe that such an attribute completely blocks links from working, but this is not the case. In general, there are different opinions on this matter, but I prefer not to use such methods to block pages with working links.
Before 2009, the nofollow attribute worked like this: if Page A linked to three other resources, then approximately a third of the weight was transferred through those links. If one of them had the nofollow attribute set, then this weight was not transferred, and the remaining two links received more weight.
However, in 2009, Google changed its algorithm so that if out of three links on a page, two are closed by nofollow, then the weight that would normally be transferred through those links is divided equally between the remaining link and the closed links. This means that nofollow no longer serves its original purpose of sculpting PageRank. Instead, it "burns" the weight that would otherwise be transferred through the link.
According to Yandex, there is no detailed information about how the nofollow attribute works, but it is known that such links end up in the Webmaster panel, and often when they are installed, the site’s position can increase. That is, we can assume that nofollow links are somehow taken into account, although there is no exact data.
At the moment, Google and Yandex evaluate nofollow links a little differently than before. They make some contribution to search engines, although it is difficult to say exactly how significant it is. In our practice, we take such links into account, as they help make the link mass more natural. For example, naturally growing sites always have nofollow links, and it is important for us to simulate this distribution to achieve the best effect.
In addition, Google has introduced new statuses such as “sponsored”, and their impact on SEO is also not entirely clear. However, at first glance, they act somewhat like nofollow, that is, they have a less significant impact on rankings, but still play their role.
We have seen examples where placing only nofollow links resulted in a noticeable increase in site rankings. But if you are offered a choice between nofollow and dofollow at the same price, then, of course, you should give preference to the latter. Our promotion strategy focuses on dofollow links, and nofollow links are placed mainly to create a natural link profile.
You can learn more about other aspects of SEO in the articles on our website.
If you have any questions, write to the SEO studio "SEO COMPUTER" at info@seo.computer.
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