What is a NoFollow Link?

A nofollow link is a type of hyperlink that includes a rel="nofollow" attribute in its HTML code, instructing search engines not to pass any link equity or "link juice" from the referring site to the destination site. In other words, nofollow links do not contribute to improving the destination site's ranking in search engine results. Nofollow links are typically used in situations where the linking site doesn't want to endorse the destination site, such as in user-generated content (comments, forums), paid links, or when linking to untrusted or unrelated websites.

While nofollow links don't directly impact SEO rankings, they can still drive traffic to a site and contribute to a natural-looking backlink profile, which is important for avoiding penalties from search engines. Additionally, Google has started treating nofollow links as "hints" for crawling and indexing, meaning they may still have some indirect influence. A balanced link-building strategy includes both follow and nofollow links, helping to maintain a healthy, diverse backlink profile.