What is a NoFollow Link?
A nofollow link is a hyperlink with 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 when the linking site doesn’t want to endorse the destination site, such as in user-generated content (comments, forums), paid links, or 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 essential for avoiding search engine penalties. 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 follow and nofollow links, helping maintain a healthy, diverse backlink profile.