What Is a Nofollow Link?
A nofollow link includes the rel="nofollow" attribute, signaling to search engines that the linking site does not necessarily endorse the destination and that authority should not be passed through it. It was introduced to combat comment spam and manipulative link building.
Google now treats nofollow as a hint rather than a strict directive, meaning it may still use these links for crawling and ranking in some cases. Related attributes include rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content.
When to Use Nofollow
Use nofollow, or the more specific sponsored and ugc attributes, for links you cannot vouch for or that you would not want interpreted as an endorsement. This includes paid and affiliate links, links in user-generated content like comments and forums, and links to untrusted sources.
Applying these attributes correctly keeps your link profile clean and complies with Google's guidelines on paid links, which require disclosure through nofollow or sponsored to avoid penalties for link schemes.
Nofollow vs Dofollow for SEO
A standard, followed link, often called dofollow, passes authority and is what most link building aims to earn. Nofollow links generally do not pass authority in the same way, so they contribute less directly to rankings.
That said, nofollow links still have value: they can drive referral traffic, build brand awareness, and contribute to a natural, diverse link profile. A backlink profile made up entirely of followed links can itself look unnatural, so a healthy mix is normal.