Whenever someone talks about search engine optimization (SEO), some of the words that pop into our minds are the title tag, keywords, meta descriptions, do-follow links, no-follow links, among others.
However, if you’re new to SEO, chances that you are overwhelmed by most of these terms, particularly the debate on do-follow vs. no-follow link. While you can easily understand how to do keyword research or create outstanding content, you may not understand the value of a great link.
Don’t feel sorry about it. You’re not the only one.
Links are one of the most crucial parts of content that help the search engine to see the relationship between the websites. However, to understand these links that can add value to your website, first, you need to learn the difference between do-follow and no-follow links.
Do-Follow Vs. No-Follow Link: An Overview
Since 2005, Google has been using PageRank, a weighted point system to measure the value of a particular website. The number of quality inbound links plays a crucial role to determine where your website will be in the search result.
To make sure your page appears top in the search result, you need to make sure to use the do-follow and no-follow links in the correct way.
Do-Follow Link
A do-follow link is a default state for a link that passes the link juice from a referring website to the linked website, thus directly affecting the search engine rankings.
A do-follow link is crucial to your backlink profile since it sends a signal to Google what is this website about.
No-Follow Link
Unlike a do-follow link, a no-follow link does not pass link juice or boost PageRank. It contains a small piece of code, known as an attribute, which does not allow the search engine bot to follow that link.
Press releases, blog comments, social media, sponsored content, are some of the contents that are usually no-follow links.
The Importance of Having a Do-Follow Link
One of the biggest advantages of having a do-follow link is that it provides clear SEO benefits.
Since the search engine bots can crawl the web through these links and scrutinize them on various metrics, it will pass an authority or link juice from one site to another.
Do-follow links do not only make sure that your page is visible to Google but also help improve your position in the eyes of all the search engines.
Once your position is improved, you will start having a better page preview. It will encourage others to link your blog with theirs, meaning that they will get a backlink as well. It’s a win-win for both of you.
Do-follow links can attract more visitors to your website. It’s a great way to build a professional relationship with other brands.
Does No-Follow Link Have No Value?
Although no-follow links don’t directly affect your site’s position, they are still valuable for your website. These links are essential for getting a natural backlink profile.
It’s quite suspicious for a website to have just do-follow links, particularly when they all have the same anchor texts. Having some no-follow links can help make your content more natural.
Having no-follow links from high-traffic websites may not improve your site’s PageRank directly. However, these links can be a great source of traffic when a reader clicks through to visit your website.
How the people are engaging with your website can have an impact on your ranking, even though you’re not getting any link juice. Besides, the more exposure you get, the better chance for you to increase your do-follow links. So, Think twice before you remove a no-follow link from your site.
How to Check a Do-Follow or No-Follow Link
There are several ways to check whether the link in your blog post is do-follow or no-follow. Some of them are mentioned below.
Use SEO Extensions
Using a browser extension can be an easy way to check if the link you have on your website is a no-follow or do-follow link. There are different types of extensions, especially if you use the Chrome browser, which will help you to determine the type of that link.
Mangools, Mozbar, SEOquake are some of the popular extensions that are used to check a no-follow and do-follow link. You can also use NoDoFollow Link Finder if you use the Firefox browser.
Check Your HTML Code
One of the easiest ways to check whether the link is no-follow or do-follow is to take a look at the HTML code of the referring website. However, you need to know where the backlink is placed.
You can simply do it by right-clicking on that link and then selecting “Inspect.” you can also check the code and search for the tag rel=”nofollow.” if you can’t find it you can be assured that the link is do-follow.
Use a Backlink Analysis Tool
Whether you’re analyzing your own or your competitor’s link profile, you may have trouble finding the backlinks, anchor texts, or their placement. There are some popular backlink analysis tools that can help you with that.
Using these tools is quite simple. Just enter the website address you want to find backlinks for. Click on the backlinks and wait for the referring website to load. And, when the website loads, click on the anchor text to find it.
How to Make a Link Do-Follow or No-Follow
When you’re publishing a new blog post, the link you create on your website will be a do-follow link by default.
However, you might spot a no-follow link and want to turn it into a do-follow one. If the article is published on someone else’s website, you won’t be able to change that since you don’t have access to their code.
However, if the blog is published on your own website, Switch to the HTML view and remove rel=”nofollow” from that code, and your link will be converted to a do-follow one. The link should look like the following-
<a href=”http://www.sample.com/”>Sample anchor text</a>
Similarly, if you have a do-follow link and you want to make it no-follow, find the link in the code and add the no-follow attribute like the following.
<a href=”http://www.sample.com/” rel=”nofollow”>Sample anchor text</a>
How to Use No-Follow & Do-Follow Links to Your Site
There are no fixed rules on how and what ratio you should follow when placing do-follow and no-follow links to your website. Some experts say it should be 50/50, while others say 40/60 will be a better choice.
However, if you look into some of the most popular blogs or websites, you will see that the most successful websites have a larger number of do-follow links.
Remember, advertising, text link ads, sponsored blog posts, and other links that result from paid relationships must use the no-follow attribute. However, your ultimate goal should be to have a healthy balance of both types of links.
How You Can Get Do-Follow Links
Since you already know how important it is to have a do-follow link, you must be planning to get some. But, how are you going to do that?
There are some great and honest approaches to get awesome do-follow links. Create outstanding and unique content, which will get shared and linked to naturally.
There are some other ways you can try such as guest blogging, particularly on a website relevant to your own so that you can create referral traffic in addition to getting an SEO boost.
If you’re looking for a reliable link building service provider that can secure natural in-content backlinks from niche-relevant real sites with real traffic, you can try OneLittleWeb’s DA50+ backlink with a $150 discount by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
Most people don’t understand the importance of having quality backlinks to their websites. These links are not only good for the SEO ranking but also great for building great relationships between brands.
It’s essential to have quality content, perfect keyword research, and doing proper SEO optimization to make sure your site ranks top on Google. However, you should forget how these links can make a huge difference in your overall performance.
Whether it’s do-follow or no-follow links, both of them have a lot to offer when it comes to enhancing the website’s reputation. While do-follow links do more for SEO, both deserve a place in your online marketing strategy.
Sujan Sarkar is one of the co-founders of OneLittleWeb. He leads the agency with over a decade of experience.
In 2018, he founded OneLittleWeb, driven by a vision to fill a void in the industry, providing top-quality SEO and backlink services.
His impressive track record includes crafting over 25,000 backlinks for more than 1100 clients, generating over 1 billion in traffic. This has earned him a significant presence in the SEO realm.
He successfully leads a dedicated team of 65+ SEO professionals, focused on helping SaaS and Enterprises scale their organic traffic.
Sujan firmly believes that the best backlinks are not paid for but earned through high-quality content and strategic relationships.
Every day, he works tirelessly to position your business at the forefront of your customers’ minds, striving to elevate your brand’s visibility and authority.
His daily inspiration centers around securing client features on top-tier publications like Forbes, MSN, BBC, Yahoo, and many more. He leverages the right SEO strategies to achieve this mission.
