Are you dismissing No-follow backlinks as worthless? Do you think they provide no link juice to your website? Think again!!!
People usually consider no-follow backlinks to be worthless just because they signal the search engine to not consider the backlink as an endorsement by host website. Now, it is true that they don’t hold as much link juice as a good quality Do-follow backlink, but, they are still relevant for your web rankings.
What’s a no-follow backlink ?
To understand how they are valuable, we must understand what a no-follow backlink is?
In a no-follow backlink, Google recommends using the “no-follow” tag to indicate to search engines that you do not want your website to be directly associated with the linked page. This is typically done when you want to avoid implying any endorsement or passing on ranking credit
In HTML markup, “nofollow” links are similar to dofollow links, but with the addition of the “rel=nofollow” attribute at link-level. These tags can also be put at page-level which denotes that all the links on that page are nofollow, & also in robots.txt as well.
These say to search engines, “This link exists, but I’m not vouching for the website it points to.” They don’t directly pass on that same ranking power for SEO purposes.
Whereas, Dofollow links directly pass on what’s called “link juice” or “ranking power” that can help improve your website’s position in search results. They signal to search engines, “Follow this link, it leads to a website I endorse.”
How no-follow backlinks Help:
In short, they get you visible to Google (social media & pillow links) & also help prevent in potential Google penalty for unnatural link profile.
- They serve as a good starting point for initial discovery to Google: 66.31% of pages have zero referring domains (Ahrefs). This shows how common it is for websites to lack any kind of backlinks. In such cases no-follow backlinks serve as a good starting point. They get your site discovered to Google. That’s why a lot of users build pillow links as the first set of backlinks.
- Prevents from any potential Google penalty for unnatural link profile: If majority of your backlinks are dofollow, that is unnatural. So you need to have a balance of dofollow and no-follow backlinks so that you don’t keep building dofollow backlinks.
- Experts believe Google still factors nofollow links into algorithms as a sign of natural link patterns: 89.1% of link builders believe nofollow links still impact rankings (AuthorityHacker). While the direct SEO impact is debated, With the majority of link builders acknowledging their impact, website owners need to consider the strategic use of nofollow links in their SEO efforts to optimize their visibility & crawlability in search engine results pages.
- Links Built through social media are naturally no-follow backlinks. Link builders using social media build 22% more links than those who don’t (Authorityhacker). Social media often uses nofollow links, indicating their value in backlink strategies. Posting your blog link on social media helps in ongoing discoverability
A high majority of Dofollow backlinks are so artificial that you would not find any site that ranks, having all dofollow backlinks. Thus, It’s essential to view nofollow links as part of a holistic SEO strategy rather than focusing solely on their direct ranking impact.
While nofollow backlinks might not seem as powerful as their dofollow counterparts, don’t underestimate their value. They increase brand exposure, can drive referral traffic, and contribute to a natural, healthy backlink profile – all factors that boost your SEO. So, stop hating on nofollow backlinks! Instead, embrace them as part of a well-rounded strategy, and watch as they help your website gain visibility and authority in search results.