Nofollow link

A nofollow link is an HTML link with rel="nofollow". It was introduced in 2005 so a link would not pass ranking credit, first to fight comment spam.

In September 2019 Google added rel="sponsored" for paid or advertising links, and rel="ugc" for user‑generated content. Google also said all three are hints rather than directives. From March 2020 the hint applies to crawling and indexing as well as ranking.

So a nofollow link does not guarantee that credit will not flow or that a URL will not be crawled. It still reduces the chance. It still signals you do not endorse the target.

Links from most social networks, forums, directories and comment sections carry nofollow or ugc. They still bring visitors and mentions, and may still be counted as a hint.

Do not bin a link just because it is nofollow. A mention on a busy subreddit can send signups. A press link marked sponsored can still bring buyers.

Chase relevance and humans. A link from a niche forum thread to /guides/getting-started that answers the question is worth the effort, even if it is ugc.

Keep your profile clean. If you pay for placement on /pricing, label it. If you host comments on your blog, mark user links correctly. This avoids manual actions and messy audits later.

1. 1

   Check a link in your browser

   Right click, Inspect, and look at the <a> tag. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="ugc" or rel="sponsored", note the values. No rel usually means it can pass credit.

2. 2

   Sample your key referrers

   Open a few top referral pages that send traffic. Inspect their links to your site. Record which rel values they use, and which pages on your site they hit.

3. 3

   Audit your own outbound links

   Search your templates for rel="". Check affiliate buttons on /blog/* and sponsored posts. Confirm the right rel value is present and crawlable.

4. 4

   Spot mixed cases

   You can combine values, for example rel="sponsored nofollow". That is valid. Google treats the set as hints.

For volume, you will need a backlink export to study patterns. When you cannot get that, check a representative sample: the top ten referrers and a few deep links. Note anchor text and landing pages as well as rel values.

• Use rel="sponsored" for paid ads, affiliate links, paid reviews and gifted products.
• Use rel="ugc" for comments, forum posts, profiles and any user‑added link.
• Use rel="nofollow" when you link but cannot fully vouch for the target, for example in a guestbook export or a scraped directory.
• Combine when needed, for example rel="sponsored nofollow" on an affiliate banner.

<a href="/go/partner" rel="sponsored">Try Partner</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc nofollow">User link</a>
<a href="https://resource.com" rel="nofollow">Reference</a>

A fixed page looks like this: your /blog/post links to an affiliate with rel="sponsored", credits a forum thread with rel="ugc", and cites a source you do not endorse with rel="nofollow". Your editorial links you trust have no rel attribute at all.

• Do not add nofollow to all external links by default. You dilute useful signals and make maintenance harder.
• Do not use nofollow to block indexing. As of 2026 it is a hint. Use noindex or robots.txt where appropriate.
• Do not nofollow internal links. You hobble discovery of /features and /pricing and create crawl issues.
• Do not assume social links pass credit. Most carry nofollow or ugc. Treat them as traffic and brand, not ranking fuel.
• Do not rely on nofollow to fix a weak page. Improve the content on /guides/getting-started instead.