Do Follow Link vs No Follow – Key Differences to Know

As a professional blogger, you link to another website in two different ways. The first is a Do Follow and the second No Follow. Generally, they successfully associate your blog with a destination site. However, there are some very crucial differences between these links.

That’s why the “Do Follow Link Vs No Follow” has become an important topic in Search Engine Optimization.

In this article, I aim to differentiate these two types comprehensively. By the end of the article, you’ll be able to know the functionalities and purposes of these links and use them to benefit your website.

Let’s start.

What is a Do Follow Link?

A Do Follow link allows search engines to pass link authority to attached websites or web pages. Search engines like Google thoroughly analyze destination pages and rank them accordingly.

This proves that it directly influences attached websites’ ranking.

It does not have any unique attribute as compared to a No Follow (which I’ll cover in a minute). Here’s what it looks like:

<a href=”http://google.com”>google</a>

What is a No Follow Link?

A No Follow link requests Google, or any other search engine, to ignore the links of destination websites and not pass any Link Juice through it. As a result, the engine only generally examines the webpage and ignore the authority.

Before 2005, a lot of people were utilizing spammy content to boost their SEO game. It was directly hurting Google’s user experience. To counter this problem, Google launched this specific link type and it soon became an important part of SEO.

Unlike a Do Follow, it is specified using a special attribute rel=”nofollow” in its HTML code. It looks like this:

<a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://google.com”>google</a>

Later on in 2019, Google became a little more flexible in treating them. Its algorithms are now more nuanced and treat them like “hints” rather than strict instructions.

Also, Google introduced two more attributes, rel=”sponsored” and rel=”ugc”, to specify links in a better way. The first one is for sponsored content and the latter is for user-generated. However, rel=”nofollow” can be used for both of them collectively.

Do Follow Link Vs No Follow – Why We Use Them?

Here are the details about why we use them:

Why do we use a Do Follow?

·         To encourage a search engine to analyze, crawl, and rank attached websites.

·         To help destination sites get proper Link Juice.

Why do we use a No Follow?

·         To request a search engine to not pass authority to attached pages.

·         To hide sponsored or affiliated web pages in order to avoid severe penalties.

·         To help search engines discourage and deal with spammy content.

How to Add the Do Follow and NO Follow Links?

Here are the details about it:

How to add Do Follow?

Adding it is easier since there’s no specific attribution that you need to include.

You can add it in an anchor text using software like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Since we’re discussing blogging here, I’ll show you how to do it on WordPress.

·         Open your editor.

·         Now, select an anchor text.

·         Click on the “Link” icon.

·         Add any link you want here.

How to add No Follow?

Adding it is a little different since you have to include rel=”nofollow” in its HTML code. It can easily be done in the WordPress editor as well. Here’s how:

·         Open the platform’s editor.

·         Select an anchor text and click on the “Link” icon.

·         Add any link in the designated place.

·         Now, select three dots.

·         Here, click on “Edit as HTML”

·         Here, you can add the rel=”nofollow”.

How to Check if a Link is Do Follow or No Follow?

There are two different ways to check it. I’ll explain them both to you.

Method #1:

The first method can directly be used in any Internet browser. Here are further guidelines:

·         Open the blog.

·         Right-click on the link and click on “Inspect”.

·         Here, you will see the HTML code.

·         If it includes rel=”nofollow”, it’s a No Follow.

·         If it is a simple code, then it is a Do Follow.

Method #2:

The 2^nd method is detailed and is usually used by SEO experts. It involves using tools like Ahrefs and Semrush. These tools show a detailed summary of the Do Follow link Vs No Follow on a website. Here’s how to do it on Ahrefs:

·         Open the tool and add a site address you want to analyze.

·         Now, go to “Backlinks”. 

·         Here, you can use the “No Follow or Do follow” filter to find out all of them on your website.

You can also check our Guide to Using Ahrefs Backlink Checker for more details.

Semrush gives an even better summary in the sense of total numbers.

·         Open Semrush and enter an address.

·         Enter a web address and click “Analyze”.

·         Now, select “Backlinks”.

·         Here, you can see the total number of links and their types.

Do Follow Link Vs No Follow – A Head-to-Head Comparison

Conclusion

“Do Follow Link Vs No Follow” is an important topic you need to understand as an SEO expert. A Do Follow allows Google to pass Link Authority to the destination website. A No Follow, on the other hand, requests Google not to do it.

Do Follow affects the ranking and the other one doesn’t. Both of these links are used for different purposes. Understanding their comparison can be useful in dealing with the site’s links better.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Does No Follows have a bad influence on the site?

No. They do not have any bad influence on a website.

Can Google crawl a No Follow?

Yes. According to modern algorithms, Google can crawl it.

Do I need to put a specific attribute to a Do Follow HTML code?

No. These links do not have any specific attributes.

Noman Sarwar

Noman Sarwar is a highly experienced content writer and Creative Director at WebTech Solutions, with 7+ years of experience. He specializes in creating valuable content across multiple niches like technology, SEO, marketing, and career development. Noman also helps conent writing team with creative ideas and outlines for creating better content.