What is the difference between do follow and no follow
Dofollow backlinks and nofollow backlinks are two ways of identifying a link and telling Google how to associate the website you are linking to your website. Dofollow links are a way to pass on authority to a website, while a nofollow link does not pass on link juice
When to use the follow Links
- You should use follow links for all your normal, natural links.
- If you want to link to another post or page, use a follow link.
- If you want to link to another website because you think the information on that site might be useful to your readers, use a follow link!
When to use the nofollow Links
- You should use nofollow links when you don’t want search engines to follow or grant any authority to the website you are linking to
Now, I know what you are thinking, ‘Why on earth would you want to tell search engines not to follow a link?’
The main reason why you would want to use a nofollow link is if you are being PAID for that link.
Why?
Because it’s against Google’s rules.
Google clearly states in its Webmaster Guidelines that…
“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.”
And goes on to say this includes…
“Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link”
To put this in plain English, this means that, if you are paid for a link IN ANY WAY, be that cold hard cash, ‘free’ products, a ‘free’ trip somewhere, a ‘free’ trial of a product or service or any other benefit you might receive in exchange for the link YOU MUST MAKE THAT LINK NOFOLLOW!
If you don’t, you are in breach of Google’s rules and they could give you a penalty – either a demotion in search engine results or removal from their search results altogether. It’s that serious!
To make this clear, this means if you are asked to put a link to a brand’s website in a sponsored post or if you use an affiliate link (Google’s rules cover money you may receive in the future too), you must make this a NOFOLLOW link.
So, if you are approached to do a sponsored post, and they ask you to include a link in your post, always make sure you confirm IN WRITING that they are happy for you to make this a nofollow link.
