Dofollow vs nofollow links: what each one tells Google

A dofollow link is an ordinary link with no rel value. Google’s own documentation says a regular link needs no rel attribute, and the HTML standard defines no dofollow value. A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow", which tells Google that your site does not vouch for the page it points to. Since September 10, 2019, Google reads nofollow and two newer values, sponsored and ugc, as hints. In most cases, Google says, it still leaves such links out of ranking.

The four kinds of link

Google’s page on qualifying outbound links names three values. A link that carries none of them is an ordinary link.

What is a dofollow link?

A dofollow link is any link without nofollow, sponsored or ugc in its rel value. The HTML standard lists 26 link types, from alternate to tag, and dofollow is not among them. Follow, sponsored and ugc are missing too; Google announced the last two in 2019. Google’s robots meta tag page says the same of a whole page. Its default needs no value, and listing it has no effect.

Pages write dofollow anyway, and the Web Almanac 2024 counted them. In 2024, 0.5% of mobile pages in the HTTP Archive crawl used rel="dofollow", and 0.4% used rel="follow". The Almanac’s authors call both values not real and ignored by search engines.

How do you change a nofollow link to dofollow?

You remove nofollow from the link’s rel value. There is no dofollow value to add, because an ordinary link needs none. A paid link is the exception: under Google’s spam policies, it must keep sponsored or nofollow.

What does nofollow mean?

Google’s documentation gives nofollow the cases that no other value covers. You use it when you would rather Google not associate your site with the linked page, or crawl that page from yours.

In the HTML standard, nofollow marks a link that is “not endorsed by the original author or publisher of the page”. It also covers a link included “primarily because of a commercial relationship” between the two sides. For a reader, nothing changes: the standard says the keyword annotates a link, and the link keeps working.

Nofollow also works for a whole page. In a robots meta tag, Google reads it as one rule: “Do not follow the links on this page”.

What do rel=“sponsored” and rel=“ugc” mean?

Google added both values on September 10, 2019, in a post by Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes. Sponsored marks “advertisements or paid placements”, the links Google calls paid links. Ugc marks links in content that users add, such as comments and forum posts.

A link can carry several values at once, separated by spaces or commas. Google’s own examples include rel="ugc nofollow". The 2019 post also says there is no wrong value, except on sponsored links.

Do nofollow links help SEO?

Google changed the answer in two steps. On September 10, 2019, nofollow, sponsored and ugc became hints for ranking. On March 1, 2020, nofollow also became a hint for crawling and indexing. A hint is a signal that Google weighs together with its other signals.

In most cases, the 2019 post says, Google will generally “not consider them for ranking purposes”. Such links will generally not be followed, Google’s documentation adds. The linked pages can still be crawled when Google finds them through sitemaps or links from other sites.

So a nofollow link still sends readers to a page, and Google may still find that page. In most cases, it passes no ranking credit.

When must a link carry sponsored or nofollow?

When someone paid for it. Google’s spam policies call “buying or selling links for ranking purposes” link spam. That includes “exchanging money for links”. The same policies allow paid links that say what they are: such a link breaks no rule when it carries nofollow or sponsored. Google prefers sponsored for paid links, and treats the two values the same for this purpose.

How common is each value?

The Web Almanac 2024 counted the rel values in the links of the pages in the HTTP Archive crawl.

noopenera browser rule41.7%

nofollow32.7%

noreferrera browser rule23.9%

dofollowno such value exists0.5%

followno such value exists0.4%

sponsored0.4%

ugc0.3%

noopener, a browser rule	41.7%
nofollow	32.7%
noreferrer, a browser rule	23.9%
dofollow, no such value exists	0.5%
follow, no such value exists	0.4%
sponsored	0.4%
ugc	0.3%

More pages write dofollow, a value that does not exist, than sponsored or ugc.

Source: HTTP Archive, Web Almanac 2024, SEO chapter, Figure 7.41 (mobile pages), published December 2, 2024

Nofollow is common: 32.7% of mobile pages used it in 2024, up from 29.5% in 2022. The two newer values remain rare. Sponsored appeared on 0.4% of mobile pages and ugc on 0.3%, fewer than the 0.5% that wrote dofollow.

The two most common values are browser rules. The HTML standard defines noopener and noreferrer by what the browser does. One sets how the new page opens; the other stops the browser from sending the address it came from.

How do you check if a link is nofollow?

Every value sits inside the link’s own HTML, in its <a> tag. Google’s example shows the shape:

<a rel="nofollow" href="https://cheese.example.com/Appenzeller_cheese">Appenzeller</a>

A link with no rel value, or with only noopener or noreferrer, carries none of the three values Google reads. To add nofollow, you write it into the rel value of the <a> tag in the same way.

What a reviewed listing gives you

At TheCompanyIndex.com, every approved entry links to its company with an ordinary link. On October 24, 2026, all 78 company links on the 39 entry pages of the Index carried rel="noopener" and no other value. The link comes with the review, and the guidelines list what a person checks first. A founder can add a company for free.

What this page could not check

Google does not publish how much a hinted link counts, or when it chooses to follow one. This page reports Google’s own words and the Almanac’s counts, and it measures no effect on rankings. The Almanac’s shares describe the pages of the HTTP Archive crawl in 2024. Our own count covers the 39 entry pages that the sitemap listed on October 24, 2026. Google’s pages carry no version dates and can change, so we check this page again by April 24, 2027.

Sources

• Google Search Central, “Qualify your outbound links to Google”, documentation, read October 24, 2026.
• Google Search Central Blog, “Evolving nofollow: new ways to identify the nature of links”, Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes, September 10, 2019.
• Google Search Central, “Spam policies for Google web search”, documentation, read October 24, 2026.
• Google Search Central, “Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications”, documentation, read October 24, 2026.
• WHATWG, “HTML Living Standard”, section 4.6.8, link types, read October 24, 2026.
• HTTP Archive, “Web Almanac 2024”, SEO chapter, December 2, 2024, updated June 1, 2025.
• TheCompanyIndex.com, our own read of the Index’s 39 entry pages, October 24, 2026.