Is the Backlink Dofollow or Nofollow? How to Tell and Why It Matters for SEO

Backlinks still pull serious weight in SEO. Google has said so. Independent studies from Ahrefs, Backlinko, and Semrush keep confirming it year after year. But here is the catch most marketers learn the hard way: not every backlink passes value. Some links lift rankings. Others just sit there looking pretty.

The deciding factor is whether the backlink is dofollow or nofollow.

So before celebrating that hard-earned mention on a popular blog, it pays to check what kind of link the site actually gave. A quick inspection takes seconds. The impact on link-building strategy lasts months.

What dofollow and nofollow actually mean

Links on the web carry hidden instructions for search engines. Those instructions sit inside the HTML tag.

• Dofollow link: passes authority (often called link juice) from the source page to the destination page. No special attribute is needed. By default, every link is dofollow.
• Nofollow link: tells search engines not to pass authority. It uses the attribute rel="nofollow".

Google introduced two more attributes back in 2019 that work like cousins of nofollow:

• rel="sponsored" for paid or affiliate links
• rel="ugc" for user-generated content such as forum posts or blog comments

Google now treats all three as hints rather than strict rules. Meaning the algorithm may still consider them for ranking signals if it wants to. Interesting shift, but in practice, dofollow links remain the gold standard.

Why the distinction matters more than people think

A study by Authority Hacker analyzing over 1 billion pages showed that pages ranking in the top 10 had roughly 3.8 times more dofollow backlinks than pages ranking lower. That is not a small gap.

Here is why the link type should influence outreach decisions:

• Dofollow links directly influence domain authority and page authority
• Nofollow links still drive referral traffic and brand visibility
• A natural backlink profile contains both. An all-dofollow profile looks suspicious
• Paid placements without the sponsored tag can trigger manual penalties

So the goal is not to chase only dofollow links. The goal is to know what you are getting.

Five quick ways to check if a backlink is dofollow or nofollow

No need for fancy tools. Most checks take under a minute.

1. Right-click and inspect element

   • Hover over the link on the page
   • Right-click then choose Inspect
   • Look at the anchor tag. If you see rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc", the link does not pass full authority
   • If no rel attribute appears, the link is dofollow

2. Use a browser extension

   • NoFollow by IGooMooNoo highlights nofollow links with a red border
   • Strike Out Nofollow Links does exactly what the name suggests
   • SEO Minion offers a full link analysis on any page

3. View page source

   • Press Ctrl+U on Windows or Cmd+Option+U on Mac
   • Search for the URL of the link in question
   • Check the surrounding HTML for rel attributes

4. Use Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz

   • Paste the linking page or domain into the backlink checker
   • Filter by dofollow or nofollow
   • Useful when auditing hundreds of links at once

5. Free online checkers

   • Tools like Small SEO Tools or Linkody offer bulk checks
   • Handy for clients who want quick reporting without paid subscriptions

Where each type of link usually shows up

Knowing the typical placement helps set expectations during outreach.

Link Type	Common Placements
Dofollow	Editorial guest posts, niche directories, resource pages, partner sites
Nofollow	Wikipedia, Reddit, Quora, most news sites, social media bios
Sponsored	Paid reviews, affiliate links, influencer collaborations
UGC	Blog comments, forum signatures, community Q&A replies

Big publishers like Forbes, HuffPost, and The New York Times almost always use nofollow on outbound links. That does not make a mention there worthless. Brand authority and referral clicks alone can justify the effort.

How to use this information in real link building

A few practical habits that separate strategic SEOs from the ones spraying outreach emails blindly:

• Audit prospects before pitching. If a domain only gives nofollow links, decide if the brand exposure justifies the work
• Mix link types intentionally. Aim for a profile that looks earned, not engineered
• Track which dofollow sources actually move rankings. Not all DA 70 links are equal
• Reclaim unlinked brand mentions. Many of those convert to dofollow with a polite email
• Avoid buying links without the sponsored tag. Google can detect patterns and the penalty hurts

One example from a recent SaaS campaign: a single dofollow placement on a niche industry blog with a domain rating of 52 moved a target keyword from position 14 to position 6 within eight weeks. Meanwhile, three nofollow mentions on bigger publications added traffic but barely nudged rankings. Different links, different jobs.

When nofollow links are still worth the effort

Ignoring nofollow links entirely is a rookie move. They serve real purposes:

• Referral traffic from high-traffic publications
• Brand trust signals when users see consistent mentions across credible sites
• Diversification of the backlink profile, which Google rewards
• Potential indirect ranking lift since Google now treats nofollow as a hint

A mention on TechCrunch or Wired with a nofollow tag can still send qualified visitors, build credibility, attract secondary links from smaller blogs that copy the story.

Frequently Based Questions (FAQs)

Q: Does Google completely ignore nofollow backlinks?

Not anymore. Since March 2020, Google treats nofollow as a hint. The algorithm may consider these links for crawling or ranking purposes when it sees fit.

Q: How many dofollow backlinks does a website need to rank?

There is no fixed number. It depends on keyword competition, niche, and existing authority. Quality and relevance beat quantity every time.

Q: Are nofollow links bad for SEO?

Not at all. They are a natural part of any healthy backlink profile. A site with only dofollow links often looks manipulated to search engines.

Q: Can a nofollow link become dofollow later?

Yes. Site owners can edit link attributes any time. Reaching out and asking for a dofollow change is a legitimate tactic, though success rates vary.

Q: What is the difference between sponsored and nofollow?

Sponsored signals paid or affiliate relationships. Nofollow is broader. Both prevent full authority transfer, but sponsored is the correct tag for any commercial arrangement.