Story Based Question
Imagine you’re at a party, and everyone’s chatting about the coolest new restaurant in town. Someone mentions this new spot, and suddenly, people are eager to check it out. That’s like a dofollow link — it directs attention and helps the restaurant (or website) get noticed. Now, picture someone saying, “I heard about it, but I’m not sure if it’s actually good.” That’s like a nofollow link — it acknowledges the place but doesn’t encourage people to visit. It’s a subtle distinction, but it plays a big role in the SEO world.
Exact Answer
A dofollow link is a hyperlink that passes SEO value, or “link juice,” from one website to another, helping the linked site’s ranking in search engines. A nofollow link, on the other hand, tells search engines not to pass any SEO value to the linked site.
Explanation
Understanding the difference between dofollow and nofollow links is key in SEO, as each type of link has different implications for your website’s search rankings.
1. Dofollow Links (The Link That Counts)
A dofollow link is a standard link. When a website links to yours with a dofollow link, it passes along SEO benefits, helping to improve your website’s authority and search engine rankings.
- SEO Benefits:
- Helps build your site’s authority by passing “link juice” (the value that search engines attribute to a link).
- Increases your chances of ranking higher for relevant keywords.
- Allows search engines to crawl the linked page, which can improve indexation.
- Example:
Let’s say a well-known tech website links to your new blog post on “The Future of AI.” This dofollow link tells search engines that the tech site endorses your content. Google sees this as a positive signal, helping your post rank higher for AI-related searches.
2. Nofollow Links (The Cautious Link)
A nofollow link, on the other hand, has a special tag (rel="nofollow") that tells search engines not to follow the link or pass any SEO value to the linked page. This is typically used for links in places where you don’t want to endorse the linked content, such as in paid ads, user-generated content (like blog comments), or sponsored posts.
- SEO Benefits:
- Nofollow links don’t directly impact search rankings because they don’t pass link juice.
- However, they can still drive traffic to your site by sending visitors from the referring page, even if they don’t improve rankings.
- Example:
If someone mentions your blog in a forum comment with a nofollow link, the search engines won’t use that link as a signal to improve your ranking. However, if that forum has many users and people click the link to read your content, you still get traffic, even if there’s no direct SEO benefit.
Example
Let’s say you’re running a small online shop, and a popular fashion blogger writes a post mentioning your products.
- Dofollow Link:
If the blogger links to your store with a dofollow link, it will boost your SEO. Google will notice the link and consider it a vote of confidence, improving your search rankings. - Nofollow Link:
If the blogger uses a nofollow link (maybe because it’s a sponsored post), it won’t directly help your SEO, but you could still get traffic from their audience who clicks on the link.
Dofollow links pass SEO value and help improve your website’s rankings, while nofollow links don’t pass SEO benefits but can still bring traffic. Both types of links are important for different reasons in your SEO strategy.