08/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/28/2024 03:40
What Is a Dofollow Link?
A dofollow link is a regular hyperlink that doesn't have a special attribute like "nofollow," "ugc," or "sponsored."
These links allow search engines to crawl them (i.e., scan to understand) and pass on link equity (i.e., ranking strength) to the linked site. Helping improve the linked site's search engine rankings.
Website owners don't need to do anything special to create dofollow links. They just have to add a regular link to their page using an anchor tag.
Like this, for example:
Dofollow vs. Nofollow Links
Nofollow links are different from follow links because nofollow links include a "nofollow" attribute.
For example, here's the same link with the rel="nofollow" attribute added:
This attribute tells search engines not to crawl the link or pass on link equity to the linked site. So it generally doesn't contribute to improving the rankings of the linked site.
Why Are Dofollow Links Important?
Follow links are important for both backlink building and improving your site's internal linking structure.
When other websites link to your site with a follow link, they essentially endorse the content of your site.
Search engines take these signals seriously. And are more likely to rank your site higher in search results because of them.
Follow links also play a crucial role in helping search engines discover and index (i.e., save) your website's content.
When you publish new pages and link to them from existing content using follow links, you're creating paths for search engine crawlers to find and index this new content more quickly.
This content then becomes eligible to appear in search results.
When to Use a Dofollow Link
Aside from internal linking, here are some situations where you should use follow links:
When Not to Use a Dofollow Link
Instead of a standard follow link, use link attributes (e.g., nofollow, sponsored, and ugc) when linking to the following:
How to Check if Your Backlinks Are Dofollow
Given that backlinks are extremely important for ranking, you want to make sure you're getting high-quality follow links to your site.
Here's how you can check if your backlinks are follow:
Inspect the Link on the Page
Visit the page containing the backlink to your site. Then, right-click on the link and select "Inspect" from the context menu.
Look at the HTML code for the link.
If it's a simple <a href="your-url">anchor text</a> without any rel attributes, it's a follow link. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", then it's not a follow link.
Go to Semrush's Backlink Analytics tool. Enter your domain name and click "Analyze"
Then, navigate to the "Backlinks" tab. And use the filters to view different types of links, including follow, nofollow, and those with other attributes.
Start Building Dofollow Links to Your Site
You understand the importance of follow links. Now, it's time to start actively building them for your site.
Here are some effective strategies to get you started:
Check out our link building guide, where we cover how to execute these tactics step by step.