Nofollow links: what they do and when to use them
A nofollow link tells search engines not to pass ranking signals. Learn when nofollow is the right choice and how Google treats it today.
Nofollow Link
A nofollow link is a link with a rel=“nofollow” attribute. It tells search engines that the linking site does not endorse the linked page, and historically it stopped PageRank from flowing.
In 2019, Google introduced two new attributes—rel=“sponsored” and rel=“ugc”—to better describe the nature of paid and user-generated links. Nofollow is now treated as a hint, not a directive, alongside these newer attributes.
How nofollow works today
Google has stated that all three attributes—nofollow, sponsored, and ugc—are treated as hints for crawling and ranking purposes. Google may choose to ignore them, but in practice, nofollow links are still usually not used as ranking signals.
When to use each attribute
| Attribute | Use case |
|---|---|
| rel=“nofollow” | General “I don’t endorse this” link |
| rel=“sponsored” | Paid links, affiliates, sponsorships (required for ads) |
| rel=“ugc” | User-generated content: comments, forum posts |
You can combine them: rel=“nofollow sponsored” is valid.
Practical guidance
- Use nofollow on untrusted UGC — Comments, forum posts, and wiki edits
- Use sponsored on paid placements — Required for compliance with Google’s paid link policy
- Don’t nofollow internal links — You want PageRank to flow through your own site
- Don’t nofollow outbound links as a default — Outbound links to high-quality sources are a positive E-E-A-T signal
Common myths
- “Nofollow links don’t help SEO” — While they don’t pass PageRank the same way, they bring referral traffic and brand visibility
- “Nofollow links are bad” — A natural link profile includes a mix of followed and nofollow links
- “You should disavow all nofollow links” — Only disavow links that are clearly spam, regardless of attribute