At first glance, dofollow vs nofollow backlinks can look like a simple choice between a link that “counts” for SEO and one that does not. The reality is more useful than that shortcut. Both link types can send visitors, support brand discovery, and connect pages across the web, but their link attributes tell search engines different things about how the link should be treated.
The biggest distinction is that a normal, unqualified link can be considered as a ranking signal, while a nofollow link carries a rel=”nofollow” attribute that signals a different relationship. Google treats nofollow, sponsored, and ugc attributes as hints rather than absolute commands, so it is inaccurate to say that every nofollow link is completely ignored.
What Is a Dofollow Backlink?
“Dofollow” is an SEO industry term rather than an official HTML attribute. A standard link does not need rel=”dofollow” added to it. If a link is crawlable and does not include nofollow, sponsored, ugc, or another qualification that changes how it should be interpreted, it is commonly described as a followed or dofollow link.
These followed links matter because search engines can use links as signals when evaluating relationships between pages. A relevant editorial backlink from a trustworthy page may help search engines understand a page’s authority, topic, and importance. That does not mean every followed backlink improves rankings. Relevance, placement, site quality, anchor context, and the overall link pattern all matter.
What Is a Nofollow Backlink?
A nofollow backlink includes the rel=”nofollow” attribute. Google recommends using nofollow when other qualification values do not apply and a site does not want Google to associate its reputation with the linked page or crawl it from that link.
Historically, nofollow was often described as a directive that prevented ranking credit from passing. Google changed that treatment years ago. It now uses nofollow, sponsored, and ugc attributes as hints in its search systems. In most cases, a nofollow link should not be viewed as equivalent to a normal editorial followed link, but it should not automatically be dismissed as worthless either.
Dofollow vs Nofollow: The Key SEO Differences
Ranking Signals
A standard followed link may contribute more directly to link-based ranking signals because it is not qualified with nofollow. A nofollow link indicates that the linking site does not want to give the same type of endorsement. Google may still use the attribute as a hint when analyzing the web, so there is no reliable rule that says a nofollow link can never have any search-related value.
Crawling and Discovery
Followed links are a normal path search engines can use to discover and crawl URLs. Links marked nofollow will generally not be followed in the same way, but the destination can still be discovered through sitemaps, internal links, other websites, or other sources. Nofollow is therefore not a dependable method for blocking a page from Google’s index.
Referral Traffic
For users, both links are clickable. A nofollow link on a popular publication can send far more qualified traffic than a followed link on an obscure site. If your goal includes leads, sales, newsletter signups, or brand exposure, the rel attribute does not prevent visitors from reaching your page.
Typical Use Cases
Followed links are common when one publisher naturally references another useful resource. Nofollow is appropriate when a site wants to link without implying the same level of endorsement. For paid placements, Google prefers rel=”sponsored”, although nofollow remains acceptable. Links in comments, forums, and other user-generated areas are better marked with rel=”ugc” or nofollow.
Which Type of Backlink Is Better?
If the question is purely about the potential to contribute to link-based ranking signals, a relevant editorial followed link is generally the more desirable outcome. But backlink quality should not be reduced to the attribute alone. A followed link from a weak, irrelevant, manipulative, or spammy page is not automatically valuable, and building links primarily to manipulate rankings can violate Google’s spam policies.
A strong backlink profile can naturally contain both followed links and nofollow links because real websites earn mentions from many types of platforms. News sites, social platforms, forums, directories, communities, review sites, and major publications may apply different link attributes according to their own policies.
A Practical Example
Imagine a software company is mentioned in a major industry publication, but the publication adds nofollow to every external link. That backlink may not provide the same direct SEO signal as a followed editorial link, yet it could still send hundreds of relevant visitors, introduce the brand to journalists and customers, and lead to future organic citations from other sites.
Now compare that with a followed backlink placed on a low-quality page created mainly to sell links. Even though the second link is technically followed, its context and quality make it a much less attractive SEO asset. This is why evaluating link opportunities by relevance, editorial legitimacy, audience value, and page quality is more useful than sorting them only into followed and nofollow buckets.
How to Use Both Types in an SEO Strategy
Focus first on earning genuine editorial mentions from sites that are relevant to your topic and audience. When you have control over outbound links on your own site, use the correct link attributes for the relationship involved rather than trying to force every link into a followed or nofollow category.
For your own link-building work, track more than the rel attribute. Record the linking page, topical relevance, placement, anchor context, estimated referral value, and whether the link was earned, sponsored, or user-generated. That broader view makes it easier to judge the real value of a backlink and connects naturally with topics such as types of backlinks, anchor text best practices, and link building basics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do nofollow backlinks help SEO?
They can still be useful for referral traffic, visibility, brand discovery, and a natural-looking mix of web mentions. Google also treats nofollow as a hint, but you should not assume a nofollow backlink provides the same ranking value as a normal followed editorial link.
Can Google crawl a nofollow link?
Google says links with qualifying rel attributes generally will not be followed, but nofollow is a hint and the destination may also be discovered through other links, sitemaps, or sources. Do not use nofollow as your main method for preventing indexing.
Should paid backlinks be nofollow?
Paid or sponsored links should be qualified. Google prefers rel=”sponsored” for advertisements and paid placements, while rel=”nofollow” is still accepted. Leaving paid links unqualified when they are intended to influence rankings can create spam-policy risks.
Is “dofollow” an actual link attribute?
No. There is no required rel=”dofollow” attribute. The term simply refers to a normal link that has not been qualified with attributes such as nofollow, sponsored, or ugc.
Conclusion
The useful way to compare dofollow vs nofollow backlinks is not “valuable versus useless,” but “different signals for different relationships.” Followed links can play a more direct role in link-based SEO signals, while nofollow links can still deliver traffic, exposure, discovery, and real audience value. Build links around relevance and editorial merit, use link attributes accurately, and judge each backlink by the context in which it appears.
