Nofollow, Dofollow – What the hell?!
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will probably have seen this article before, actually its one of the chapters of my free report. I have decided to post this excerpt from my report on the blog aswell because it such an important peice of information.
For those of you who haven’t read the report, in this post I will teach you the meanings of the words dofollow and nofollow, and how these terms affect us link builders.
Credits to ShawnBlog
First dofollow and nofollow are both relations (REL) described by the hyperlink. Here are some examples:
Standard link: <a href=”www.linkersblog.com”>LinkersBlog</a>
Nofollow link: <a rel=”nofollow” href=”www.linkersblog.com”>LinkersBlog</a>
Technically there is no such thing as dofollow, it just means the absence of nofollow, by referring to it as dofollow its a lot easier to for others to understand what we’re talking about. So what’s the difference?
Basically when a spider is crawling a page, they come across a link, and then crawl the link. By using the ‘nofollow’ relationship in the hyperlink you are telling the spider not to follow the link. Pretty simple eh?
Why wouldn’t I want a link to be crawled?
As you already know, each webpage has a certain amount of PageRank so-to-speak, by linking out to other web pages the traditional way you are leaking some of your PageRank to them, or in other words, sharing your pages hard-earned PageRank with another page.
By utilizing the ‘nofollow’ tag you are preventing the spiders from crawling the links, and essentially keeping your PageRank within your own page, this may seem a greedy alternative but there are actually valid reasons for using the ‘nofollow’ tag.
Quick Tip – Sites which use nofollow on all outgoing links are referred to as ‘PageRank Black holes’
Where is nofollow useful?
Blog comments – Considering there are high page rank blogs on almost all topics, blogs have become a prime target for spammers. Usually the owner can just moderate and delete these spam comments, but as some blogs are receiving hundreds of spam comments a day it becomes harder and harder to find the time to moderate them. By using the ‘nofollow’ tag on the comment section of your blog, spammers are much less likely to spam you, as it produces no gain for them in terms of PageRank.
Social Networks – If you find yourself leaving links to social networks on your pages a lot, hoping for someone to vote your story up, chances are you are leaking a lot of PageRank to these networks. The larger networks such as Digg and StumbleUpon already have a very high PageRank it probably won’t matter to them if you use the ‘nofollow’ tag.
Paid Links – Google seem to be cracking down more and more on paid links that leak PageRank, by using the ‘nofollow’ tag on the paid links you can be sure you will not get penalized for selling links on your website.
Where Do You Stand?
What’s your view on nofollow? Do you nofollow your comments? Do you nofollow all your outbound links? Let us know with a quick comment.
Popularity: 4% [?]
October 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
My blog uses no nofollow tag in blog comments. This is to give link juice to my commenters. It is a good way also to thank your commenters. Yes you’re right. Having a dofollow blogs attracts more spammers and I do usually experience it but I mark them as spam immediately.
I do add nofollow tag in referral links and in some links in my blog posts.
Husseins last blog post..SEO Keyword Name in Comments, Should I Approve Them?
October 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
U helped me with my blog, I have a feed of feedback on the updates to your blog.
Those new 125×125’s you have added are throwing the layout off. I’m using FF2 and u now have like a 300px gap of green with just 2 125 ads there – u might want to add them to the sidebar because the layout seems really messed up right now.
I think it’s because u have put it in the main index template and u haven’t made them run vertically – I’m not sure but u will need to look into it
Otooos last blog post..It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
October 7th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Danny this is a great tip. I’ve never even heard of the term Pagerank blackhole before. I guess sometimes it’s a good thing to keep nofollow somewhere.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..Taking Link Building To the Next Level With Linkers Blog
October 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I’m looking into it now, but on this computer I have Firefox, IE and Chrome and it’s displaying fine on all three. I guess I’ll do some more tests.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Good stuff, Danny.
To tell the truth, I was a little confused about the Do and No follow tags. So your post is really appreciated. Turns out it was as simple as I thought. Glad you added the comment that says Do Follow is the same as a regular hyperlink. That drove the point home for me.
Yeah, I never heard of the term Blackhole for Bloggers before either. That is funny and I will be sure to avoid them!
Peach to the bloggers!
Freddies last blog post..Monday’s Motivational Moment – Go Before You’re Ready
October 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
That was suppose to be:
Peace to the bloggers!
Freddies last blog post..Monday’s Motivational Moment – Go Before You’re Ready
October 7th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Danny, Just read this in your report. But you already knew that didn’t you? It really is a good read and the link to the nodofollow add on for firefox is great.
Adam – Creadiv.coms last blog post..I Choose Darren Rowse.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I’m glad I could drive the point home, especially considering I’m in the progress of my learning to drive!
October 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Yea I love that plugin, unfortunatly Google think Chrome is too good for plug-ins :@
October 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Learn something new everyday!
October 7th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hey Danny,
Thanks for the great tip.
Salwas last blog post..Sunday Link Love – October 05th 2008
October 7th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
My blog is dofollow, I personally hate that nofollow tag to be honest. It was first meant to prevent spam, but we all no it’s not preventing spam in any way as even my nofollow blogs get tons and tons of spam. A good anti-spam software is the way to go to prevent spam, nothing else. I think the whole spirit of the blogosphere is to share thoughts, ideas and that include following links. Anyway, that’s my take on nofollow vs dofollow. It’s not possible on every blog though: Shoemoney couldn’t turn his blog dofollow, that would actually go out of control.
Ben – frogstr.coms last blog post..Do I look like a comment bitch?
October 7th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Yeah, what’s the deal with Chrome and plugins? I am using Chrome and Firefox, but Chrome is tripping.
My circles have been talking and we believe Chrome is going to release a gang of plugins. I hope so because I do like it.
Freddies last blog post..Monday’s Motivational Moment – Go Before You’re Ready
October 7th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I think I will go for a no-follow blog to avoid spammers. I leave comment on blog posts that interests me without checking whether it is a no-follow or not. I also think this will also tell you if regular commentators that they really like you.
But there’s one question that’s really bugging my mind, and I cannot seem to find the most convincing answer. I hope you ca help me here.
I am using my blogspot blogs for some paid posting, so they are no-follow as a requirement. But why do you think that Google penalize them. Isn’t that making paid post is totally different from selling links?
Looking forward to hear your opinion.
Thanks!
Angel Cualas last blog post..How to Maintain a Family Budget Effectively
October 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
You are allowed to sell links if you use the nofollow tag, just as you are allowed to do paid posts if you use the nofollow tag, at the moment google haven’t really cracked down too much, so its pretty safe at the moment, you might benefit from reading my report though Angel, it’s free.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Yes, I saw that post, and I did not realized about the free report. I subscribed to you not knowing I will get a prize.
Thanks!
Angel Cualas last blog post..How to Maintain a Family Budget Effectively
October 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Yea you should receive it a maximum of 48 hours after you subscribe, if you don’t just let me know.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Hi Danny, good blog with good posts, i liked it and i will be your reader
and about the nofollow and dofollow links, it is question for me which is better to use, but i can’t answer.
I think when you have new blog you can to use dofollow blog and bring visitors and give them stimulus to comment on your blog.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Nice blog, great post as always.
The dofollow option is an obvious boon. Its the use of nofollow to channel Page Rank that causes me some confusion. I understand it’s usefulness when applied to terms and conditions, shopping carts etc. But channeling page rank baffles me.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I can understand your confusion, I was in your position once, if you want I can write an article to try and explain it?
October 7th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Hey Danny
I knew a little bit about no follow but thanks for giving a clearer picture on how it works.
Nice Tip
Bruno Augers last blog post..How to Make your Blog a Success
October 7th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
You’re welcome as always Bruno
October 7th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I’ve got the dofollow on my commentluv links but the rest are no follow. I hate the idea of people coming by and dropping links with their casino affiliate tags built in.
If we’re blogging to make some cash then by all means get people people to your site, get them to comment and then hopefully they’ll click on some google ads.
If you’re blogging for personal fame the same holds true…the more people you can get to your site the more people will think you’re little quips are cool and continue to read your site.
So I say turn on nofollow and let the comments rain down.
Paunchinesss last blog post..Oh Thank Heaven. Obama vs. McCain at 7-Eleven
October 7th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I use a combination of 3 plugins (Lucia’s Linklove, CommentLuv, and Top Commentators) that rewards regular posters while still minimizing spam comments.
Of course I also use Askimet to block as many spam comments as possible, and I moderate them carefully to keep Viagra ads and porn links out.
Mike Collinss last blog post..Using Htaccess To Mask Affiliate Links
October 7th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I know what you mean Mike, sometimes I start to wonder if I’m running a blog about viagra with the sheer number of comments I get.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I don’t like it when sites like wikipedia and twitter use nofollow for all outgoing links. Twitter should have a premium account status that you only get after a few days or even week and after a certain amount of followers.
Comments on my blog are dofollow if anyone wants some link building and seo related links!
Joels last blog post..How to find dofollow blogs
October 7th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Hi Danny!
As for me, I don’t really like the idea of using that dofollow plugin on my blogs. I would prefer to have something like the top commentator plugin to reward those who commented on my blog
Wealth Dzesires last blog post..Not Allowed to Put Google AdSense on Blogspot Blogs?
October 7th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
It’s fixed up now if u were placing the ads on the left sidebar, although I’m in FF3 right now – I will check FF2 in a few minutes
Otooos last blog post..It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
October 8th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Great article! I recently read a post on Balkhis and he recommended using rel=”me” for your social profiles and other websites. This tells Google that the link is a part of your websites.
QuickPWNs last blog post..Install Flash Player iPhone App
October 8th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Re=me? I also didn’t know that that existed!
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..Taking Link Building To the Next Level With Linkers Blog
October 8th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Great article and good advice. One thing that baffles me is ….. does a nofollow link carry any weight when it for counting towards your SERPS? i.e. does the link still get counted by the search engine spiders or does it get ignored completely?
October 8th, 2008 at 9:09 am
good explanation right there.. reading through comments. you have helped quite a lot of newbies who are still confused at the difference of dofollow/nofollow links.
ChiQ Montess last blog post..Make Money Online: Creating Content Niche Sites
October 8th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Firstly thanks for commenting, I believe it’s your first time on here? And yea, I try to help as many people as possible, that’s what blogs are for right?!
October 8th, 2008 at 9:33 am
So yeah, the good old debate about nofollow vs dofollow. The problem I have with making my blog dofollow is that I would have to totally micro manage the links. For me, I am not one to have much of an opinion on the rules that Google places, I just try my best to comply with them.
So the situation is like this, if you have a blog post that talk about dogs and you have someone who comes by and drops a comment about your dog article whom has a blog about airplanes, there is no relevance between your post and the commenters blog about airplanes.
Allowing a link to pass like that isn’t really something that is optimal for Google’s ranking system. While too there are debates about how Google should adapt and such, that is really up to Google. In the mean time, as a publisher I have to protect the integrity of my blog in an engine to supplies me with new and constant refreshing traffic.
So with that, I keep my WordPress blog as is, which by default without any modification is nofollow comment blog. My commenters are rewarded with internal traffic from my own established readerbase. Those that do comment on my blog report to me and tell me that they do get quite a bit of traffic after commenting.
To me, it would seem like the traffic is much more valuable than having a search engine friendly backlink. Also too, a lot of the dofollow vs nofollow debate at times seems hypercritical; meaning, those who say that they don’t care about PageRank, are also too the same people that DOFOLLOW their blog and give out “Link Love” — as they call it.
It is something that will always be debated and something that I don’t think will change anytime soon. I do know one thing for sure though, in my own private studies and research, I see that most all DOFOLLOW blogs are less healthy in the in the SERPS compared to NOFOLLOW blogs.
Garry Conns last blog post..Can These Domain Names Make Money Online?
October 8th, 2008 at 9:34 am
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October 8th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I can understand what you mean when you say people are hypocritcal about their stance on Pagerank, the phrase “I don’t care about PageRank” should probably be changed to “I link out recklessly” or “Although I have little belief in the power of PageRank, I understand that some people do so therefore I have disabled nofollow on my comments”
October 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am
The funny thing about this who debate is the fact that I only own one blog where such a debate is even a minimal concern. The rest of my blogs I might as well remove the comment template because WordPress is more of a platform for publishing content rather being a traditional blog.
Garry Conns last blog post..Can These Domain Names Make Money Online?
October 8th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I was all for helping others out and put the No Follow Free plugin into action. Heck why not I was a PR4 right? WRONG!!!! Folks took advantage of that and sucked up all my juice, I am now a PR2 and pissed the hell off.
I have removed it and will not be adding it back.
Debo Hobos last blog post..Profit Over Safety-The Outsourcing Of America Continues
October 8th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Spam comments have increased 10 fold since I changed my blog to DO FOLLOW…Thanks for this post Danny , it cleared some doubts I had around the NO FOLLOW , DO FOLLOW confusion
ZK@WebTrafficROIs last blog post..Are You Making Money with Your Blog ?
October 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
You’re very welcome, I just wish you left your name in the comments so I could refer to your properly. Or should I call you ZK?
October 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Nice Post Danny,
Spam seems to be the primary concern in making the entire blog dofollow, but look at it this way, the fact that most blogs are nofollow is what makes the top commentator setup so compelling to most bloggers.
Kahthans last blog post..Designs That Help Promoting Your Blog Posts
October 8th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
@freddie,
i think what you mean are addons, they already use plugins for things like flash..
i hope your circles are right, i would to see that kind of functionality in chrome, but i doubt it since they don’t want to cannibalize market share from firefox. the target is internet explorer and its unlikely we’ll see addons in the near future.. but i’m really hoping they do..
cheers
Kahthans last blog post..Designs That Help Promoting Your Blog Posts
October 8th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
This is a great article on do follow and no follow, I just got your ebook and it is very useful, thanks for sharing it
October 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed the ebook, it took me along time to write and I’m happy to see the time didn’t go to waste!
October 9th, 2008 at 2:09 am
That had happened to me too. But with the help of Askimet, comment moderation is much easier.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..6 Essential Elements Every Blog Must Have
October 9th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Dude, I have seen the link to your eBook for a long time now and haven’t even downloaded it yet. I’m going to read it right now.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..6 Essential Elements Every Blog Must Have
October 9th, 2008 at 5:30 am
thanks for nice discussion about the nofollow.I got the clear picture about nofollow now.
Christmas 2008s last blog post..Send Christmas Flowers
October 9th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Danny’s book is very useful. Well worth a read
October 9th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Nowadays lots of blogs are opening up do-follow option to attract more comments. There is lot of debate whether to make comments do-follow or not.
Rajeev Edmondss last blog post..How To Get Instant Traffic For Your Blog
October 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Exactly why I do not want to add it. I need my JUICE !
Desk Coders last blog post..10 Reasons You’re Not Rich
October 25th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Yas, they’re opening with dofollow links in order to attract more visitors to their blogs, but nevertheless, I think that quality comments should always be rewarded with dofollow.
Spa equipments last blog post..Cheap Beauty Salon Equipment
February 8th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
wow!
Its what i was looking for the long time.No doubt this is very informative article on do follow and no follow . It really helped me in understanding the difference between both. Many thanks for it.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Well I am a newbie to blogging. I must congratulate you for u have explained the topic in a very simple and lucid manner. I have been blogging for 6 months now. Got a page rank of 3 in the last update. Aiming for 5 in this one.
I have a question…How do I make my comments ‘nofollow’.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:55 am
Very nice information. Check out my blog, I just posted a great blog about the 36 Best Wordpress plugins for 2009.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I only comment in DoFollow sites. i don’t understand why sites sometimes are no follow. *sigh
Mikess last blog post..Increase your TECHNORATI Authority now!
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:23 am
Good explanation between dofollow and nofollow tags. Informative post.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Mikes: I only comment in DoFollow sites. i don’t understand why sites sometimes are no follow. *sigh
This blog has nofollow enabled. (rel=”external nofollow”) is that essentially the same as rel=”nofollow”?