nofollow is an HTML attribute that signals to search engines not to follow a link. This means: the link value is not passed on to the target page.

This directive directly affects how links are evaluated. There are two methods for technical implementation.

What nofollow Does

The rel attribute with the value nofollow prevents search engine crawlers from following the link and including it in their evaluation.

Specifically, this means:

The link does not transfer link popularity
The target page receives no ranking benefit from this reference
The crawler ignores the link during indexing

Marking Individual Links with nofollow

The most common method is direct integration in the hyperlink.

Standard Hyperlink Without nofollow

A normal link to http://example.com looks like this in the HTML source:

ElementCodeHyperlink`<a href="https://example.com">Link text</a>`

Hyperlink With nofollow Attribute

By adding the rel attribute, the link is marked as nofollow:

ElementCodenofollow link`<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Link text</a>`

This method allows precise control. Every link can be individually marked, independent of other references on the same page.

When nofollow Makes Sense

In practice, there are clear use cases for nofollow links.

Paid Links

Purchased links or affiliate programs should always be marked with nofollow. This complies with Google’s guidelines and prevents penalties.

User-Generated Content

Comment sections, forums, or guest posts often contain spam links. nofollow prevents these links from burdening your own site.

Untrusted Sources

Links to external pages whose quality cannot be verified should be marked with nofollow. This protects your own link structure.

Alternative: sponsored and ugc

Since 2019, Google has offered additional attribute values for more differentiated markup:

rel="sponsored" for paid or advertising links
rel="ugc" (User Generated Content) for user-generated content
Multiple values can be combined: rel="nofollow sponsored"

These values don’t replace nofollow — they supplement it. They give search engines more precise information about the nature of the link.

Verifying Technical Implementation

After implementation, the correct markup should be verified.

Verification methods:

Browser inspector (right-click → inspect element)
SEO tools like Screaming Frog
Google Search Console for structural review

Common Mistake: Missing Quotation Marks

Pay attention to correct syntax. This code is incorrect:

<a href="https://example.com" rel=nofollow>Link</a>

The correct version is:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Link</a>

Setting nofollow at Scale

For websites with a large amount of externally linked content, a systematic approach makes sense.

WordPress offers plugins that automatically set nofollow for certain link types. Content management systems often have corresponding settings.

For manual implementation, clear documentation is recommended — specifying which links should receive nofollow.

Using nofollow Links Correctly