A do follow link is a normal link that search engines are allowed to follow and count as a vote for the page it points to. That is the whole thing. Every link is a dofollow link by default. It only becomes something else when someone adds an attribute telling Google to treat it differently. So when people ask what is a do follow link, the honest answer is: it is just a link, doing the one job links have always done, which is passing a bit of trust from one page to another.
The confusing part is the vocabulary. There is no rel="dofollow" attribute. Nobody adds “dofollow” to anything. The word only exists so we have something to call the links that are not nofollow. It is a bit like calling a sandwich a “no-pickle sandwich” before anyone mentioned pickles. Let me untangle dofollow vs nofollow so you know what each one does and when it matters.
A dofollow link is the default, not a setting you turn on
When you add a link in plain HTML, it looks like this: <a href="https://example.com">example</a>. No extra tags. That link is dofollow. Search engines can crawl it, follow it to the destination, and let it pass a little authority along the way.
You do not create a dofollow link. You just make a link and leave it alone. The SEO world calls that passed authority “link equity,” or the older nickname “link juice,” which sounds like something you would return to the store. The idea is simple: a link from a trusted page acts like a recommendation, and recommendations from good sources help the page they point to earn a better chance to rank.
Dofollow links matter because they are the ones that build your backlink profile in a way Google actually counts. A pile of them from real, relevant sites is one of the stronger signals in search. Not the only one. But a real one.
A nofollow link tells Google to look the other way
So what is a nofollow link? It is a link with an attribute attached: rel="nofollow". That attribute is a note to search engines that reads, roughly, “I am linking to this, but do not treat it as my endorsement.”
It looks like this: <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">example</a>.
A nofollow link still works for humans. People click it, it takes them to the page, life goes on. The difference is what the search engine does with it. For years, nofollow meant “do not pass authority, full stop.” Then Google changed the rules. As of 2019, Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a strict command, which means it may still use the link for crawling and ranking if it decides that is useful. So nofollow is less of a locked door now and more of a firmly worded suggestion.
Why would you ever tell Google to ignore a link? Because not every link is a vote you want to cast. Which brings us to the newer attributes.
The rel attributes: nofollow, sponsored, and ugc
In 2019, Google added two more attribute values so you can be specific about why a link should not count as a plain endorsement. Now there are three, and the topic of nofollow sponsored ugc trips up a lot of people, so here is each one in plain English.
rel="nofollow"is the general “not an endorsement” tag. Use it when none of the reasons below fit but you still do not want to vouch for the link.rel="sponsored"is for paid or advertising links. If money or a free product changed hands for that link, this is the honest label.rel="ugc"is for user-generated content, meaning links your visitors create. Blog comments, forum posts, that kind of thing.
You can even stack them, like rel="sponsored nofollow", if a link is both paid and something you do not want counted. Google says on its own page about qualifying outbound links that using the most specific one is best, but it will not punish you for using plain nofollow when you are not sure. Google is picky about a lot of things. This is not one of them.
The point of all three is the same: they tell search engines which links are real editorial recommendations and which ones are ads, comments, or “I have to link this but I am not vouching for it.”
Dofollow vs nofollow vs sponsored vs ugc, in one table
Here is the whole family side by side, because a table beats four paragraphs saying almost the same thing.
| Link type | What it looks like | Passes authority? | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dofollow | <a href="..."> (no rel) | Yes, by default | Real editorial links you stand behind |
| Nofollow | rel="nofollow" | Treated as a hint, usually not | Links you do not want to endorse |
| Sponsored | rel="sponsored" | No | Paid links, ads, affiliate links |
| UGC | rel="ugc" | No | Comments, forum posts, user content |
Read down the “passes authority” column and the pattern is obvious. Dofollow is the only one designed to hand over a vote. The rest are ways of saying “this link exists, but do not read too much into it.”
Do nofollow links help SEO? Yes, just not the obvious way
Here is where people get tense. If nofollow links do not reliably pass authority, are they worthless? No. And anyone treating them as garbage is measuring the wrong thing.
A few reasons nofollow links still earn their keep:
- Referral traffic. A nofollow link from a busy page still sends real humans to your site. Those people do not care about the
relattribute. They care about clicking. - Brand exposure. Getting mentioned and linked on a respected site puts your name in front of the right audience, authority pass or not.
- A natural profile. Real websites earn a mix of link types. A site with nothing but pristine dofollow links from every direction does not look earned. It looks assembled.
- Discovery. Since Google treats nofollow as a hint, it may still crawl the link and find your pages through it.
So do nofollow links help SEO? They help the business, which is the part that actually pays. Chasing only dofollow links is like judging a party by how many people signed the guest book. The signatures are nice. The people are the point.
When to use nofollow, sponsored, or ugc yourself
Everything above is about links pointing to you. But you also link out from your own pages, and knowing when to use nofollow on those is part of clean, honest technical SEO. Here is the short version.
Use rel="sponsored" when:
- You were paid for the link, in cash or free product.
- It is an affiliate link that earns you a commission.
- It is a straight advertisement.
Use rel="ugc" when:
- The link came from a blog comment.
- It came from a forum or community post.
- Any visitor, not you, created it.
Use plain rel="nofollow" when:
- You are linking to a source you do not fully trust or want to vouch for.
- You are required to link somewhere but do not want to hand over a vote.
And leave links dofollow, meaning no rel attribute at all, when you are linking to something genuinely useful that you would happily recommend. That is most of your internal links and most of your links to solid sources. A normal editorial link is a compliment. Do not tag a compliment.
One warning worth saying out loud: labeling paid links honestly is not optional. Passing off a paid link as a plain dofollow endorsement is exactly the kind of thing search engines are built to catch. The sponsored tag exists so you can be honest without being penalized. Use it.
A natural mix beats a pile of dofollow links
Here is my one strong opinion for this post, and it saves people a lot of money. Backlink count without quality is a vanity metric. A giant number of links means nothing if they came from the wrong places, and a profile made of nothing but dofollow links from sites you paid or begged is a flare gun aimed at Google, not a strategy.
Real websites earn links from all over. Some dofollow, some nofollow, some from comments, some from directories, some from a local blog that has no idea what a rel attribute is. That messiness is the fingerprint of something earned. When a profile looks too clean and too optimized, it stops looking natural, and “not natural” is the exact thing search engines learned to distrust.
Which is also why I will never tell you to buy links. Buying a stack of dofollow backlinks is paying for a shortcut that Google specifically spent two decades learning to detect. The links that actually last are the ones you earn by being worth linking to. That is slower. It is also the version that does not blow up in your face later. If you want the honest breakdown of whether you even need help with this, we wrote a whole post on whether to hire an SEO company.
How to check whether a link is dofollow or nofollow
You do not need a tool for a quick check. Right-click the link, choose “Inspect,” and look at the HTML. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", it is not a plain dofollow link. If there is no rel attribute at all, it is dofollow.
For checking a lot of links at once, an SEO browser extension or an audit tool will flag every link’s type on a page in one pass. Handy when you are reviewing a page full of outbound links and do not want to inspect each one by hand like it is 2009.
The bigger point: you control the rel attributes on your links. You do not control the ones pointing at you. So spend your energy earning good mentions and labeling your own outbound links honestly, and let the rest of the internet tag things however it likes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a do follow link in simple terms?
A do follow link is a regular link that search engines are allowed to follow and count as a vote for the page it points to. Every link is dofollow by default. It only stops being dofollow when someone adds a rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" attribute to it.
Is there a rel=“dofollow” attribute?
No. There is no rel="dofollow" tag, and adding one does nothing. Links are dofollow automatically unless you mark them otherwise. The word “dofollow” only exists so we have a name for links that are not nofollow.
What is the difference between dofollow and nofollow links?
A dofollow link can pass authority to the page it points to and count as an endorsement. A nofollow link carries a rel="nofollow" attribute that tells search engines not to treat it as an endorsement. Both work fine for people clicking them. The difference is only in how search engines weigh them.
Do nofollow links help SEO?
Yes, just not by directly passing authority. Nofollow links still send referral traffic, build brand exposure, and keep your backlink profile looking natural. Since 2019 Google treats nofollow as a hint, so it may still use those links for crawling and ranking when it decides that is useful.
What is the difference between nofollow, sponsored, and ugc?
They are three values of the same rel attribute. Use sponsored for paid or affiliate links, ugc for links created by your visitors like comments, and plain nofollow for links you do not want to endorse for any other reason. Google recommends the most specific one but will not penalize you for using plain nofollow when unsure.
When should I use a nofollow link?
Use nofollow, sponsored, or ugc when you do not want to vouch for a link: paid placements, affiliate links, comment links, or sources you are not confident in. Leave links dofollow when you are pointing to something genuinely useful you would happily recommend.
Are dofollow links better than nofollow links?
For passing authority, yes, dofollow links are the ones that count. But a healthy site earns a natural mix of both. A profile made entirely of dofollow links you paid for or chased looks unnatural, and unnatural is exactly what search engines learned to distrust.
Stop counting links and start earning them
If you take one thing from all this: dofollow is the default, the rel attributes are just honest labels, and a natural mix of both is the goal, not a wall of dofollow links you forced into existence. The attributes are simple once you stop treating “dofollow” like a secret setting.
Want to know how your site’s links and structure actually look to Google and AI search right now? Run a free audit for a quick read, or see how we approach the whole thing with organic SEO. No link-buying, no shortcuts, no flare guns aimed at Google.