When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), backlinks play a huge role. One of the best ways to improve traffic on your website is to have other reputable sites link to yours. However, the SEO landscape is constantly changing and evolving, introducing new terms and ideas. As a result, many people are wondering, “What is the difference between dofollow and nofollow backlinks?”

Furthermore, people may wonder if nofollow links are valuable when trying to improve SEO. The answer to this is a resounding yes, especially when you’re performing a backlink audit. As a result, understanding the differences and functions of these two terms may be imperative to your website’s continued growth.

What Is the Difference Between Dofollow and Nofollow Backlinks?

Before there was a distinction between dofollow and nofollow backlinks, Google’s method for scanning through new websites was simple. The bots would go through your web page, and, if they found a hyperlink, they would follow it to its respective website. This process is called “crawling.” If the page with the initial hyperlink was already reputable, then the new page it crawled to would immediately gain credibility with Google. Google essentially thinks to itself, “Well this site is trustworthy, and it must trust this other site because it’s linking to it. This new site must be legitimate.”

However, people abused this system right away. Popular blogs had comment sections that quickly filled with spammy links. Everyone wanted Google to give them some undeserved “link juice.” Thus, Google rolled out the “nofollow” link. Where a dofollow link lets Google bots follow it to the new site, a nofollow link prevents this. A huge percentage of links on the internet are now nofollow links, especially any links that people post in comment sections or on already non-reputable sites.

People thought they knew the answer to the question, “what is the difference between dofollow and nofollow backlinks?” It seemed that the only purpose of a nofollow link would be to encourage any humans already perusing the page to click on it. It seemed that the Google bots were just ignoring all nofollow links altogether.

However, this is a gross misconception.

The Value of Nofollow Links

One of the things that many people failed to understand is that Google’s idea of “reputation” is slightly more complicated than “if a good site links to you, you’re a good site too.” There is a converse side to the equation. If your small business website links to a reputable site, you also get reputation points, even if there are no reputable sites linking to you. The reasoning is that, by showing that you’re using a reputable site to create your marketing content, you demonstrate credibility. Think of it like citing your sources on an essay.

However, if you link to another site with a dofollow link, then Google will be giving “link juice” to that site. You risk harming your own traffic. This is the beauty of a nofollow link. A nofollow link to a reputable site will give you the credibility boost for citing it, without compromising your own ranking in the process.

Dreamscape’s Expertise

While you may now know the answer to “what is the difference between dofollow and nofollow backlinks?” we have barely scratched the surface of the complexities of modern digital marketing services and the differences of onpage and offpage SEO strategies. This is where Dreamscape Marketing comes in. We have the experience, technical knowledge, dream team staff, and proper code of ethics to boost your sites’ traffic reliably and honestly. If you are ready to take your web presence to the next level, contact us today at 888.307.7304.