Audit & Technical SEO · Glossary term

Nofollow explained without jargon.

Attribute on links (rel="nofollow") telling Google NOT to follow the link when distributing authority. Standard for sponsored links, comments, links to sites you don't want to associate with.

Extended definition

Attribute on links (rel="nofollow") telling Google NOT to follow the link when distributing authority. Standard for sponsored links, comments, links to sites you don't want to associate with.

Context and application

Since 2019, Google treats nofollow as a “hint”, not a strict directive — it can decide to follow the link anyway if it considers it useful. More precise variants introduced: rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content (comments, forum). If you have a blog with comments, automatically mark links as ugc — it’s the current standard, not generic nofollow.

Related terms

Backlink, Anchor text.

Now that you know what nofollow is, apply it on your site.

SEO Master PRO MAX runs 100% locally on your computer. Full audit in Free plan, no account, no card, no page limit. Multi-AI integration with your own keys.