Dofollow vs Nofollow Links: What Each Means for SEO in 2026

Dofollow vs nofollow is the difference between a link that can pass ranking signals and a link that asks search engines not to. A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow" in its HTML. A dofollow link is just a normal link. There is no dofollow attribute: a link counts as dofollow simply because nobody marked it nofollow, sponsored or ugc. Since 2019 Google has treated nofollow as a hint rather than a strict rule, but you should still plan on a nofollow link passing little or nothing.

A quick disclosure: LaunchIt is a launch platform that gives every listing a standard dofollow link, so we have an obvious interest in you caring about this. Everything below works on any site, ours included. Trust the method, not the vendor.

For the wider picture of referring domains and anchor text, read Backlinks for Startups. If your links are live but missing from Ahrefs, read dofollow backlinks that show up in Ahrefs.

What is dofollow and nofollow?

Dofollow link meaning: what are dofollow links?

A dofollow link is an ordinary hyperlink with nothing added to restrict it. When another site links to you this way, search engines can treat it as a vote for your page and pass some of the linking page's authority along.

The name trips people up because it suggests an attribute you can add. You cannot. "Dofollow" is the community's word for the default state of every link on the web. If a link has no rel attribute, or its rel contains none of nofollow, sponsored or ugc, it is dofollow.

What is a nofollow link?

A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow". It tells search engines that the linking site does not vouch for the destination and does not want to pass ranking signals to it. The mention still exists and people can still click it, but in principle the authority does not travel.

Google, Yahoo and MSN introduced it in 2005 to fight comment spam. Since then it has spread to user posts, paid placements, social profiles and plenty of directories.

Dofollow and nofollow in HTML

The whole difference is in the rel attribute of the anchor tag. These are the four versions you will meet.

A normal (dofollow) link. No rel attribute, so nothing restricts it:

<a href="https://example.com">Example</a>

A nofollow link. The linking site does not vouch for the destination:

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

A sponsored link. For paid placements, affiliate links and advertising:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="sponsored">Example</a>

A UGC link. For user generated content such as comments and forum posts:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="ugc">Example</a>

Two details catch people out. First, rel="noopener" and rel="noreferrer" deal with browser security and referrer data, not ranking, so a link carrying only those is still dofollow. Second, rel="dofollow" is not a real value. Adding it does nothing, because search engines ignore it.

How Google treats nofollow links today

For most of its history, nofollow was read as an instruction: do not count this link. That changed in September 2019. Google announced two more specific values, rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc", and said it would treat nofollow as a hint rather than a directive.

A hint means Google may choose to take a nofollow link into account instead of ignoring it automatically. It does not mean nofollow links now count the same as dofollow links. Nobody outside Google knows how much weight any single link carries, and anyone quoting an exact figure is guessing.

What that means for a startup:

• Plan on dofollow links being the ones that build authority. Treat any value from nofollow links as a bonus.
• Do not assume nofollow means invisible. A hint is not a guarantee in either direction.

Dofollow vs nofollow: side by side

One caveat: "passes ranking signals" is not the same as "worth having". The visitors column is the one founders forget.

How to check whether a link is dofollow

You don't need a paid tool. Run these checks on the live page that links to you, not on the site's sales page.

1. View the source. Right click and choose View page source to see the raw HTML the server sent. Inspect element shows the page after JavaScript runs, which is not what every crawler sees.
2. Search the source for your domain. If you can see the link in the browser but not in the source, JavaScript is building it, and backlink crawlers may never record it.
3. Read the rel attribute on that anchor. No rel, or only noopener or noreferrer, means dofollow. Anything containing nofollow, sponsored or ugc means it is not.
4. Check the page can be counted. A dofollow link on a noindexed or blocked page passes nothing. Look for noindex in the robots meta tag (a nofollow there covers every link on the page), then search Google for site: plus the page URL.
5. Check where the link points. It should be your canonical URL: right protocol, right host, no tracking parameters, no shortener in between.

For the full audit, including the JavaScript and canonical URL traps that hide real links from backlink tools, read why listings stay invisible in Ahrefs and our backlink verification docs.

Are nofollow links worthless?

No. "Passes little or no authority" does not mean "worthless", for three reasons.

They send people

A nofollow link from a site your buyers actually read sends real visitors, real signups and sometimes real revenue. Some of those visitors will remember your name and search for it later.

They build brand and credibility

Many of the most visible places a startup can appear nofollow outbound links as a blanket policy. That includes large publications, community sites and most social platforms. Turning down that coverage because of an HTML attribute would be an odd way to run a company.

Coverage also compounds. A nofollow mention in a well read publication is often how other writers find you, and some of them will link to you with ordinary dofollow links. The nofollow link passed little directly and still caused the ones that did.

They make your profile look real

Real sites end up with a mix, because real mentions happen in comments, forums, social posts and press. A profile made up entirely of dofollow links is itself a pattern, and patterns are detectable.

Nofollow vs dofollow backlinks: what mix should a startup aim for?

There is no ideal ratio, and anyone quoting a percentage is guessing. You don't engineer the mix. It's what you end up with. What you control is where your effort goes:

• Build dofollow links deliberately, and count referring domains, not backlinks. Fifty links from one site is roughly one vote. Fifty links from fifty sites is fifty.
• Take nofollow links when they bring the right people. Community posts, social profiles and press coverage are traffic and credibility plays.
• Judge every opportunity on relevance and traffic first, then the rel attribute. A dofollow link from an unrelated, low quality site is worth less than a nofollow link from a publication your buyers read, because the second one brings people.

Fifteen quality referring domains in your first quarter is a solid, realistic start. To see where you stand, the free Domain Rating checker pulls live Ahrefs data for any domain. Domain Rating explained covers what the score does and does not tell you.

How to get dofollow links as a startup

Realistic sources for an early stage startup, roughly in order of effort:

1. Launch platforms. A launch gives you a listing page and often a burst of links from aggregators and newsletters that cover launches. Our guide to where to launch your startup in 2026 compares the options.
2. Startup directories. Fast and repeatable, but quality varies enormously. Our list of startup directories ranked by live Ahrefs DR is a good starting point. Our write-up on submitting one product to 106 AI directories shows what a big batch looks like.
3. Integration and partner pages. If you integrate with another tool, ask to be listed on its integrations page. These links are relevant, editorial and often overlooked.
4. Original data. Publish a number nobody else has, and people will cite it because they need it, with no further outreach from you.
5. Guest posts and podcasts. Slower, but the links sit inside body content on relevant pages, the placement that tends to be worth most.

One note on DR: it scores the linking domain, while dofollow is a property of a single link. Use DR to rank your target list, then use view source to confirm the link type.

Dofollow external links on your own site

Should the links you give out be dofollow? For editorial links to sources you genuinely recommend, yes: that is what the default is for. Mark paid and affiliate links rel="sponsored" (getting this wrong is a spam policy violation). Mark user generated links rel="ugc". Use rel="nofollow" for anything you link to but do not vouch for.

Leave your internal links alone. Nofollowing your own pages is an old tactic called PageRank sculpting. It has not worked for many years and just wastes link equity.

Common mistakes and myths

Myth: adding rel="dofollow" makes a link count

It does nothing. The value is not real, search engines ignore it, and a link without it is already dofollow.

Mistake: buying dofollow links

Paid links that pass ranking signals violate Google's spam policies. The sites selling them at scale are exactly the footprint spam systems are built to find. Link networks get identified and devalued in batches, and you inherit whatever happens to the network. If a placement is worth paying for, buy it marked rel="sponsored".

Mistake: counting footer and sitewide links as many votes

A footer or sidebar link appears on every page, so it can show up as a huge number of backlinks. It is still one referring domain, and boilerplate placement is worth less than a link in body content. If someone sells you one, it is a paid link and should be marked sponsored.

Mistake: trusting JavaScript and redirect links

A button with a click handler is not a plain anchor pointing at your URL. Neither is an outbound link routed through a JavaScript redirect or a shortener. Google renders JavaScript, but in a slower second pass that is not guaranteed, and the crawler behind Ahrefs is stricter. If your URL is not in the view-source HTML as a real href, do not count it.

Mistake: link farms and submission blasts

A hundred links from link farms will not move you, and may actively hurt. "Submit to thousands of directories" services exist to produce a receipt, not links. The sites they submit to are the ones crawlers rarely bother to index. More on that in the free SEO submission software trap.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between dofollow and nofollow links?

A dofollow link is a normal link that can pass ranking signals to the page it points at. A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow", which asks search engines not to. Google has treated nofollow as a hint since 2019, but assume it passes little or nothing.

What is dofollow, and is there a dofollow attribute?

Dofollow is not an attribute. It is the name for any link not marked nofollow, sponsored or ugc, which is the default state of every link. Writing rel="dofollow" has no effect.

What is a dofollow backlink?

It is a link from another website to yours that carries no nofollow, sponsored or ugc value. To help you, it also needs to sit on a page that is crawlable and indexed.

How do I know if a link is dofollow?

View the page source, search for your domain, and read the rel attribute on that anchor. If there is no rel, or only noopener or noreferrer, the link is dofollow. Then confirm the page is indexed with a site: search.

Nofollow vs dofollow backlinks: which is better?

For authority, dofollow. For traffic and credibility, whichever comes from a site your buyers actually read. A healthy profile has both. A nofollow link from the right publication can beat several dofollow links from sites nobody visits.

How do I get dofollow links for a new startup?

Start with launch platforms and carefully chosen directories, then integration pages, original data and guest posts. Never buy them, and check each one on the live page once it is published.

What are dofollow contextual backlinks?

They are dofollow links placed inside the body text of a relevant article, rather than in a footer, sidebar or profile box. They are harder to get and usually worth more, which is why guest posts, podcasts and original data repay the effort.

Get a dofollow link from a permanent launch page

Every product on LaunchIt gets a permanent listing page on a DR 61 domain (Ahrefs Domain Rating) with a standard dofollow link to your site. The link is server-rendered, with no nofollow, no redirects and no tracking parameters, so crawlers see it on the first pass. You can confirm it with the view-source test above on any live listing.

Basic Launch is free. It waits in the standard review queue and requires a link to LaunchIt from your site. Premium Launch is a one-time payment of $14.99 at early pricing (normally $19). You skip the queue and the link requirement, can launch as soon as tomorrow, and get homepage placement on launch day. Either way, the listing never expires. Compare the plans on the pricing page, or launch your startup on LaunchIt and check the link yourself.