DOFollow - NOfollow does it actually mean anything

[magnusmora]

What does Dofollow against Nofollow actually mean? I read somewhere that it doesent actually matter. That even if you get a nofollow link it still counts and you can get traffic from it?

It would be good to get a definitive answer, any ideas views on this?

[Stephen Root]

You get the traffic but no link juice. That's all it means.

[magnusmora]

So does that mean it wont count as a back link to any of the search engines?

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by magnusmora

What does Dofollow against Nofollow actually mean? I read somewhere that it doesent actually matter. That even if you get a nofollow link it still counts and you can get traffic from it?

It would be good to get a definitive answer, any ideas views on this?

Shhhh! You're spilling a big can of beans

Nofollow is a value in a link attribute to tell search engines that the link shouldn't be counted when determining the linked site's ranking. Dofollow (or actually the lack of the nofollow value) is just the opposite.

If I remember correctly, Google implemented it to reduce blog comment spam a few years ago.

Here's the thing - it's not a rule or regulation or a law...it's voluntary whether or not a search engine chooses to adhere to it. More importantly, it doesn't prevent you from still receiving traffic from wherever the link is posted.

I see so many folks concentrating only on posting to dofollow sites that they're missing out on a huge amount of traffic potential (aggregated) by ignoring nofollow links.

It's the same with PR - I see everyone wanting to only get a backlink from a PR 3 or higher site, that they're missing out on the lower ranked site's future potential. PR is not static - it changes continually and who's to say that a PR 0 site today, won't be a PR 6 or higher? and that PR 6 site won't be a PR 1 tomorrow?

My approach to SEO is to take advantage of every single option available and not be fixated on just today. I believe that every single effort you make today in SEO should provide value for the future

[magnusmora]

Thanks Big Mike. I have to say I have been ignoring nofollow links. I think that I will ensure that I include these from now. Broadens and opens the amount of links to my site.

Your PR one is also a good point. I am a living example, I have site that I created about 3 years ago. I joined a small link programme, at the time all the links where PR0. Any way a few years later and I have not really done anymore work on my backlinking and my site is PR4. In fact I plan on doing something with it as its just sitting there with no real useful info on it or making any money.

Myth - NoFollow sites are no good and they will not help

This is not only false but it is a down right LIE! NoFollow means nothing, that's right you heard me it means nothing. You can very well ping each and every link you post on any given website and even if a site is NoFollow it is still picked up by the search engines.

You should be spending your time on generating traffic and not worry about if a site is do follow or not.

James

[magnusmora]

Ok - Thats now two highly respected Warriors who have said that nofollow links do have value and should not be overlooked.

The bit I do not understand is, whats the use of nofollow, it clearly doesent make any difference.

[Anna Johnson]

Here are some articles that may help explain the origin and implications of using the nofollow tag:

Should We Abandon 'No Follow' Tags? | Kikabink News - Internet Marketing News

Matt Cutts Explains Google PageRank, PageRank Sculpting and Nofollow (Part 1) | Kikabink News - Internet Marketing News

Matt Cutts Explains Google PageRank, PageRank Sculpting and Nofollow (Part 2) | Kikabink News - Internet Marketing News

[scorpio9]

Originally Posted by magnusmora

Ok - Thats now two highly respected Warriors who have said that nofollow links do have value and should not be overlooked.

The bit I do not understand is, whats the use of nofollow, it clearly doesent make any difference.

It only make a difference to Google SE, most of the other search engines ignore the NoFollow, but more importantly (IMHO), human website visitors don't care, if it's relevant and good information they will click the links

scorpio9

[marmo]

I use both , when i am after traffic i go after quality traffic links , if i need to build page rank I spend a day or two building up do-follow links , but i never ignore no-follow , tis good traffic to be had.

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by magnusmora

Ok - Thats now two highly respected Warriors who have said that nofollow links do have value and should not be overlooked.

The bit I do not understand is, whats the use of nofollow, it clearly doesent make any difference.

Basically, it wards off spammers looking for quality back links.

[BIG Mike]

Originally Posted by scorpio9

It only make a difference to Google SE, most of the other search engines ignore the NoFollow, but more importantly (IMHO), human website visitors don't care, if it's relevant and good information they will click the links

scorpio9

That's exactly right and why "Not" submitting to nofollow sites is a big mistake.

In a typical search, you type in your search criteria (keywords), skim through the first few results and click on a link to Site A. On Site A, you find more info available at Site B, so you click that link and then on to Site C and so forth.

You can actually pull a lot of unique visitors from related sites regardless of the use of nofollow.

[Ilan Jurov]

It those matter!

Many people believe that NoFollow links won't help in the SEO proses but it's not true, It will help your rankings and Many people have proved it, but DoFollow llink are better for your ranking!

[Tyrus Antas]

Just because Google indexes a link, doesn't mean they pass the juice. Nobody really knows what Google is doing with Nofollow.

The latest Nofollow snafu where people though that using nofollow in their websites didn't cause them to lose PR(when it did) despite Google changing the rules of the game more than 1 year ago and nobody noticed it, shows that people don't really know what's going on.

Tyrus

[adamv]

Someone should do a little experiment (maybe I will if I can find the time).

Write an article for your blog, EZA, goarticles, or some other site and actively search out no follow links (they should be pretty easy to find).

Get only no follow links and try to make sure you don't get any do follow links and then see if and where you rank in Google after a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by magnusmora

Ok - Thats now two highly respected Warriors who have said that nofollow links do have value and should not be overlooked.

The bit I do not understand is, whats the use of nofollow, it clearly doesent make any difference.

It only means something to google and supposedly some "experts" say it does not pass on link juice.

The problem is many people focus way too much on google alone and the fact is there are hundreds of search engines out there. Many will say "Yeah but they are not as popular as google" .. Ok I give you that but understand many people use specific search engines for specific reasons. I get hundreds of extra unique visits a day because I do not focus only on google. Those are hundreds of extra potential customers that would be missed if I focused only on google.

James

[JohnMcCabe]

Maybe I'm missing something here...

Google reps have gone on record numerous times saying they "like" sites that build naturally - both in adding content and links.

Seems to me that having only "dofollow" links or zero "nofollow" links doesn't look very natural. One could even say that it presents a footprint of someone trying to rig the rankings...

My linking philosophy is this: As long as I steer clear of the "bad neighborhoods" in getting links, it's all good...