Nofollow
Nofollow is a link attribute (`rel="nofollow"`) that tells search engines not to pass PageRank (link equity) through a specific link, treating it as a hint rather than a directive.
Use nofollow for links you do not want to endorse: user-generated content (comments, forum posts), paid links, affiliate links, and login/signup pages. Google treats nofollow as a hint, meaning it may still crawl and index the linked page.
Google introduced two additional link attributes in 2019: `rel="sponsored"` for paid/sponsored links and `rel="ugc"` for user-generated content. These provide more specific signals than the generic nofollow.
A page-level `<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">` applies nofollow to all outbound links on the page. This is different from link-level `rel="nofollow"` which applies to a single link.
Example
<!-- Link-level nofollow -->
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Untrusted link</a>
<!-- Sponsored link -->
<a href="https://sponsor.com" rel="sponsored">Sponsor</a>
<!-- Page-level nofollow (all links) -->
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow" />Related terms
Noindex
Noindex is a robots meta tag directive that instructs search engines to exclude a page from their search index, preventing it from appearing in search results.
Backlinks
Backlinks (inbound links) are hyperlinks from external websites that point to your site. They act as votes of confidence and are a major ranking factor for search engines.
Link Building
Link building is the practice of acquiring hyperlinks from external websites to your own, with the goal of improving search engine rankings through increased authority and trust signals.
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