Dofollow vs Nofollow Links: What Founders Need to Know

A "dofollow" link is simply a normal link without a qualifying attribute that prevents or limits the usual link signal. A nofollow link uses the rel="nofollow" attribute. Google also recognizes sponsored for paid placements and ugc for user-generated content.

Founders should understand these labels, but not reduce every link decision to followed versus nofollow. A nofollow link on a page your buyers read can be more valuable than a followed link buried on an irrelevant site.

Followed links#

There is no official rel="dofollow" attribute. "Dofollow" is SEO shorthand for an ordinary crawlable link, such as:

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

Followed links can participate in link-based ranking systems. Whether a search engine values the link depends on far more than the absence of a nofollow attribute.

Nofollow links#

A nofollow link looks like:

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

Google introduced nofollow to help publishers identify links they did not want to endorse or crawl in the usual way. Google now describes these attributes as hints for ranking purposes rather than absolute commands, but publishers should still apply them accurately.

Sponsored and UGC attributes#

Google's outbound-link qualification guidance recommends:

• rel="sponsored" for advertising, sponsorships, and compensated placements.
• rel="ugc" for links in user-generated content such as comments or forum posts.
• rel="nofollow" when the other values do not apply and the publisher does not want the normal association.

Attributes can be combined. A link can use rel="ugc nofollow", for example.

What link attributes mean for directory listings#

A directory may use different attributes by plan:

• Free listings may be nofollow while paid listings are followed.
• All user-submitted listings may use UGC.
• Sponsored placement may use sponsored while the underlying editorial listing uses another treatment.
• The directory may link through a redirect instead of directly to the product.

The link type should be checked on a live listing, not inferred from marketing copy. Mydentify's directory link-type pages expose observed classifications, but founders should confirm current behavior at the destination.

Does a nofollow link have value?#

Yes, when it does one of the other jobs a link can perform:

• Sends qualified referral traffic.
• Helps a person verify the official product.
• Creates brand visibility in a respected source.
• Leads to later editorial coverage.
• Makes the product part of a useful public comparison.
• Helps crawlers discover a page, even if the ranking treatment is qualified.

A link is both a technical signal and a path a person can follow. The second role is easy to forget when a campaign is measured only in SEO tools.

A natural backlink profile is mixed#

Real companies earn links from press articles, social profiles, forums, customers, directories, documentation, and partnerships. Those sources use different attributes. A profile containing only followed links with optimized anchors would be unusual.

Do not ask every publisher to remove nofollow. Do not reject a relevant profile merely because it is nofollow. Evaluate the complete source and relationship.

How to evaluate a link#

Ask these questions in order:

1. Is the source relevant to the product and audience?
2. Is the page public, crawlable, and maintained?
3. Does the link help a reader understand or verify something?
4. Is the anchor accurate and natural?
5. Is the commercial relationship labeled correctly?
6. What attribute is used?
7. Does the placement produce referrals, discovery, or citations over time?

Link type matters, but it belongs in the middle of the evaluation—not at the beginning.

For the broader strategy, read Link Building for Startups and Do Directory Backlinks Help SEO?.