When you link to a website’s content, you vote for them as a quality post. Google then counts the number of links to determine the ranking of the site. However, if you wish not to vote the content, you can add a nofollow attribute in HTML.
A nofollow link is an HTML attribute that tells Google to ignore it while indexing the page. Nofollow was introduced to prevent blog comment spam.
However, after around 15 years, Google made tweaks in the nofollow attribute.
On September 10, 2019, Google announced:
“When nofollow was introduced, Google would not count any link marked this way as a signal to use within our search algorithms. This has now changed.
All the link attributes — sponsored, UGC, and nofollow — are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.
We’ll use these hints — along with other signals — as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems.”
The update has created confusion in the SEO community about how to use this to boost rankings. Even a lot of SEO services agency India aren’t quite sure about the update. Fortunately, we are. And that’s what makes us the best SEO services in India.
A lot of websites automatically place nofollow in all links on their site. This means they were taking unwanted advantage of multiple links irrespective of their credibility and authority. This created an unfair situation for publishers and marketers opting for legitimate SEO practices for boosting their rankings.
But now, after the update, Google will rank websites based on content quality. This allows Google to rank pages more accurately, while still providing relevant content to the searchers.
Websites who want to rank first on the search engines are already buying nofollow links. Since Google now considers nofollow as a hint, it can give a boost to the site linked to and even commercialize nofollow links.
However, the update will also encourage fairness and transparency in linking practices.
Final Thoughts
It is crucial to use links in your content. A good combination of nofollow and dofollow links will help you achieve maximum visibility on the internet and get the desired traffic too.
If you’re not sure how to leverage nofollow links, you can contact SEO Services India. Being the top SEO company in Delhi, we have a dedicated team to take care of your SEO.