Every link carries an attribute that tells search engines how to treat it. Dofollow is the default: a plain link with no extra tag, the kind that can pass ranking credit. The others are values added inside the link's rel attribute to describe its nature: nofollow, sponsored and UGC. Understanding the four stops two common and costly mistakes: treating every dofollow as gold, and writing off every nofollow as worthless.
This used to be a simple binary. Dofollow passed value, nofollow did not, and that was the end of it. Google changed that. Since the company's 2020 update, nofollow is treated as a hint rather than a strict directive, which means Google can still choose to consider a nofollow or sponsored link when it is relevant and high quality. So the clean line between "counts" and "does not count" is blurrier than the labels suggest.
The four link attributes
Google's own Search Central documentation sets out how to qualify a link with rel values, and it is the authority worth anchoring to here. It defines sponsored for paid links, UGC for user-generated content and nofollow as a signal not to associate your site with the destination, and it notes that more than one value can be used together.
| Attribute | What it signals to Google | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Dofollow (default) | A normal editorial link that can pass ranking credit | Genuine mentions, links a site chose to give |
| Nofollow | The site is not vouching for this link; treated as a hint, not a rule | Comments, forums, links a publisher will not fully endorse |
| Sponsored | The link was paid for or is part of an ad or partnership | Ads, paid placements, affiliate links |
| UGC | Content created by users rather than the publisher | Comment sections, user profiles, forum posts |
The practical point: sponsored is the correct tag for anything commercial, UGC for anything a user wrote, and nofollow is the general "we are not endorsing this" signal. A site can apply more than one if a link is, for example, both paid and user-submitted.
Why nofollow is not worthless
A nofollow link from a publication people actually read still earns its place, for reasons that have nothing to do with passing PageRank. It sends referral traffic from readers who click. It puts your brand in front of the right audience. And it corroborates who you are across the web, which matters for both classic search and for AI answer engines that lean on consistent third-party mentions. Google's guidance itself notes that a link with these attributes can still be discovered and is treated as a hint, not an instruction to ignore it. A relevant nofollow on a national title beats a dofollow from an abandoned blog every time.
Why dofollow is not automatically valuable
The reverse mistake is just as common. A dofollow link can be passed by a thin, irrelevant or link-inflated site that gives you almost nothing, or actively drags your profile down. The rel tag tells you what a publisher is willing to vouch for; it tells you nothing about whether the publisher matters. Relevance, real readership and editorial context decide a link's worth. The attribute is one input, not the answer.
Common mistakes
- Paying a premium only for dofollow and ignoring whether the site is relevant or even real.
- Trusting a supplier who guarantees dofollow on publications that clearly mark commercial links nofollow.
- Judging a PR campaign a failure because a placement came back nofollow, when the coverage itself was strong and well read.
- Forgetting that a healthy, earned profile naturally contains a mix of dofollow, nofollow and sponsored links; an all-dofollow profile looks built.
How to report attributes honestly
A good link report names the attribute for every placement: dofollow, nofollow, sponsored, UGC, or mention-only with no link at all. Presenting nofollow links as if they were dofollow, or quietly dropping mention-only coverage, makes a campaign impossible to judge over time. Pair each attribute with the publication, the anchor and the target page, and the profile becomes something you can actually review. This is one of the checks in the wider backlink quality checklist.
How SEO Backlinks approaches this
Our core service is digital PR backlinks: genuine editorial coverage on DR 70+ publications. We aim for the most authoritative, relevant placement a story can earn, and we report the link attribute up front for every one, dofollow or otherwise. We will never promise guaranteed dofollow on a title that controls its own link policy, because that promise can only be kept by buying links the wrong way, which is exactly what Google's sponsored and nofollow signals exist to flag. If you want to see where the attribute fits the bigger picture of link value, read what makes a good backlink, or book a call to talk through your targets.
Keep reading
- What makes a good backlink?, where the attribute fits
- Anchor text, the other half of how a link reads
- Editorial backlinks, why context beats the attribute
- Backlinks and AI search, why nofollow mentions still count
- Digital PR backlinks, our core service
FAQs
Do nofollow backlinks help SEO?
Not directly in the way a dofollow link does, but they are far from worthless. Since Google's 2020 change, nofollow is a hint rather than a strict instruction, so Google can still consider the link. A nofollow on a relevant, well-read publication also drives referral traffic, brand visibility and corroboration that support rankings in other ways.
What is the difference between nofollow, sponsored and UGC?
They are three rel values that describe a link's nature. Sponsored marks a link that was paid for or part of an ad or partnership. UGC marks user-generated content such as comments and forum posts. Nofollow is the broader signal that a site is not vouching for the link. Google's own documentation lists all three and says they can be combined.
Are PR backlinks dofollow or nofollow?
It depends on the publication. Genuine editorial coverage on a national title is often dofollow, while some publishers mark all outbound or commercial links nofollow as policy. We pursue the most authoritative, relevant placement available and report the attribute for every one, rather than promising a dofollow we cannot control.
Should I only buy dofollow links?
No, and a supplier guaranteeing dofollow at scale is a warning sign, because reputable publications set their own link policy. A natural backlink profile contains a mix of attributes. Judge a placement on relevance, audience and editorial context first; the attribute is one factor, not the whole verdict.
Can Google crawl a nofollow link?
Yes. Google's guidance notes that links carrying these attributes generally will not be followed for ranking, but the destination can still be discovered through other sources, and the attributes are treated as hints. Nofollow does not make a page invisible to search engines.