Nofollow
A link attribute (rel="nofollow") that tells search engines not to pass ranking credit through a link. Nofollow links do not directly contribute to the linked page's search rankings, though Google now treats them as a hint rather than a directive.
Nofollow was originally created to combat comment spam and paid links. When you add rel="nofollow" to a link, you signal that you are not vouching for the linked page. Google introduced related attributes in 2019: rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content. Google now treats all three as hints rather than strict directives, meaning it may choose to count the link anyway if it deems it valuable.
For growth teams, understanding nofollow is essential for link building strategy and technical SEO. Use nofollow or sponsored attributes on paid links, affiliate links, and untrusted user-generated links. Do not nofollow your own internal links, as this wastes crawl budget and link equity. When evaluating backlink opportunities, nofollow links still have value for referral traffic and brand exposure even without direct SEO benefit. Some SEO studies suggest that nofollow links from high-authority sites may still contribute indirect ranking signals. Focus your link building efforts on earning followed links from authoritative, relevant sites, but do not dismiss nofollow links entirely.
Related Terms
Core Web Vitals
A set of three Google-defined metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor in Google Search.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the time from page load start until the largest visible content element (image, video, or text block) is rendered on screen. Good LCP is 2.5 seconds or less.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the latency of all user interactions (clicks, taps, keyboard input) throughout the page lifecycle, reporting the worst interaction. Good INP is 200 milliseconds or less.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital that measures the total amount of unexpected layout shifts that occur during a page's entire lifespan. Good CLS is 0.1 or less, where layout shifts are calculated from the impact and distance of moving elements.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
The duration from the user's request to the first byte of the server response reaching the browser. TTFB measures server-side processing speed and network latency, directly impacting all subsequent loading metrics.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe, determined by crawl rate limit and crawl demand. Crawl budget optimization ensures important pages are discovered and indexed efficiently.