Do nofollow links help SEO?
What nofollow, ugc and sponsored actually mean since 2019, what is known about how Google treats them, and why they are still worth having.
· 3 min read
"Is it nofollow?" is often the first question asked about any link opportunity. The answer matters less than many people think, and the rules changed in 2019.
What nofollow is
rel="nofollow" is an attribute on a link that tells search engines not to treat the link as an endorsement. Google introduced it in 2005, mainly to fight comment spam.
In September 2019 Google added two more specific values:
rel="sponsored"for links that are paid for, such as ads or sponsored placements.rel="ugc"for links in user-generated content, such as comments and forum posts.
At the same time, Google said it would treat all three as hints rather than strict instructions when deciding what to count for ranking, and from March 2020 also for crawling and indexing.
So do nofollow links help rankings?
Honest answer: Google has not published how it weighs these hints, so nobody outside Google can tell you exactly how much a given nofollow link counts. Anyone who says "nofollow links pass X% of value" is guessing.
What we can say is that a link being nofollow does not make it worthless, and building a strategy on the assumption that it secretly passes full value is a bad bet.
What nofollow links definitely do
They send people. A link from a relevant article, a respected community or a busy directory brings visitors who are interested in the topic. Those visitors can become clients, subscribers or the people who later link to you editorially.
They get you discovered. Journalists, bloggers and potential partners find sources through the sites they read. Many editorial links start with someone noticing you through a nofollow link.
They build your name. Being cited in the right places makes your brand familiar, which matters when someone later searches for you directly.
When links have to be nofollow, sponsored or ugc
- Paid links: Google asks that links you paid for, or that were given in exchange for something, are marked
sponsored(ornofollow). Buying links that pass ranking value is against its spam policies. - User-generated content: communities, forums and comment sections should mark member links as
ugc(ornofollow) unless the site vouches for them.
This is why reputable communities mark member links this way. It is not a lack of generosity: it protects both the community and the people linking from it.
How to think about link opportunities instead
Instead of "is it nofollow?", ask:
- Will the right people see this? Relevance and real readership beat any attribute.
- Would I want this link if search engines did not exist? If yes, it is probably worth having.
- Is it earned or bought? Earned editorial links are the ones that last.
Measure the result in referral traffic and enquiries in your analytics, not in a third-party "authority" score.
On SEOgenz
Links that members add to posts, comments and articles are marked ugc by default. That keeps the community free of link sellers, and it means the value of being here is what it should be: people reading your work, finding your profile and contacting you.
Have you had a nofollow link that turned into real business? Share the story in the comments.