Google Nofollow attribute firstly introduced in 2005. Initially, nofollow meta tags are used to fight spammy links that manipulate rankings in search engines. Overnight, it appeared as the best Google’s approach to identify advertising related or sponsored links.
In March 2020, Google announced big changes in nofollow with two new rel link attributes – sponsored and ugc. Now, all these three linking attributes will be considered as hints to identify links to ignore as ranking signals.
It is really important to know when or when not to use the nofollow attribute, if you worry about your website’s performance in search engines.
Here, in this blog, we will understand how nofollow helps SEO and how to use these nofollow linking attributes in a correct way to avoid Google penalty.
First, let’s cover the basics –
Google’s objective is to make a clear understanding about linking attributes rel=”nofollow” rel=”sponsored” and rel=”ugc”, which are used by google search console to come up with additional and more descriptive information about the type of links.
rel="nofollow"
Make use of this linking property to link a web page but do not want to pass ranking signals or link juice and ignore the link for indexing. After nofollow update this attribute is working as a hint instead of a directive.
rel=“sponsored”
Analyse the links on websites that are placed for monetary benefits such as promotional, advertisements, sponsored or various paid agreements where one pays another for the link.
rel=“ugc”
UGC represents User Generated content. This linking attribute is advised to use within user generated content such as blog comments, forum postings, or other ways where websites allow users to create content that carry links.
Nofollow, Sponsored, & UGC Link Attributes Impact On SEO
Linking Attributes Are Still Crucial
To protect your website from the possible link penalties, it is necessary to flag ads and sponsored links. Google favors the use of rel=”sponsored” but rel=”nofollow” will also work.
Changes In Existing Attributes - Not Needed
All these rel link attributes are now treated as hints for google search engine ranking. Anyhow, Google update has confirmed that it is not essential to replace previous nofollow links.
In case, you have used the nofollow attribute for any important webpage to stop googlebot from crawling and indexing, you can take advantage of “noindex meta tag” or “robots.txt” disallow rule.
Uses Of Rel Linking Attributes
rel Value
Description
No value
Link without any rel value is considered as a regular link by google search engine. Here you don’t need to add rel attribute.
Example –
I love <a href=”https://www.xyz.com/mozzarella”> mozzarella</a> cheese.
rel="sponsored"
Considered links as advertisements or paid placements (generally known as paid links)
Example –
I love to <a href=”https://www.xyz.com/shoes” rel=”sponsored”>Buy Shoes</a>.
rel="ugc"
Use rel=”ugc” if user generated content carries irrelevant links in comments or forum posts.
Example –
Read more about <a href=”https://www.xyz.com/blog/content-spam” rel=”ugc”>avoiding content spam</a>.
rel="nofollow"
Use rel=”nofollow” when other attributes are not applicable. Google will not crawl that webpage. If you want to apply nofollow within your website, use noindex meta tag or robots.txt.
Example –
<a href=”https://www.xyz.com/” rel=”nofollow”> external link</a>.
Multiple values
One can use multiple rel values with a space- or comma-separated list.
Examples –
I love <a href=”https://www.xyz.com/mozzarella” rel=”ugc nofollow”> mozzarella</a> cheese.
I hate <a href=”https://www.xyz.com/”feta_cheese” rel=”ugc,nofollow”>Feta</a> cheese.
We will advise you to follow the new rel linking structure to give Google a better understanding of your web content and links and improve your ranking chances.
These updated rel attributes will create some questionnaires for every marketer, So, here are some FAQs that answer most of your questions.
Can Google Penalize Your Website For Not Marking Paid Links?
Yes, Your website can be penalized under link scheme penalties for not marking promotional links. Google suggests to use either rel=”sponsored” or rel=”nofollow”, but not rel=”ugc” for paid links across the content.
In case, visitors add their affiliate link or any paid link in their content or comment, you can use rel=”nofollow ugc” or rel=”sponsored ugc”.
Can Nofollow Attribute Control Crawling Indexing?
Nofollow is an extremely poor approach to avoid Google from indexing website’s content. Many SEO persons use nofollow on large websites to avoid long redirection chains, manage site structure, internal linking and preserve crawl budget.
We recommend you to use some other seo techniques such as “noindex” & “robots.txt disallow”.
Is There Any Need To Change Nofollow Attribute For Sponsored Links?
No. You can use nofollow as a flagging approach to protect websites from viable link scheme penalties. There is no need to change any existing markup attributes. Still, we suggest you change your markup from rel=”nofollow” to rel=”sponsored”.
Why Should I Implement Any Of New Markup Attributes?
New rel markup attributes empower Google for better link processing and analysis across the web. It can also have your web content, if users who add a link to your webpage make use of rel linking methods.
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