Nofollow Links: 5 Real Benefits for Your Site (2026)
Many people who pitch guest posts to QuickOnlineTips lose interest once they read our guidelines and learn we give only nofollow links. They want dofollow links from high-authority sites. But nofollow links aren’t worthless, and since 2019 Google treats them as hints rather than an absolute block. Here are the real benefits in 2026.
Quick answer: A nofollow link uses rel=”nofollow” to tell search engines the site isn’t vouching for the link. Nofollow links still send real visitors, build brand awareness, make your backlink profile look natural, can lead to dofollow links from people who discover you, and may be used by Google as a hint for crawling or ranking.
Table of Contents
What nofollow means in 2026
- rel=”nofollow”: no endorsement.
- rel=”sponsored”: paid or affiliate links.
- rel=”ugc”: user-generated content like comments and forum posts.
Google treats all three as hints. See Google’s guide to qualifying outbound links.
5 benefits of nofollow links
- Referral traffic: a nofollow link on a popular page can send more visitors than many dofollow links.
- Brand exposure: mentions on big sites, news and social media build recognition and trust.
- Natural link profile: SEO tools track the ratio of follow to nofollow links; a profile of only dofollow links looks unnatural.
- More links later: writers who discover you through a nofollow link may link to you normally.
- Possible ranking hints: Google may use nofollow links as signals in some cases.
Where nofollow links come from
- Guest posts on sites with nofollow policies (like ours).
- Comments, forums, Q&A sites and social media.
- Press mentions and directories that add nofollow.
Focus on content
Stop worrying about dofollow vs nofollow and write content people want to share; the good links follow. To add nofollow to your own posts, see how to add nofollow links in WordPress, and use descriptive anchor text.
FAQ
Do nofollow links help SEO?
Indirectly, through traffic, brand and natural profiles; directly only as an optional hint.
Should I ask for dofollow links in guest posts?
No. Paying or trading for dofollow links breaks Google’s spam policies.
Are comment links nofollow?
Yes, WordPress adds nofollow and ugc to comment links by default.
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YES! I never really worry about whether a link is dofollow or nofollow. I look at it more from a traffic standpoint. If a link can bring me traffic, I want it. If not, I don’t waste my time.
I think Google has been fine-tuning its machine to look at links in this way, too. The best and most coveted links are the ones, presumably, producing the most traffic.