What is Follow This Link Mean in SEO and Why It Matters?

When SEO people talk about follow this link, they’re not giving you directions. They’re talking about whether Google will actually count that link as a vote for your website’s authority. This matters because most beginners build links without checking if search engines even follow them.

You can spend months getting backlinks only to realize half of them have a tiny piece of code that tells Google to ignore them for rankings. I watched a client waste $4,000 on guest posts that had zero impact because every single link was set to nofollow. Not fun.

The difference between a followed link and a nofollow link is invisible to regular visitors but makes or breaks your SEO results. One passes ranking power to your site. The other just sits there looking pretty.

The Basic Idea behind Link Following

Every link on the internet has a default setting. When you create a normal link without adding any special code, search engines follow it. They crawl through it, count it, and use it to decide how authoritative your website is.

That’s a dofollow link. Except nobody actually writes “dofollow” in the code. It just happens automatically.

Website owners can add a small attribute called rel=”nofollow” to any link. This tells search engines “I’m linking to this page but don’t count it as an endorsement.”

Both links look identical to humans. Both are clickable and send traffic. But only dofollow affects your search rankings.

Why This Whole System Exists

Google introduced the nofollow attribute back in 2005. Blog spam was out of control. People were dropping thousands of garbage comments with links just to manipulate rankings.

Website owners needed a way to allow comments without giving spammers free ranking juice. Google’s solution was elegant. Add rel=”nofollow” to comment links. Problem solved.

The system worked so well that it expanded beyond comments. Now websites use nofollow for paid links, user-generated content, and anything they don’t want to vouch for completely.

Social media platforms nofollow everything. Forums usually nofollow external links. Many blogs nofollow their comment sections. Even some high-authority sites nofollow all outbound links as a blanket policy.

What Happens When Google finds you’re Links?

When Googlebot crawls a page, it discovers every link. For each one, the crawler checks the HTML code. No rel attribute means the link passes PageRank. That’s the algorithm Google uses to measure link value.

With a followed link, several things happen. Google adds it to their massive link graph database. They analyze the anchor text for relevance signals. The authority of the linking page influences your page’s authority. The link becomes part of how they calculate your rankings.

With a nofollow link, Google mostly ignores it for ranking purposes. They might still crawl through it to discover new pages. Google changed the rules slightly in 2019. They started treating nofollow as a hint instead of a directive.  

The Real Objectives of Understanding This Stuff

Evaluating Link Opportunities

Before you write that guest post or pitch that partnership, check if the link will be followed. I have a personal rule. If a site nofolllows all external links, I don’t guest post there unless they get massive traffic. We’re talking 20,000 monthly visitors minimum to that specific page.

Auditing Your Current Links

Pull your backlink profile from Ahrefs or SEMrush. Check the ratio of followed to nofollow links. Most competitive niches see healthy sites with 50-70% followed links. If yours is below 40%, you’re probably underperforming in rankings compared to your total link count. Time to focus specifically on earning followed links.

Prioritizing Your Time

Different link building tactics have wildly different success rates for getting followed links.

Digital PR and journalist outreach typically gets you 85-95% followed links. Resource page link building runs about 75-90%. Guest posting varies like crazy from 40-80% depending on the site. Forum links maybe 5-10% followed. Social media? Zero. Every major platform nofolflows everything. If rankings matter to you, pick tactics that actually generate followed links.

Negotiating Partnerships

When you’re discussing link exchanges or collaborations, ask directly if the link will be followed. Some sites have blanket nofollow policies for partners.

Analyzing Competitors

When you check competitor backlinks, don’t just count total numbers. Look at how many are followed. A competitor with 150 followed links is way more dangerous than one with 500 mostly nofollow links. This changes your entire strategy. If the top five results all have 200+ followed links, you need to match or beat that number to compete on link authority alone.

Common Misunderstandings about nofollow and dofollow links

How to Get More Followed Links

Create Something worth Citing

Original research gets followed links because journalists cite sources naturally. One fintech client created research on remote work spending habits. We pitched it to 34 business journalists. Got picked up by 9 publications. All followed links. Average domain rating of 72.

Target Resource Pages

Find pages that list helpful resources in your industry. Search for “[your topic] + resources” or “[your topic] + useful links.” These curators follow links by default because recommending quality sources is their entire purpose. Response rates are low but acceptance rates for followed links are nearly 100%.

Strategic Guest Posting

Don’t waste time on sites that nofollow everything. Check their existing guest posts first. Look at the author bio link or any contextual links in the article. If they’re nofollowed, move on.

Fix Broken Links

Find broken links on relevant high-authority sites using Ahrefs or a Chrome extension. Email them suggesting your content as a replacement. If you’re solving their problem so they have no reason to nofollow it.

Build Actual Tools

Free calculators, templates, and tools naturally earn followed links. People reference useful resources in articles and guides. A client built a simple ROI calculator. Over 14 months it earned 52 followed links from industry blogs and education sites. Cost to develop was $1,200. Value in rankings was easily 10x that.

What This Means for Your Strategy

Stop building links without checking if they’re followed. Every hour you spend on link building should answer one question first. Will this likely result in a followed link?

Pull your backlink data today. Calculate your followed percentage. If it’s under 50%, your next three months should focus exclusively on tactics that generate followed links. Check what your competitors have. Not just total backlinks. Count their followed links specifically. That’s the real number you need to beat.

The phrase follow this link isn’t technical jargon. It represents the fundamental difference between link building that actually improves rankings and link building that just looks productive on paper.

FAQs

Can I change nofollow links to followed on my own site?

Yes. Just remove the rel=”nofollow” from the HTML. Most website builders and CMS platforms let you control this per link. In WordPress, many SEO plugins have a simple toggle.

Do social media links count as followed?

Nope. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram all nofollow external links. Social links give you traffic and brand awareness but won’t directly boost rankings through link equity.

How do I check if my backlinks are followed?

Use Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz. They automatically classify links as followed or nofollow in their reports. For manual checking, right click any link, view source code, and look for rel=”nofollow” in the anchor tag.

Should I disavow nofollow links?

No. Since they don’t pass ranking value, they can’t hurt you through penalties. Google’s disavow tool is specifically for followed links from spammy sources that might trigger algorithmic or manual penalties.

What’s a good followed link percentage?

Anything between 50-70% is natural and healthy. Below 40% means you’re not maximizing ranking potential. Above 85% might look suspicious if the rest of your profile seems manipulative.

Does anchor text matter in nofollow links?

Not really for rankings. Google has said they treat nofollow as a hint and probably don’t weight the anchor text heavily. But descriptive anchor text still helps actual humans decide whether to click.

Can I ask someone to change their nofollow link to followed?

You can ask politely. Many sites have policies though. Sites that monetize content or accept paid placements often nofollow everything to avoid penalties. Respect their decision if they say no.

Are ugc and sponsored links the same as nofollow?

Pretty much. Google introduced rel=”ugc” for user content and rel=”sponsored” for paid placements in 2019. They work like nofollow but give Google more context about why the link exists.

Do followed links from bad sites hurt my SEO?

Yes. Followed links from spam sites or link networks can trigger penalties. That’s different from nofollow links which don’t typically cause harm even from sketchy sources.

How long before a new followed link affects rankings?

Usually 4-12 weeks. Google needs to crawl the page, index it, and integrate the link into their algorithms. Higher authority pages get crawled faster so those links count sooner.