In Digital PR and SEO, much of the focus revolves around the benefits of gaining ‘follow’ links — those that pass on link equity to a website, helping to boost its ranking in search engines.

But this has led to the importance of ‘nofollow’ links being misunderstood and downplayed. While not carrying quite the same value as those lovely ‘follow’ counterparts, nofollows hold significant value and often play an important role in digital PR strategies.

Let’s break down the differences between follow and nofollow links, explore the true impact of nofollow links, and discover why brands shouldn’t overlook them as a part of their backlink portfolio.

What are follow and nofollow links?

According to Semrush, follow links pass link equity (known as ‘domain authority’ or ‘domain ranking’) from one website to another, helping improve a website’s ranking in search engine results. This happens because search engines treat them as endorsements of authority and relevance.

Introduced by Google in 2005, nofollow links use a specific HTML tag (rel=”nofollow”) to tell search engines not to pass on link equity. That means they direct the user to the site, but it doesn’t directly impact rankings.

Image: SE Ranking

The misconception about nofollow links

For years, digital marketers have viewed follow links as the ultimate goal, dismissing nofollow links as essentially useless.

But this mindset doesn’t reflect the complexities of how search engines treat links today, nor does it align with the evolving perspectives of SEO experts and recent studies.

In 2019, Google announced that nofollow links would be treated as a “hint” rather than a strict directive. This change meant that search engines might still consider nofollow links when determining rankings — especially if they come from reputable or relevant sources.

Research has also shown the potential indirect benefits of nofollow links, for example:

  • An Ahrefs study found that pages with a mixture of follow and nofollow links tend to rank better, suggesting that a diverse link profile plays a role in Google’s evaluation of authority.
  • Research by SparkToro demonstrated how nofollow links from high-traffic sites like major news outlets can generate significant referral traffic, which indirectly supports rankings by increasing engagement metrics such as time on site and bounce rate.

Nofollow links have increasingly become the industry standard for high-authority websites, especially those with a domain rating above 40. Major news outlets, in particular, have adopted this practice to protect the integrity of their link profiles and avoid the risk of manipulating search rankings. This shift stems from the need to maintain editorial independence and make sure that links aren’t seen as endorsements or attempts to influence SEO.

As a result, follow links from top-tier publications have become rare, with many of the biggest sites opting not to include links at all.

However, Google’s spokesperson John Mueller confirmed during a Webmaster Central Hangout that there is no benefit to publications using the nofollow attribute on outbound links. This means that publications that apply the nofollow rule attribute are not only failing to protect their domains (as they might believe), but they could also be missing out.

Mueller said:

“I understand not knowing which links you can trust. But essentially, if you’re a news publisher, you should trust what you’re writing about. Or you should be able to understand which part of the content that you write about is actual content that you want to have indexed – that you want to stand for.

If these are things that you want to stand for then make sure you have normal links on there.”

Why nofollow links are still valuable in Digital PR

1. Brand visibility and authority

Nofollow links often appear on high-authority websites, such as national news publications. While they may not pass link equity directly, they amplify a brand’s visibility and credibility as search engines associate the link with a reputable source.

In many cases, national news sites don’t link to sites at all, only including brand mentions within their articles. Take the example of Deliveroo’s campaign featured in The Mail Online (DA 92):

While Deliveroo is a global household brand name featured in a national news publication, no backlink was provided within the article. The benefit to Deliveroo here comes in the form of brand exposure to a large audience, which may even create some brand-driven organic search as a result.

2. Traffic generation

Gaining a nofollow link from a high-traffic website can still drive significant referral traffic to a website, increasing the potential for conversions. In a recent client campaign, we generated a significant increase in organic traffic despite only receiving brand mentions and nofollow links from publications.

As shown in the graph below, the campaign led to a rise in both referring domains and organic traffic over several months:

While the links themselves were nofollow, the high authority and visibility of the publications prompted users to engage with the content and visit the client’s site. This shows the indirect value of nofollow links, as they can contribute to broader campaign goals such as increased brand awareness, engagement and, ultimately, conversions.

3. Diverse link profile

Google has revealed that a healthy backlink profile is diverse, meaning it should include both follow and nofollow links. A site with only follow links may appear unnatural and spammy to search engines, potentially leading to penalties like a drop in rankings or a decrease in domain authority.

Below is an example of Argos’ backlink profile taken from Ahrefs, which shows a healthy mix of both follow and nofollow links for their website:

4. Social proof and PR value

Being featured on well-known websites, even with nofollow links, helps boost a brand’s reputation and position it as a thought leader in its industry. These mentions can lead to further media opportunities, such as journalists reaching out for further comments or following links from other sources that syndicate the content (also known as the Halo Effect).

How to report on nofollow links

If you’re a digital PR professional, it’s important to educate stakeholders on the value of nofollow links in your backlink reporting. You can do so by giving updates on:

  1. Referral traffic data to show the traffic driven by nofollow links to their website.
  2. Highlighting the DR (Domain Rating) of the linking site to emphasise its credibility. DR is a metric used by tools like Ahrefs to measure the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more authoritative sites.
  3. Metrics such as social shares or impressions associated with the coverage placement.
  4. Examples of how nofollow links can lead to new opportunities, such as follow links or increased media attention. The image below shows a recent client report that shows the potential domino effect of nofollow links.

Here’s an example of what this looks like in practice:

Bring PR success beyond follow links

While follow links are undeniably powerful in supporting the ultimate goal of Digital PR; to amplify brand visibility, drive engagement, and boost authority, nofollow links contribute to these goals in many ways. Ignoring their importance means overlooking opportunities to grow your brand and connect with new audiences.

If you’re ready to take your brand’s PR strategy up a notch, get in touch today and discover how we can help you build a mixed backlink profile that delivers real results.

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