Backlinks are also known as either inbound links or external links are a medium for driving good SEO. However, a structure where there is no regulation as to how things are being used is of great disadvantage.
The web is a space where different people of different
manners are found and their influence could be negative. This is what brings us
to what we know as No-follow Backlinks and Do-Follow (also known as follow) Backlinks.
No-Follow backlinks are simply forms of regulating tricks
people use for the web.
Let us consider an instance without backlinks.
If a popular
site like BBC (which ranks higher on the web and is known for its level of integrity)
has in its comment section link blog comments on one of its pages, Search
engines will index such links as part of the page. The fact that these links in
the comment section are indexed by Search engines is not necessarily a big
deal but the integrity of these links is what the problem is. This was a form
of the spamming technique used to trick search engines into crawling into their sites
and in turn, might not be a legit site.
Another instance is where people pay sites for backlinks for their sites to get crawled by search engines. All these are what were
considered before adopting a way to regulate these occurrences.
This is why in 2005, Google introduced the ‘rel=no follow’
tag.
What then is a Do-Follow and No-Follow link?
A Do-Follow link is a link that simply links to another
website to have search engines crawl the website basically
because the website is trusted and in return serves as a point to increase the
domain authority and page rank of that website.
A no-follow link however is the direct opposite of a do-follow link. It is an external link that does not guarantee the integrity of the webpage to the search engine.
No follow links were initially created to avoid search
engines from crawling a page, nevertheless, the rules have evolved.
3 Differences between No Follow links and Do-follow links
1. The HTML of both links are different
They both have the same backbone structure but there is a
difference in both links. A do-follow link is a normal code to a particular
page but a no-follow link includes the ‘rel=no follow’ to its code.
For instance, a do-follow link will look like this:
<a
href=https://iloveyou.com"> Ten ways to
stop loving someone</a>
While no follow link looks like this:
<a
href="https://iloveyou.com" rel=”nofollow”>
Ten ways to stop loving someone</a>
The introduction of the ‘rel=no follow’ tag says a lot about
the difference.
2. No follow links are less helpful than Do-follow links
Usually, the reward for external linking is that it builds
page ranking and domain authority of the linked site. When the ‘rel=no follow’
was first introduced by Google, its main role was to avoid crawling the
site. The bottom line is that the no-follow link was practically useless at that point.
As time went on, Google was aware that some of these linked
sites are actually legit and they changed the perception of the No-follow
links. Even if a ‘rel=no follow’ tag is used, search engines will still crawl
the site. Although, this appears like ‘what exactly is the difference then? Despite
the increase in flexibility on rules that guide these no-follow links, Do-follow links carry more value than no follow tags still.
No-follow links can be seen as links that are just there but
might help and might not help. Above all, a do-follow link will do a lot to
give link juice thereby increasing the chances of ranking compared to a no-follow
link.
3. No-follow links do not guarantee that a page or site can be trusted
The main reason why there are no-follow links is that we don’t
trust those links. Therefore, we are simply telling Google, ‘you can choose to
crawl it and you can choose not to’. Doing this basically saves you from spam backlinks
which could be a threat to your site.
While no-follow links are not entirely beneficial to sites, they also in turn protect one from making mistakes that the search engines can penalise for.
As mentioned earlier, no-follow links are still helpful in several ways even when it does not add to link juice, they can still increase the traffic
to the linked site. This means that there is still importance attached to no-follow links. A healthy link profile should have both do-follow links and no-follow links, that is, a balance is very necessary for a good SEO.
The Search engine algorithm, however, keeps changing, which means in the next few years the approach toward no-follow links is likely to change just like it has advanced in a few years. Hence, it will be of great help if we adapt to the changes and make use of them to achieve a sustainable SEO.
It can be a lot to take in at once, that is why Search Engine Optimization is better broken down. Simplify it in smaller terms and explanations.
A Backlink is a major SEO term that is almost impossible to explain without at least defining hordes of SEO jargon, but let us attempt to simplify it.
Basically, a Backlink is a link which references another webpage while on the current one.
It leads away from your current page to another on the internet. When a backlink points to a webpage, it directs traffic from another webpage.
Also, Backlinks are often used to give references, quote, or credit another webpage. This referencing is often referred to as “Link Juice”.
The search engine crawler uses Backlinks in deciding the relevancy and authenticity of your content. However, it does not always follow this rule. That leads us to the major point.
What is a Do-follow Backlink?
Do-follow links are links attached to your content which lead to other webpages, maybe on the same website or on another. Most people think all backlinks are do-follow links. Do-follow means that the search engine crawler is allowed to spill some link juice to the referenced webpage. Technically, the more link juice you have, the more your do-follow links get.
Additionally, do-follow links are not just for the web crawler to analyze. Always keep in mind that any SEO strategy you use should benefit its users and create a more enjoyable experience. Do-follow links show visitors where to visit for more information on the referenced topic or clarify a certain expression. In the case of academic or technical content, the visitor can easily see the original originator of quotes, phrases, theories, research, or any referenced information.
What Is A No-follow Backlink?
Effects Of No-follow Links in SEO
Firstly, you will get more traffic to your webpage. Especially if the backlinking was from a relevant page in your niche and receives a good amount of traffic. Expertly done backlinking will increase your visibility.
Also, it will improve your backlink portfolio. Your backlink portfolio is simply a list of all the websites linking to yours. Note that an external backlink (backlinks from other websites) often tends to drive more authority than internal ones. Generally, while you do not enjoy some link juice, you get some other cool benefits which ultimately ramp up your website ranking on the search engine results page.
Differences Between No-follow And Do-follow Backlinks
At this point, it is obviously way easier to understand the major differences between do-follow and no-follow backlinks. The differences majorly lie in the use cases and definition. But for clarity's sake, here are 3 differences between no-follow And do-follow backlinks:
Link Juice Sharing: Do-follow links are the generous types of backlinks that give a generous share of the link authority or link juice to the destination webpage. While no-follow links are quite stingy and do not give any share of the link juice.
5. Credibility
6. Security and Trust
SEO strategies are good. But like every other good thing, they can be detrimental when used without proper understanding. Backlinks are the king of collaboration and collective growth in SEO. When SEO is done properly, your website increases in ranking and authority while your users get access to more related and valuable content. As long as it's done within the context of the source page, everyone wins.
Conclusion
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