What is DoFollow? What is NoFollow? Follow Along and See.
If you’ve been doing any kind of reading about link building, then you’ve probably seen people mentioning “nofollow” and “dofollow” links. These are very important terms to understand when you are trying to build great links back to your site in order to increase your search engine rankings. But, to the person who is new to all of this, it may be kind of confusing. I am going to help break it down for you.
When creating a link on a webpage using HTML, the standard code for that link is:
Search Engine Optimization
It includes the HTML tag, the URL the link will be going to, the text that will be shown on the webpage for that link, and the closing HTML tag.
You are able to add more HTML to the code above, in order to tell the search engine spiders whether or not you want them to follow the link when crawling your website. You may be thinking… “Why wouldn’t I want the search engine spiders to see all of the links on my site?” This is a very valid concern, which I will address further down. First, I am going to show you how to modify the HTML in order to tell the search engine spiders to crawl a link or not.
To tell the spiders to crawl a link, you don’t have to do anything. Simply using the format shown above, the search engine spiders will crawl the link provided.
To tell the spiders to NOT crawl a link, you need to add the following code to the HTML code above:
rel="nofollow"
It would then look like:
Search Engine Optimization
Basically, there is no true “dofollow”, it is just NOT using the “nofollow” tag. Pretty simple, eh? (No, I am not Canadian… well, kind of.)
Why does this matter?
When you are using different methods (hopefully from this site) in order to build links on other websites (to increase your search engine rankings), you need to determine if the websites you are attempting to get your site listed on use the “nofollow” tag or not. If they do, it may still be a good idea to try to get that link there, but it is generally regarded as not the best use of time since the search engines don’t follow that link and you don’t get any increase in search engine rankings from that link.
So, when you are looking for sites and blogs that you could leave your link on (through reciprocal links, commenting on a blog, directory submissions, buying links, etc) figure out if the links in the particular section of the site you are aiming for uses “nofollow” or not. (A good way to do this is to view the source code, or find some good “dofollow” lists such as Courtney Tuttle’s D-list )
Why wouldn’t I want the search engine spiders to see all of the links on my site? (Or, Why would I use “nofollow”?)
There are many reasons you would want to use the “nofollow” tag, such as:
1) Paid Links: This is recommended by Google. Essentially, your sites page rank give a small amount of rank juice to the sites you link to (which helps their search engine ranking, which is the purpose of link building, to get that juice from others). If you have a paid link on your site, it’s essentially buying a higher rank in Google. They don’t like that.
2) Maybe in your blog’s comment section (if using most blog software, this is automatic). It is up to you if you want your commentators to get link juice back to their site. It is personal preference.
3) When linking to major, very popular sites. If you are linking to google.com, yahoo.com, digg.com (the front page), cnn.com, or whoever else, they are already popular, so you might as well use “nofollow” since your link won’t make or break them.
I hope this has been helpful. Feel free to comment or use the contact link in the top right of the page if you have any questions about this, or any link building subject.
UPDATE: Now that you know what dofollow is, you can easily find dofollow blogs with my DoFollow Blogs Search Engine, DoFollow Diver!
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Btw Love the site — I think it has GREAT potential
Fellow member of dp forums 
[...] What is a DOFOLLOW and NOFOLLOW? - A useful and informative introduction to dofollow and nofollow. Check the link to understand what these words mean. [...]
Yesterday, I was looking for a post like this to link to on my latest article.
I just linked to your post.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Rocky
Great article, glad your blog is coming along nicely. Article Dugg!
Good information here and I like the Canadian comment, eh. Another use for the dofollow “tag” that I’m seeing is on message boards to help encourage the community building efforts.
great explanation! I stumbled you for it. Looks you have got a blog with a future on your hands, shame you don´t offer rss per email …
Thanks for the link man!
Great information! I always wonder when the right time to apply the ‘nofollow’. Now it’s crystal clear. Thanks for the info!
Ivanpw
You didn’t get into the whole “do nofollow links count?” debate. I was hoping you would give that some treatment….
I use nofollow on most of my links … especially to affiliate programs. For a little while, I tried Andy Beard’s “No Follow Dupes” plugin … it nofollows all links on the front page of the blog, with the individual pages and posts behaving normally. I eventually turned it off as I realized I’m just not advanced enough to be sure I was using it correctly.
Todd
Living in Hawaii’s last blog post..Skate Boarding at Hickam Skate Park
Thank you very much, totally new information for me.
Soham’s last blog post..Prosperity with Karma Yoga
hi there. I’ve been reading your entries regarding PRs and this dofollow and nofollow ^__^ nicely written. thanks for the info
Tessa’s last blog post..Sunday’s Tag-day #2
I was in search of this and even started a thread on DP. Now I got it and did my blog do follow!! yeah it is just removing no follow.
Thanks for the valuable information.
Jennie
Chaya Jennifer’s last blog post..Make Money Online
Thanks,
I am very new to SEO work on my sites. Link building is a high priority for me now.
Good information.
DogTrainingMaryland’s last blog post..Puppy Training-Bite Work-Protection
Great Article, thank you very much….
Scott
great post men… i do also like your dofollow search engine..
cheers,
hussein
[...] place and write a post about this. If you would like to get more info about this you should check LinkBuildingBible.com, [...]
I’ve been recently trying to know if all the search engines work the same way with dofollow and nofollow, do anyone has information about that?
??????’s last blog post..?????? El Canto Del Loco - Eres tonto ?????
No, all search engines don’t work the same…. Google is one of the lone wolves in not following nofollow… Yahoo and MSN follow nofollow links… but, if you have limited link building time, focus on Dofollow, since google has over 50% of all search engine traffic on the internet!
Check out my DoFollow Blog Search Engine for some easy dofollow links.
Thanks for the answer
Actually I should focus on Baidu, because my aim are chinese users, but I guess you don’t know too much about Baidu. In China, Google is the “2nd one” and I even don’t know if they use the same algorythm for differente languages.
Thanks a lot of, and congrats for the blog, so useful!
??????’s last blog post..?????? El Canto Del Loco - Eres tonto ?????
Interesting that MSN and Yahoo would ignore them. I guess I can see the argument either way. On one side, you’re respecting the web builder’s wishes and on the other you’re looking for a more “honest” view of a site.
Now, can linking to a trash site hurt you? I was reading a little earlier about someone who spammed ProBlogger commenters with link trades. He mentioned it might ding you with Google (after pointing out he wasn’t involved). Do you know if Google takes those things into account?
Brent2’s last blog post..And, Low, Come the Upgrades
Excellent explanation on dofollow and nofollow!
Geee…thnks a lot!
I didn’t understand all these until i read this page
Now i’ve got more knowledge on this topic…
Surprisingly this is the first time i’ve actually heard about the dofollow..i’m quite familiar with the nofollows and how it works.. Its interesting to know that we now have its opposite around..Welcome Miss Dofollow!!
SEO Updates last blog post..Slow Pages Bad for SEO
Hi, many thanks for making this post, I have recently made my blog (cutewriting.blogsopt.com) a dofollow blog. And I used this article here to link out to what dofollow and nofollow are. Many thanks, keep the work going.
Lenin Nair
Lenin Nairs last blog post..Hail! These Talents: Victor Hugo and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Thank you for all your helpful information I have been reading anything i can about SEO and how to optimize my site. I’m going to bookmark this site and come often.
Thanks - I’ve been link building for about a week and this was a very helpful article.
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Breakaway one morething. As you have given huge information on dofollow and nofollow but one morething I would like to tell that google gives less importance to nofollow but if we optimize yahoo, msn and other search engine then I personally found that still nofollow are given some improtance by these search engine.
Your blog has been very helpful in my efforts. Thanks!
I know about the nofollow tag but I’ve never heard it called dofollow, did you make that up yourself.
oral seymours last blog post..Dealcost Inc.
Nope…. it’s been around longer than I’ve been interested in link building, and the implications of nofollow and dofollow.
But I still do not understand how I have to use the rel=”nofollow”… and I’m seeing some rel=”external nofollow”… do your understand the meaning of it?
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I use nofollow in my old paid posts and links that I insert in my original posts. I just took off the nofollow from comments.
Claudias last blog post..Do follow in comments
hi, i read many of your post here and i learned a lot, i also added you to my blog.
thank you.
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Great post thanks for it!
I only could say this was extraordinary .Great post,nice info be happy blogging
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I was really cinfused about do follow and no follow
This article has been really helpful to understand the difference!
Thanks LinkBuildingbible
Wow, it did really help me about this dofollow and nofollow, in the first place i was very confuse about this but now thanks to you for explaining what is really going on about this two words. thanks once again. have a great day…
i have created a site few days back. Then I wanted to build link for my site so I log in to the internet and search for how to create links. Thanks god I found this article .It is very good for the beginners.
This is amazing.This good for the beginners.I learned lot from this site. Thanks for the link man
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wow! This unbelievable Thanks for the link man
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This very good for the beginners
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Thanks for the linkman
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No doubt this is a good article for who are interested in link building
thanks!
a lot of useful info , learned a lot
posted so much links in nofollow blogs, stupid !
Nice explanation, this is my Dofollow blog http://www.iearn-money.com comment and earn backlinks!
Great tip, thanks mate!
Can I use it on blogger?
For some time i was really wondering what is Nofollow and Dofollow. My Clients are ask me to search for links and also look for NoFollow. This Post clear my confusion. But some time i was wondering why we use NoFollow while we want Search Egnine to crawl our website pages.
Yes, great explanation! I’ve always “kinda” known what this meant but never actually saw a technical explanation of it before. Makes sense to pay attention to this if SEO is a goal
[...] adalah link yang mempunyai atribut follow, jadi bila kita memberi komentar otomatis kita mendapatkan backlink dari blog [...]
Thanks for the useful post here, and I have finally know how to differential the ‘nofollow’ and ‘dofollow’ stuffs, which this matter has annoyed me for a very long time…
Great, education information. Thank you for sharing it.
Anybody want the badge code? I have 5 colors 2 choose from. Just click on “U Comment I Follow at Weird Websites”.
Breakaway - you have a really great blog here! I link-loved you in my del.icio.us bookmarks. I’ll be back to read more.
SEO Web Design
U Comment I Follow at Weird Websitess last blog post..Ventibate - Let Your Anger be Broadcast
i just started a new blog and by the advice of another expert blogger i disabled my “comments” since the site said it’d frustrate new bloggers…do the existing links i put on my blogroll considered dofollow? hope you canshed light on this…e-mail me if reply is lengthy, i don’t mind the long read…thanks!
p.s.
pardon my ignorance…
Yes…. the ones in the blogroll are dofollow.
You can turn your comments on…. I doubt it will frustrate you.
msn submissions…
.) Some individuals or companies have abused the TrackBack feature to insert spam links on some blogs (see sping). As a result, TrackBack…
I’ve heard some people say nofollow stops the SE from following the link, and i’ve heard others say it follows but doesnt give any link juice to the page.
Your article suggests the first instance, is this right?
No, it’s the second instance… they still follow it, they just dont pass any authority or link juice.
Great explanation, I refer people to this article when they wonder what dofollow/nofollow means
Lukes last blog post..The First 106496 Characters
Nice sharing.. It is very good to know the difference for me as i am doing Affiliate marketing. Now, i will apply “no follow” html code into my affiliate links. Just to keep my Pr juice good.
Hi… just a quick note to say thanks. I’ve been searching for this kind of information for a while, and always ended up being re-directed etc. Nice to see org content.
Great post, I prefer follow… lol!
Toms last blog post..Web Design
Learn this just now, thnx for the article
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thanks adn you
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Thanks for your sharing dude. Good job.
Very informative article. I was at another blog and they made mention to “do-follow” and “no-follow” and I had no idea what they were talking about. Thank you for shedding light on this issue and making it understandable for the newbies.
cybercriminals last blog post..Phishing For Humans
its really useful to get better pr for blog…
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i want to test this dofollow here hehe… delete it if u want to thanks..
Zubbu.com
Useful article, thanks!
Excellent explanation, very helpful! Will spread the good word around to some friends about your site!
great info, still a little confused ovger the hole do and no follow links but i will get my head round it very soon lol
Thanks for this,
I have been looking for ways to increase link backs and am willing to comment in a good way… Thanks.
Nutris last blog post..Why is breakfast important?
Hi, nice idea I like doFollow blogging its for the benefit of both the blog owner and the visitor.
thanks
Eugenes last blog post..How to Fix Your Blogging Problems and Maintain a Healthy Blog
[...] keyword tool for optimizing your online advertising campaigns with Do-Follow. We all know about Do-Follow and how integral it is for anyone interested in Link Building for their web site. Well, we were all [...]
Good information- thank you very much.
Nice information buddy.. thanks
Thanx for shgaring info….
Im adding your Blog into The list of Mine COmmentLuv List of Blog..!!!!
Now you will Get traffic from my Blog too..!!!
p@r@noids last blog post..Make Money Online using YouMint
This is a gem of SEO knowledge. I will be using your search engine.
Thanks, Brian
Good information- thank you very much
As you have given huge information on dofollow and nofollow but one morething I would like to tell that google gives less importance to nofollow but if we optimize yahoo, msn and other search engine then I personally found that still nofollow are given some improtance by these search engine.
Akvaryums last blog post..Ahli Videosu
Thanks for the info, i had been wondering about this question for some time. Great idea for a blog, perfect answer to my question.
Interesting read, thanks for sharing. Fellow DP member here, keep up the good work
This is great, Thanks for the info. Most people don’t know about this but will soon be increased with knowledge.
Thank you for helping with the link building.
Good work
Finally, a place that tells you detail for detail about what exactly Do Follow means, and how to get Links that count from Google.
Thanks for the info.
In case anyone hasn’t seen this Video yet, its about the upcoming 2009 Google Rankings:
Yahoo Cash 4 Idiotss last blog post..Yahoo Cash 4 Idiots Review Bonus
This finally connects the dots. I always wanted to know what nofollow means. Thank you.
elvinconnors last blog post..Rooibos tea and organic farming
I stumbled you for it.Nice information.
Thank you very much for posting this! It really helped!
There appears to be so much that you need to do in order to increase your search engine and until you find an article like this a lot of it may be in vain i.e. Regulary posting to sites which are nofollow as you didn’t realise there was a nofollow/dofollow distinction.
These are the types of articles that you need to find in order to focus your attention on the things that will help increase the popularity of your site.
Thank you for helping with the link building
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There are really few dofollow blog nowaday.I have tried to find dofollow blog on google.But almost all of the blogs are nofollow,it is really hard to make backlinks on blogs now.Thank you for your post and your blog very much.
sneakerss last blog post..Invisible Nike Air Force One
Thank you very much for posting , It really helped to know what nofollow means.
Very informative. Thank you for the dofollow search engine.
Cheers.
It might also be worth pointing out - only Google and Yahoo claim to take note of the nofollow tag. Whilst they have the majority, at least the links help a little with other search engine results. Happy new year.
your search engine is great thanks!
Wissens Blog
philipp.ks last blog post..Nervfaktor Nebelschlussleuchte
This finally connects the dots. I always wanted to know what nofollow means. Thank you
There are really few dofollow blog nowaday.I have tried to find dofollow blog on google.But almost all of the blogs are nofollow,it is really hard to make backlinks on blogs now.Thank you for your post and your blog very much.
good article! to my mind the best way to find dofollow (no nofollow)
blogs is to google.
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Hi there
Nice article written here. I got to know a few more things about dofollow. The dofollow search engine is really good.. Thanks
Pabbe
pabbes last blog post..WTS:Original HTC MAX 4G.$350/Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.$320
This is an awesome resource and I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to explain what a “dofollow/nofollow” website is. Another SEO professional in Denver had talked about this on his blog as though it was some great mystery and I was just unfamiliar with the terminology. I understood the concept, I just had no idea we were describing it this way. Thank you so much!
your search engine is great thanks!
Nice article written here. I got to know a few more things about dofollow. The dofollow search engine is really good.. Thanks
Thank you very much for posting , It really helped to know what nofollow means.
Oh….Thank you so much for your useful article. It’s very helpful for seo newbies like me. ^_^
Great information! I always wonder when the right time to apply the ‘nofollow’. Now it’s crystal clear. Thanks for the info!
extremes last blog post..Choosing the Best Computer Satellite TV Software 2007/2008
Thanks,
I am very new to SEO work on my sites. Link building is a high priority for me now.
film indir
Nice article written here. I got to know a few more things about dofollow. The dofollow search engine is really good.. Thanks
Luckily, there are enough blogs and forums out there that dofollow
Good article and Information. It is definately going to help me and lots of others like me who are new to SEO and blogging.
Thanks. I newbie in SEO and this information will be very useful to me
Here is a list of sites offering free do follow links… Feel free to share it and use it on your blog
http://www.freeadsonlineuk.com/advertising/list-of-sites-with-do-follow
Free Ads UKs last blog post..seductive hotel chocolat valentines gifts
thanks for the gr8 post..i am actively involved in linkbuilding & using your dofollow search tool….
amosiss last blog post..Avoid Adsense Smart Prizing On Blogs
Your information on “nofollow” and “dofollow” links was very useful. thanks!
Very good information. I tried your dofollow search engine and it is working like a charm. Thanks.
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We love comment love
you have more info on this than anyone - truly amazing!
Thanks a lot of this post
now I have better understanding of this no follows and do follows 
it helped me a lot 
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