Dofollow vs Nofollow Links: What They Are and When Each Matters

A dofollow link passes ranking signal from the linking page to yours; a nofollow link carries a rel="nofollow" attribute that tells search engines not to pass that signal. Dofollow links are more valuable for SEO, but nofollow links still send you visitors, build brand awareness, and look natural in your backlink profile. A healthy profile has a mix of both — an all-dofollow profile is a red flag that looks bought.

The four rel values you'll see

• dofollow: the default — no rel attribute needed. Passes ranking signal.
• nofollow (rel="nofollow"): a hint not to pass signal. Common on user-generated and untrusted links.
• ugc (rel="ugc"): marks user-generated content such as comments and forum posts.
• sponsored (rel="sponsored"): marks paid or affiliate links. Using this correctly keeps you compliant.

Since 2020, Google treats nofollow, ugc, and sponsored as hints rather than strict rules, so a nofollow link can still carry a little weight in some cases. But you should never assume it will — plan as if nofollow passes nothing.

When each one matters

Chase dofollow links from relevant, trusted sites — that's where ranking value comes from. But don't turn down a nofollow link from a high-traffic, on-topic page: the referral traffic and brand exposure are worth having on their own, and the mix keeps your profile natural. What you should avoid is paying for dofollow links or hiding paid links as dofollow — that's the behavior link-spam systems are built to catch.

How FreeBacklinks.club handles it

A new listing's outbound link starts as rel="nofollow ugc" and becomes a followed, equity-passing link once the listing earns genuine engagement — real visits and authenticated upvotes. This earned-dofollow model keeps the directory clean, which is exactly what makes the dofollow links it eventually passes worth having. You get the referral traffic immediately and the ranking value once you've shown the listing is real.