If you are closely interested in natural referencing and its wonders, you have certainly already come across the expressions “no follow” and “do follow”. What do these attributes mean? Why want to put a no follow link on a web page? We will explain everything to you.
No follow link: what is it?
Before getting to the heart of the matter, let’s make a definition point: what is the no follow link?
Natural referencing, a matter of links
You are aware of this: natural referencing is divided into two main areas. On the one hand, there is everything going on the web page to optimize (on-page). On the other, everything about working on the digital popularity of the page (off-page). The major tool of the second axis is net linking, a method which consists of placing inbound links on high ranking sites pointing to the pages to be optimized. But to work, this technique needs to rely on value links, that is to say:
Inserted on sites enjoying a good reputation;
Configured to bring part of their notoriety to linked pages (this is known as “link juice”).
The interest of a good link lies in the amount of “juice” that it can benefit the page to which it points. A SEO will do link building by selecting the highest ranked sites so that the insertion of backlinks has a noticeable effect on the popularity of the optimized page, and therefore on its positioning.
The volume of “juice” is proportional to the number of links placed on the page. If the link is alone, it will receive 100%. If there are three of them, they will each collect one third of the total “juice” produced by the page.
It seems an obvious question but it may not be so much, we insist, do you know the potential of no follow links?
Surely in more than one blog or a talk about SEO you have heard, “Do not waste time getting no follow links, they do not serve to position”. Well, they may be wrong, because No follow links can be some of the most valuable links you’ll ever have. If you are one of those who continue to claim that a no follow link is useless, we hope that by reading this article, you change your mind.
History of the no follow link
5 compelling reasons to create no follow links
Google, Bing and Yahoo may not follow a link with the no follow value, but that does not mean there is no value in them.
The content surrounding a no follow link can benefit your website indirectly, not everything ends in the link juice.
Normally, Google does not stop to count the links coming from sites with a brutal authority such as Wikipedia, YouTube or Twitter, for example. We already know that all these sites have a standard no follow policy, but they are also often used as a good source of backlinks. Well, then, in the end what is the deal? In addition to the previous argument, true or not, you know that in SEO there is nothing 100% verified, there are many other reasons to create no follow links.
Here are the 5 reasons that we think are most interesting.
- – Diversification of links
Link building is and always will be the cornerstone of a good SEO campaign. Do follow or no follow, a balanced link profile is better than a profile with strictly do follow links and it shows that they are “wanted.” It is increasingly important to apply a balanced and natural approach to SEO strategy.
Also, do you prefer not to have a reputed link simply because it is no follow?
- – Brand building
Do not focus exclusively on links to get linkjuice and start focusing on building your brand. Get links from the right people and on the right sites using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and other authorized sites to give visibility to your brand or business. A well placed link in the right place could have more weight than you think.
- – Generate referral traffic
Targeted referral traffic is a great reason to use nofollow links. A great example is to share your link in a blog comment with great content. This well-written and carefully thought-out comment offering interaction and valuable content (yes, in a comment too) could lead other readers to your blog. With this you already carry traffic to your website, which after all is the objective, you just have to find out if the site where you leave this link allows this type of action or, if on the contrary, they have it banned.
- – Attract potential customers
Use nofollow links to attract visitors who become potential customers. It’s easier said than done, isn’t it?
Think of question and answer sites such as forums, Yahoo answers or Quora as an opportunity to answer questions and include links to your website and attract potential customers. Not only will you generate referral traffic, but the person asking the question may be interested in hiring the person who has stopped to help and solve your problem.
- – Get dofollow links
The almighty dofollow backlink, you like this better, for sure. One of the key factors of SEO, well, that and the content. However, the two go hand in hand and share great and excellent content articles on social networking sites such as Reddit, Youtube, GrowthHackers and other websites with high reputation can get other people who read, like and share it. Many times, that nofollow link will result in a dofollow backlink.
Conclusions
Stop obsessing yourself only by attracting dofollow links, you will get few and little authority. If what you really want to build is a brand on the Internet, don’t worry so much if a link at the end is nofollow because as you can see, it can also be very beneficial for your SEO strategy. Focus on whether that link, which sometimes costs so much to get, is beneficial for your brand.
The goal of Google is to put the most relevant content first, if you base your strategy on creating great content and that adds value to the readers you will gradually be rewarded with links that you have not needed to work.