The Value of No-Follow Links in 2019
No-Follow links are the most debatable topic among SEOs and different online marketers. After the announcement of a major change in link attributes by Google, it started a new debate among SEOs.
Previously, most people believe that no follow links have no impact on rankings. Search Recon Florida After introducing new link attributes by Google, it may have an impact on the link calculation for ranking purposes.
The change in link attributes is referred to as No-Follow 2.0 by different SEOs.
This article will explain the new changes and the value of no follow links in 2019 and beyond.
What is No Follow?
No follow links work oppositely to do follow links. No follow attribute tells Google, not to give any credit to the specific link. In simple words, it tells Google not to trust this link.
In general, do follow links are actual backlinks that give high ranking to your pages rather than no follow links.
Originally, Google introduced the no follow attribute to protect websites. When the site’s owners didn’t want to give any credit to the backlinks, they use no follow attribute. So Google didn’t give any credit to those backlinks.
The no follow attribute was introduced due to the following reasons:
Google launched this attribute and other search engines like Yahoo and MSN welcomed this change. You can make any link no
follow just by adding a “rel=nofollow” tag in the hyperlink. Google will not give any credit to that backlink.
There were several other reasons to make link no follow. So basically, it was initiated to stop spammers to abuse different public areas such as blog comments, referrer lists, and trackbacks.
Changes in Link Attributes
Google has made new changes in the link attributesthat are referred to as No Follow 2.0 according to the SEOs.
Here are new link attributes along with no follow that Google has rolled out:
Why Did Google Make This Change?
Previously, many publishers use no follow links that give clear-cut signals to Google that these links are not important. So all nofollow links have zero credit.
Google actually wants to identify links in a more accurate manner because no follow links don’t provide the complete story of the pictures.
For example, Google can understand from sponsor links that not to give these links any credit. Moreover, sponsor tags inform Google that this page itself selling sponsor links.
Therefore, Google is using these tags as a hint to have an idea that which links to include and which to not for rankings.
Future of the New and No follow Link Attributes
It does not confirm yet what will actually happen and how Google will give credits to each attribute.
We will have to wait for some changes in the website’s ranking due to these updates and to reach out to any real conclusion.
However, according to some experts, a few things will be definitely changed in the future.
Adoption Rate
The most important question: will SEOs adopt these links attributes?
According to Google’s official statement, there is no need to change anything. However, if you want to adopt these changes, it’s totally up to you.
Google is giving the choice to the publisher either they adopt this change or not. It requires a good effort to change thousands of links attribute.
If different content management systems adopt these changes, the adoption rate will be high. For example, if WordPress implements new link attributes such as UGC in the blog comment section, the adoption rate will be high.
Most possibly, all CMS will implement new links attribute. If people adopt these changes, they can have an impact on rankings.
The possible value of all links attribute
If the adoption rate is high, here are the possible values of an attribute:
Google can give a little bit credit to no follow links this time. Although many people believe that Google already gives some small credit to no follow links.
It is not exactly what Google is going to do but it is a possibility. Therefore, it will be too early to claim without any solid reasons.
No follow links work oppositely to do follow links. No follow attribute tells Google, not to give any credit to the specific link. In simple words, it tells Google not to trust this link.
In general, do follow links are actual backlinks that give high ranking to your pages rather than no follow links.
Originally, Google introduced the no follow attribute to protect websites. When the site’s owners didn’t want to give any credit to the backlinks, they use no follow attribute. So Google didn’t give any credit to those backlinks.
The no follow attribute was introduced due to the following reasons:
- Comment Spam:Some sites gave an opportunity to the audience to drop a link while commenting. So all links on the internet had some credit and used for ranking improvement.
- Advertising:If you are selling ads on your website and a link connects that ad to the advertiser site, you can make this link no follow.
Google launched this attribute and other search engines like Yahoo and MSN welcomed this change. You can make any link no
follow just by adding a “rel=nofollow” tag in the hyperlink. Google will not give any credit to that backlink.
There were several other reasons to make link no follow. So basically, it was initiated to stop spammers to abuse different public areas such as blog comments, referrer lists, and trackbacks.
Changes in Link Attributes
Google has made new changes in the link attributesthat are referred to as No Follow 2.0 according to the SEOs.
Here are new link attributes along with no follow that Google has rolled out:
- rel=UGC:User Generated Content, UGC, tag can be used when someone else generates content rather than the owner of a website such as forum posts and comments.
- rel=sponsored:Google identifies links that are a part of sponsorships, advertising or other similar agreement.
Why Did Google Make This Change?
Previously, many publishers use no follow links that give clear-cut signals to Google that these links are not important. So all nofollow links have zero credit.
Google actually wants to identify links in a more accurate manner because no follow links don’t provide the complete story of the pictures.
For example, Google can understand from sponsor links that not to give these links any credit. Moreover, sponsor tags inform Google that this page itself selling sponsor links.
Therefore, Google is using these tags as a hint to have an idea that which links to include and which to not for rankings.
Future of the New and No follow Link Attributes
It does not confirm yet what will actually happen and how Google will give credits to each attribute.
We will have to wait for some changes in the website’s ranking due to these updates and to reach out to any real conclusion.
However, according to some experts, a few things will be definitely changed in the future.
Adoption Rate
The most important question: will SEOs adopt these links attributes?
According to Google’s official statement, there is no need to change anything. However, if you want to adopt these changes, it’s totally up to you.
Google is giving the choice to the publisher either they adopt this change or not. It requires a good effort to change thousands of links attribute.
If different content management systems adopt these changes, the adoption rate will be high. For example, if WordPress implements new link attributes such as UGC in the blog comment section, the adoption rate will be high.
Most possibly, all CMS will implement new links attribute. If people adopt these changes, they can have an impact on rankings.
The possible value of all links attribute
If the adoption rate is high, here are the possible values of an attribute:
- Sponsored links:Google will not give credit to these links possibly.
- UGC Links:Google will likely give a little bit credit to these links. It can depend on different factors such as relevancy and type of the site.
- No follow Links:It is still hard to say anything about these links. Google may treat a little bit different these links after these changes.
Google can give a little bit credit to no follow links this time. Although many people believe that Google already gives some small credit to no follow links.
It is not exactly what Google is going to do but it is a possibility. Therefore, it will be too early to claim without any solid reasons.
What should be your strategy?
At the start, the links update will not have any impact. Again, they will affect if the adoption rate is increased. So what you need to do?
1. Keep Building No follow Links
No follow means no credit. However, we believe that Google already gives credit to the no follow links.
Let’s understand this with an example. There are three types of websites:
Suppose, the first one contains 1000 do follow and 100 no follow links. The other one contains 100 do follow and 10,000 no follow links. Which one seems natural?
Obviously, 1st one is more natural that shows that your website is connected with both types of websites. Although a single no follow link may not have any credit, the natural connection of your website may have some plus points in Google’s eyes.
So in the future, having all types of links in your site will be natural. Keep in mind that no link type is bad.
For example:
So, after the arrival of new links attribute including no follow links, a natural website will have all types of links.
2. Keep Monitoring Your Rankings
You can obtain final results by seeing how new link attributes affect your rankings. However, there are high chances that Google will give at least some credit to the no follow links that might contain zero credit previously.
Therefore, we recommend you to diversify your traffic by using different link attributes.
Conclusion
Previously, the no follow attribute was a hot topic among SEO. Now, Google released new attributes and the impact of these new attributes mostly depends on the adoption.
However, there are high chances that no follow links will have some credit in the future. Whether no follow links have some credit or not, they will not contain any bad impact on your site if you create them naturally. So, you should keep building no follow links naturally.
At the start, the links update will not have any impact. Again, they will affect if the adoption rate is increased. So what you need to do?
1. Keep Building No follow Links
No follow means no credit. However, we believe that Google already gives credit to the no follow links.
Let’s understand this with an example. There are three types of websites:
Suppose, the first one contains 1000 do follow and 100 no follow links. The other one contains 100 do follow and 10,000 no follow links. Which one seems natural?
Obviously, 1st one is more natural that shows that your website is connected with both types of websites. Although a single no follow link may not have any credit, the natural connection of your website may have some plus points in Google’s eyes.
So in the future, having all types of links in your site will be natural. Keep in mind that no link type is bad.
For example:
- Obtaining links from different publications by commenting on different blogs as user-generated content.
- Getting no follow links from YouTube video’s description or creating your profiles on social media sites is totally natural.
- If you get no follow link from any site where you are adverting your products, again it’s natural.
So, after the arrival of new links attribute including no follow links, a natural website will have all types of links.
2. Keep Monitoring Your Rankings
You can obtain final results by seeing how new link attributes affect your rankings. However, there are high chances that Google will give at least some credit to the no follow links that might contain zero credit previously.
Therefore, we recommend you to diversify your traffic by using different link attributes.
Conclusion
Previously, the no follow attribute was a hot topic among SEO. Now, Google released new attributes and the impact of these new attributes mostly depends on the adoption.
However, there are high chances that no follow links will have some credit in the future. Whether no follow links have some credit or not, they will not contain any bad impact on your site if you create them naturally. So, you should keep building no follow links naturally.