Strategy•7 min read

Do Nofollow Links Help SEO? What Actually Matters in 2026

The SEO world obsesses over dofollow vs nofollow. Here's why that distinction matters less than you think — and what you should focus on instead.

Filip Samveljan

Filip Samveljan

Co-Founder at Soro·

Every time someone asks "but is it dofollow?" I die a little inside.

Yes, technically, nofollow links tell Google "don't count this as a vote." But the SEO community has taken this technical distinction and turned it into an obsession that misses the point entirely.

Here's what matters: In 2019, Google changed nofollow from a directive to a "hint." They may still count some nofollow links. More importantly, a nofollow link from a source your customers actually read is worth 10x a dofollow link from a site nobody visits.

Let's kill the dofollow obsession and talk about what actually matters.

The technical reality

When a link has rel="nofollow", it originally meant Google wouldn't pass PageRank through it. The tag was introduced in 2005 to combat comment spam.

But Google evolved. In 2019, they announced nofollow is now a "hint" — meaning they can choose to ignore it when they believe the link is genuinely editorial. They also added two new attributes:

  • rel="sponsored" — for paid links
  • rel="ugc" — for user-generated content

What this means practically: Google's algorithm is sophisticated enough to evaluate links in context. A nofollow link from a legitimate journalist mentioning your company might still influence rankings. A dofollow link from a spammy guest post site probably won't.

The binary "dofollow good, nofollow useless" thinking is at least five years out of date.

Direct traffic that converts

Reddit links are nofollow. Quora links are nofollow. Medium links are nofollow.

You know what else they are? Sources of thousands of highly targeted visitors for businesses that participate genuinely.

A single Reddit thread that hits r/all can send 50,000 visitors in a day. If even 1% of those convert — and Reddit traffic often converts well because it's engaged and curious — that's 500 customers from one "worthless" nofollow link.

Compare that to the dofollow link you spent 20 hours earning from a guest post that gets 47 monthly visitors. Which one actually moved the needle?

Brand searches compound

When people see your brand mentioned across the web — Reddit discussions, news articles, Quora answers, social media — they search your brand name directly.

Branded searches are one of the most powerful ranking signals. They indicate trust, awareness, and demand. Google notices when branded searches increase, and it influences how they rank your non-branded content too.

A HubSpot study found that businesses mentioned frequently (even without links) had measurably better organic rankings. The link itself isn't the only mechanism. Awareness drives search behavior, and search behavior influences rankings.

Sites that only have dofollow backlinks look suspicious. Real businesses get mentioned in:

  • Social media (nofollow)
  • News articles (increasingly nofollow)
  • Wikipedia (nofollow)
  • Forums and communities (nofollow)
  • Blog comments (nofollow)

An "organic" link profile typically shows 30-50% nofollow links. If you've been chasing only dofollow links through guest posts and outreach, your profile might actually look manipulated compared to competitors with more natural link acquisition.

Related reading:

The sources worth pursuing regardless of follow status

Tier 1: High-traffic platforms

Reddit — Find subreddits where your customers hang out. Participate genuinely (don't just drop links). When relevant, share your content. Subreddits like r/smallbusiness, r/entrepreneur, r/marketing have engaged audiences who will click and convert.

Quora — Answer questions in your expertise area thoroughly. Quora answers rank in Google, so you're getting both direct traffic and search visibility.

Medium — Republish or create original content. Medium has strong domain authority, so your articles there can rank for keywords your main site struggles with.

Industry communities — Slack groups, Discord servers, specialized forums. These don't even give you links usually, but the relationships and referrals are worth more.

Tier 2: Press and media

News coverage — Most news sites use nofollow by default now. But a mention in TechCrunch, Forbes contributor articles, or industry publications drives immediate traffic and long-term brand authority.

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) — Sign up at helpareporter.com. Journalists looking for sources send daily emails. Respond when you have genuine expertise. Success rate is maybe 10%, but the links (even nofollow ones) come from sites with real audiences.

Podcast appearances — Show notes typically include nofollow links, but podcast audiences are engaged and trusting. One interview on a relevant podcast can drive more qualified traffic than 50 directory links.

Tier 3: Reference and educational sites

Wikipedia — Notoriously difficult to earn links from, but Wikipedia citations are valuable for credibility and referral traffic. Focus on being a legitimate source that deserves citation rather than trying to game it.

Educational resources — .edu links are increasingly nofollow, but they signal credibility and often drive traffic from students and researchers.

Dofollow links from relevant, authoritative sites still matter for direct ranking power. Prioritize them when:

You're targeting competitive keywords — If you're trying to rank for a term where the top 10 results all have 200+ referring domains, you need dofollow links from authoritative sites to compete.

You're building domain authority from scratch — New sites need foundational dofollow links to establish baseline authority.

The opportunity is legitimate and relevant — Guest posts on genuine industry sites, resource page inclusions, editorial mentions — these are worth pursuing.

Don't prioritize dofollow links when:

  • The source has no traffic
  • The site is clearly a link farm or guest post network
  • The link requires paying (Google specifically targets paid links)
  • The opportunity has nothing to do with your business

A dofollow link from a "DA 50" site that exists purely to sell guest posts is worth less than a nofollow mention in a Reddit thread with 10,000 engaged readers.

The questions you should actually ask

Instead of "is it dofollow?", ask:

Does this source have an audience that matches my customers?

A nofollow link from a relevant industry newsletter with 50,000 subscribers is more valuable than a dofollow from a general tech blog your customers never read.

Will this drive traffic that might convert?

Track referral traffic, not just link counts. Some of your best traffic sources might be nofollow.

Does this strengthen my brand in my space?

Being mentioned (with or without links) in the places your industry pays attention to builds authority that compounds over time.

Is this relationship worth maintaining?

The best links come from real relationships with editors, journalists, and community members. These relationships matter more than the follow attribute.

The balanced approach

For most businesses, the ideal strategy is:

60-70% effort on dofollow opportunities — Guest posting on relevant sites, earning editorial mentions, getting included in resource lists. These provide direct ranking power.

30-40% effort on high-value nofollow opportunities — Community participation, press/media, social platforms. These provide traffic, brand building, and natural link profile diversity.

0% effort on low-value links of any type — Stop chasing links from irrelevant sites just because they're dofollow. Stop submitting to directories nobody visits. Stop buying sponsored posts on link farms.

The goal isn't to accumulate the most links. It's to build genuine authority in your space through content and relationships. The links — both dofollow and nofollow — follow from that.

The bottom line

Nofollow links help SEO through:

  • Direct traffic that converts
  • Brand awareness that drives branded searches
  • Natural link profile diversity
  • Relationships that lead to future dofollow opportunities

They don't help SEO through:

  • Direct PageRank transfer (probably — Google's being cagey)
  • Gaming link metrics

Stop asking whether every link is dofollow. Start asking whether it's from a source your customers trust, whether it drives traffic that converts, and whether it builds your authority in your space.

The businesses winning at SEO in 2026 aren't the ones with the most dofollow links. They're the ones with real authority, real traffic, and real relationships — regardless of what rel attribute those links carry.

Related reading:

SEOLink BuildingBacklinksTechnical SEO
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