What a nofollow link actually is
A normal link from your website works like a recommendation. You are telling visitors and search engines that another page is worth a look. But not every link comes from the same place. You may add one because you trust the source, another because someone paid you, and a third may be left in a comment by a stranger. The rel="nofollow" attribute lets you be honest about that difference.
Two more specific values were added later so search engines can see why a link was marked. None of this is a penalty or a block: people can still click the link as usual. You are simply telling the crawler how to treat it.
Nofollow, sponsored and ugc: three attributes
You can combine values on one link if it fits more than one case. Which one to choose depends on where the link came from.
- sponsored: advertising, paid placements, affiliate and partnership links;
- ugc: links added by users, such as comments, reviews and forum posts;
- nofollow: the general option, when you do not want to pass trust to a page, for example if you are unsure about another site.
When to mark links in real situations
Imagine an online store in Tashkent that buys a paid article on a news portal. The link to the store inside that article should be marked sponsored. If you agree with an Instagram blogger to publish a post with a link to your site in exchange for money or free products, the same logic applies. An affiliate link to a product page on a marketplace such as Uzum is sponsored too.
Now the opposite case: a clinic runs a blog, and readers leave comments with the addresses of their own sites. Those links get ugc. This protects you from spammers who look for any place to drop a link for SEO.
Paid links deserve special care. Selling or buying a placement without marking it goes against search engine rules and can lead to penalties. Saving one attribute is not worth putting the whole site at risk.
How search engines treat these attributes
Google treats nofollow, sponsored and ugc as hints rather than commands, so in some cases it may take such a link into account and in others it will not. Yandex also considers the nofollow attribute when it processes links. So do not think of the tag as a switch that guarantees a link has no effect, and do not build clever schemes around it.
Why internal nofollow rarely helps
A common idea is to add nofollow to links pointing to Contacts, the cart or a customer account in order to save authority for the main pages. It does not work the way people expect, and you should not count on any benefit.
If a page really does not belong in search, such as a cart, an account area or internal search results, block the page itself from indexing instead of hiding the links to it. Tools like noindex and robots.txt exist for that. Keep your important internal links normal, because they help both crawlers and real visitors find their way around.
Why nofollow links to your site still have value
Links from profiles, directories, comments and social networks are often nofollow. There is no reason to turn them down. Even if such a link does not pass trust directly, it can bring real visitors and make your brand better known.
A natural link profile also looks varied. When only open, dofollow links point to a site, it tends to suggest artificial promotion.
How to check your own links
Any site crawler will show the attributes of every link. Run one and compare the result with the short checklist below.
If you are building promotion in a structured way and are unsure which links and platforms are truly worth the effort, that is a strategy question rather than a technical setting. The markdev team helps business owners in Uzbekistan set priorities across SEO, advertising and social media. If you would like to discuss your own task, get in touch.
- all advertising and affiliate links are marked sponsored;
- comment and review forms add ugc automatically;
- important internal links are not blocked;
- pages you do not want in search are kept out of the index, not hidden through link tags;
- when you buy a placement, you agree in advance how the link will be marked.
FAQ
What does nofollow mean in simple terms?
It is a tag on a link that tells search engines you do not vouch for the destination page. Nothing changes for visitors, who can click the link as usual.
Should I add nofollow to internal links?
No. Hiding internal links to steer authority does not help. If a page should not appear in search, keep that page out of the index and leave the links normal.
Which attribute goes on a paid link?
Use sponsored. Unmarked paid links break search engine rules and can lead to penalties. Nofollow is also acceptable, but sponsored describes the situation more precisely.
Are nofollow links to my site worth having?
Yes. They can bring visitors and raise awareness, and a mix of link types makes your profile look more natural. Whether a search engine counts such a link is its own decision.
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