Dofollow

A "dofollow" link is just a normal link — one without a rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc" attribute — and it passes ranking signals by default. The reason the term matters: people pay real money for "dofollow backlinks" without understanding they're buying the absence of an attribute, and that misunderstanding funds half the link-selling industry.

Let's kill the biggest confusion first: dofollow is not a real HTML value. There is no rel="dofollow" in any spec, and if you write one, browsers and search engines ignore it. A link is "dofollow" the way a door is "unlocked" — it's the default state, defined entirely by what's missing. SEOs invented the word as shorthand for "a followed link," and it stuck.

Here's the entire difference in code:

<!-- "dofollow" — passes signals, nothing special about it -->
<a href="https://example.com/">example</a>

<!-- nofollow — you're not vouching for it -->
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="nofollow">example</a>

<!-- this does nothing; "dofollow" is not a real value -->
<a href="https://example.com/" rel="dofollow">example</a>

Myth vs reality

How to check if a link is followed

1. Inspect the element. Right-click the link → Inspect. If the <a> tag has no rel containing nofollow, sponsored or ugc, it's followed.
2. Check the page head. A <meta name="robots" content="nofollow"> or an X-Robots-Tag: nofollow HTTP header nofollows every link on the page — the individual tags will look clean, and the link still isn't followed.
3. Confirm it's in the rendered HTML. Links injected by JavaScript after load, or routed through redirect scripts, may not count as links at all. Check the rendered DOM, not just view-source.
4. Bulk-check with a link tool. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free for your own verified site) and Moz Link Explorer's free tier both label each backlink nofollow or followed, so you can see your real split across the whole link profile.

Common mistakes

• Adding rel="dofollow" to internal links. Harmless but pointless, and it tells anyone auditing your site that the last SEO worked from a 2010 blog post. Fix: delete it; the default already does what you want.
• Paying a premium for "guaranteed dofollow" placements. You're paying for missing markup on a site whose business is selling links — the exact inventory Google devalues. Fix: spend the budget on assets that earn editorial links instead; digital PR scales better than invoices.
• Rejecting every nofollow opportunity. A nofollow mention on a site your buyers actually read beats a followed link on a ghost blog every single time. Fix: evaluate the audience, then the attribute.
• Auditing only the rel attribute. A followed link on a page that's noindexed, orphaned or blocked in robots.txt passes little or nothing. Fix: check that the linking page itself is indexed and internally linked.
• Obsessing over your followed/nofollowed ratio. It's a descriptive stat, not a lever. Fix: track new referring domains instead; the ratio takes care of itself.

Frequently asked questions

Is there any reason to write rel="dofollow"?

No. It's not part of any HTML or search engine specification. The followed state is the default; you can't opt into something that's already on.

How much more valuable is a dofollow link than a nofollow link?

There's no fixed multiplier. A followed link is eligible to pass full signals; a nofollow link is a hint Google may or may not count. In practice, source quality moves the needle far more than the attribute does.

Do social media links count as dofollow?

Almost universally no — Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Reddit and YouTube nofollow outbound links (or route them through redirects). Their value is distribution: people who see the content there link to it from sites that do follow.

Can a dofollow link hurt my site?

A few spammy followed links pointing at you are background noise; every site has them and Google mostly ignores them. A pattern of paid or scheme links is what triggers devaluation or, rarely, a manual action.

How do I get more dofollow links?

The same way you get links, period: publish things worth citing and put them in front of people who publish. There's no dofollow-specific tactic, because dofollow isn't a thing you add — it's what an editorial link already is.