What Is Nofollow?
Nofollow can be applied as a link attribute (<a href="..." rel="nofollow">) or a meta robots directive (<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">). As a link attribute, it tells search engines not to pass ranking credit through that specific link. Google treats nofollow as a "hint" rather than a strict directive since 2019.
Why Nofollow Matters for SEO
Nofollow is used for links you do not want to endorse: user-generated content, paid links, affiliate links, and login pages. Proper use prevents your site from passing link equity to low-quality destinations and helps comply with Google's link scheme guidelines.
How to Use Nofollow
Apply rel="nofollow" to individual untrusted links. Use rel="sponsored" for paid links and rel="ugc" for user-generated content. Audit with CrawlBeast to ensure you are not accidentally nofollowing important internal links.
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