---
title: "What is Dofollow vs. Nofollow Links? Definition & Examples | Kitbase"
description: "An HTML link attribute that tells search engines whether a link should pass ranking credit to the page it points to."
canonical: https://kitbase.dev/glossary/dofollow-nofollow-links
---

[Home](/) [Glossary](/glossary) Dofollow vs. Nofollow Links

Backlinks

# What is Dofollow vs. Nofollow Links?

An HTML link attribute that tells search engines whether a link should pass ranking credit to the page it points to.

Dofollow and nofollow describe whether a hyperlink passes ranking credit — sometimes called link equity — to the page it points to. A plain HTML link is dofollow by default: search engines follow it and treat it as a vote of confidence in the destination. Adding `rel="nofollow"` to a link tells search engines not to pass that credit, even though the link still works normally for anyone who clicks it.

Nofollow exists mainly to mark links a site doesn't want to vouch for: user-generated content like blog comments and forum posts, paid or sponsored links (where `rel="sponsored"` is now the more precise attribute), and any link a site includes without endorsing. Two related, more specific attributes — `rel="sponsored"` for paid placements and `rel="ugc"` for user-generated content — were introduced later so sites can be explicit about why a link shouldn't pass credit, rather than lumping every case under nofollow.

For backlink tracking, the dofollow/nofollow split matters because the two carry very different SEO value: a domain's dofollow backlink count is generally what search engines weigh most heavily, while nofollow links still send real referral traffic and build genuine brand awareness even though they don't directly move rankings.

## Example

A product is mentioned in a large forum thread and a well-known tech publication in the same week. The forum link carries rel="nofollow" and sends a burst of real traffic without moving search rankings, while the publication's dofollow link sends less traffic but measurably lifts the domain's ranking signal over the following month.

## Related Terms

[

Backlink

A link from another website pointing to yours, treated by search and AI engines as a signal of trust and relevance.

](/glossary/backlink)[

Anchor Text

The clickable, visible text of a hyperlink, used by search engines as a signal for what the linked page is about.

](/glossary/anchor-text)[

Referring Domain

A distinct external website that links to yours, counted once regardless of how many individual pages or links it contains.

](/glossary/referring-domain)

## Find your backlinks with Kitbase

Detect new backlinks from real referral traffic, recover links pointing at dead pages, and find the domains AI engines cite so you know where to earn more.

[Explore Backlinks](https://docs.kitbase.dev/backlinks)