A standard hyperlink doesn't need a relationship value. Dofollow is an industry term for that normal link; there is no rel="dofollow" attribute. Publishers can add nofollow, sponsored or ugc to qualify the relationship.
Google's Search Central guidance says nofollow, sponsored and ugc are treated as hints. That doesn't give an agency a way to calculate the ranking value of an individual link. It does make the old on/off explanation too crude.
The four link attributes
Google's Search Central documentation sets out how to qualify a link with rel values. It defines sponsored for paid links, UGC for user-generated content and nofollow as a signal not to associate your site with the destination, and it notes that more than one value can be used together.
| Attribute | What it signals to Google | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard link (“dofollow”) | No special relationship qualification | Ordinary editorial references |
| Nofollow | The site isn't vouching for this link; Google treats it as a hint | Comments, forums, links a publisher won't fully endorse |
| Sponsored | The link was paid for or is part of an ad or partnership | Ads, paid placements, affiliate links |
| UGC | Content created by users instead of the publisher | Comment sections, user profiles, forum posts |
The practical point: sponsored is the correct tag for anything commercial, UGC for anything a user wrote, and nofollow is the general "we're not endorsing this" signal. A site can apply more than one if a link is, for example, both paid and user-submitted.
Why nofollow links still have value
A nofollow link from a publication people read can send referral traffic and provide editorial exposure. Those outcomes are measurable without inventing a PageRank or AI-citation value. Compare the live page and audience with the campaign objective before rejecting a placement on the attribute alone.
Why a followed link isn't automatically valuable
The reverse mistake is just as common. A standard link from a thin or irrelevant page isn't automatically useful. The relationship value says little about the page's relevance, readership, ownership or editorial reason. The attribute is one input among several.
Common mistakes
- Paying a premium only for dofollow and ignoring whether the site is relevant or has any readers.
- Trusting a supplier who guarantees dofollow on publications that clearly mark commercial links nofollow.
- Judging a PR campaign a failure because a placement came back nofollow, even when the coverage was strong and well read.
- Assuming there is a published ideal mix of standard, nofollow and sponsored links.
How to report link attributes
A good link report names the attribute for every placement: dofollow, nofollow, sponsored, UGC, or mention-only with no link at all. Presenting nofollow links as if they were dofollow, or quietly dropping mention-only coverage, makes a campaign impossible to judge over time. Pair each attribute with the publication, the anchor and the target page, and the profile becomes something you can review. This is one of the checks in the wider backlink quality checklist.
How SEO Backlinks approaches this
Our core service is digital PR backlinks: editorial coverage on news and industry titles with real readerships. We report the link attribute exactly as published and won't promise dofollow on a title that sets its own policy. Read what makes a good backlink, or book a call.
Keep reading
- What makes a good backlink?, where the attribute fits
- Anchor text, the other half of how a link reads
- Editorial backlinks, why context beats the attribute
- Backlinks and AI search, what can and cannot be inferred
- Digital PR backlinks, our core service
- SEO backlinks glossary, rel values and other link terms defined
FAQs
Do nofollow backlinks help SEO?
Google treats nofollow as a hint. Its exact effect on ranking isn't published, but a relevant nofollow link can still send referral traffic and provide useful editorial exposure.
What is the difference between nofollow, sponsored and UGC?
They're three rel values that describe a link's nature. Sponsored marks a link that was paid for or part of an ad or partnership. UGC marks user-generated content such as comments and forum posts. Nofollow is the broader signal that a site isn't vouching for the link. Google's own documentation lists all three and says they can be combined.
Are PR backlinks dofollow or nofollow?
It depends on the publication and article. Publishers set their own policies and can use a standard link, nofollow, sponsored or no link. We report the result exactly as published and don't promise an attribute we can't control.
Should I only buy dofollow links?
No. A supplier guaranteeing standard followed links at scale is claiming control that independent publishers normally retain. Judge relevance, audience, context and commercial arrangement alongside the attribute.
Can Google crawl a nofollow link?
Nofollow doesn't make the destination invisible. Google treats the relationship values as hints, and the destination may also be discovered through sitemaps, internal links or other external links.