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Dofollow vs nofollow links

Dofollow and nofollow are attributes on HTML links that tell search engines whether to pass authority (PageRank, in the original terminology) through the link. A dofollow link counts as an endorsement. A nofollow link does not. The distinction matters when widgets, plugins, or footers add links to a site at scale.

Definition

Every <a> tag is dofollow by default. To make it nofollow, you add rel="nofollow":

<a href="https://example.com">dofollow (default)</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">nofollow</a>

Google introduced nofollow in 2005 to combat comment-section link spam. Over time the attribute has been joined by more specific signals:

  • rel="sponsored". Paid placement.
  • rel="ugc". User-generated content (forum posts, comments).
  • rel="nofollow". Generic "do not endorse".

Since 2019 Google treats all three as hints rather than directives, but the convention persists and other search engines still honor the original interpretation.

When to use nofollow

  • User-submitted links you cannot vet (blog comments, profile pages).
  • Paid links, affiliate links, sponsored placements.
  • Links to login pages or other URLs you do not want crawled.

When to use dofollow

  • Editorial links inside your own content.
  • Navigation between pages on your own site.
  • Links to authoritative sources you genuinely endorse.
  • Cross-site links between properties you own.

message.com's embedded widget renders a small "Powered by message.com" link in the footer of the chat panel on Free plan installs. That link is dofollow by deliberate policy. On paid plans, the link is hidden entirely. There is no nofollow tier.

The reasoning: a free customer is contributing SEO value to message.com in exchange for the free product. Nofollowing would be the worst of both worlds (visible branding without authority transfer). Removing the link entirely is the paid upgrade. Both options are clean and honest.

External reading

For Google's current treatment of these attributes, see the qualify outbound links reference in Search Central.