Determining whether a link is nofollow or dofollow matters for link-building strategy and understanding which inbound links pass PageRank. This guide walks through browser inspection, automated tools, and interpreting rel attribute variations—plus what these signals actually mean for your backlink profile and outreach priorities.
Google introduced the nofollow attribute in 2005 to combat comment spam and paid links. A dofollow link—the default state with no rel attribute or rel="dofollow"—passes PageRank and counts as an endorsement in Google's graph. A nofollow link (rel="nofollow") tells crawlers not to follow or credit the link for ranking purposes.
In 2019 Google added rel="sponsored" for paid placements and rel="ugc" for user-generated content, treating both as nofollow hints rather than directives. Crawlers may still follow these links for discovery but won't pass ranking credit. Publishers use nofollow to avoid vouching for content they don't editorially control—forums, blog comments, footer widgets, and advertorials are common examples. For link builders, knowing which links pass equity shapes prospecting effort and ROI forecasting.
The fastest way to check any individual link is right-click, choose Inspect (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), and examine the anchor tag in the Elements panel. Look for the rel attribute: if it's absent or set to something other than nofollow, sponsored, or ugc, the link is dofollow.
Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) inside the inspector and search for the link text or destination URL to jump straight to the tag. You'll see markup like <a href=" rel="nofollow"> or simply <a href=" No rel attribute means dofollow by default. This method is precise but impractical for auditing dozens of backlinks—use it when vetting high-value guest-post placements or verifying what a publisher actually deployed after you paid for coverage.
Extensions like NoFollow (Chrome/Firefox) or SEO Minion highlight nofollow links on the rendered page—usually with a dotted border or color overlay. Install the extension, navigate to the target page, toggle the feature on, and every nofollow link appears marked while dofollow links remain plain.
This approach works well when reviewing a single article or competitor analysis page to see how they handle external links. Keep in mind that extensions parse the live DOM, so they catch JavaScript-inserted links that view-source might miss. The downside is you're still manually visiting pages one at a time. For portfolio-scale audits—checking whether 200 backlinks from a link-insertion vendor are actually dofollow—browser extensions won't scale; you need a crawler or API.
Screaming Frog (desktop crawler) and cloud platforms like Sitebulb or OnCrawl can spider a list of URLs and export every outbound link with its rel attribute. Feed the tool a CSV of backlink sources, set it to follow external links, then filter the export by your target domain to see exactly which anchors point to you and their attributes.
Ahrefs and Semrush backlink indexes flag nofollow in their interface—Ahrefs shows a "Nofollow" badge next to each link, and you can filter the entire backlink table by follow type. This is the practitioner default for auditing thousands of inbound links without manual checks. The caveat: third-party indexes sample the web and may lag reality by days or weeks, so always spot-check critical placements with live inspection before drawing conclusions about a recent campaign.
A link can carry multiple values: rel="nofollow sponsored" is valid and common for paid guest posts. Google treats any combination containing nofollow, sponsored, or ugc as a nofollow hint. Some publishers stack all three out of caution, which is redundant but harmless.
User-generated content platforms—Reddit, Quora, most forums—apply ugc or nofollow to all user-posted links. Advertorials and influencer collaborations should carry sponsored. If you see sponsored on editorial content or ugc on a staff-written article, the publisher may have misconfigured their CMS or applied a blanket policy. From a link-equity perspective, all three block direct PageRank flow, but sponsored and ugc give Google clearer context about provenance, which may influence how the algorithm weights surrounding signals like anchor text relevance and co-citation.
Nofollow does not mean worthless. A placement in a high-traffic industry roundup drives referral visits regardless of rel attribute. Google has confirmed that nofollow is now a hint, not a directive—crawlers may choose to count the link in certain contexts, though the default is still to ignore it for ranking.
Nofollow links contribute to brand-search volume when readers discover you, diversify your backlink profile to look natural (all dofollow is a footprint), and provide topical co-citation that helps Google understand what your site is about. A nofollow mention in a major publication often leads to dofollow pickups elsewhere as journalists cite the original source. Dismiss nofollow opportunities only when they cost money or significant time and deliver neither traffic nor visibility—never purely on the attribute alone.
Start with a backlink export from Ahrefs or Semrush and filter for dofollow links to identify your strongest equity sources. Cross-reference those domains against your prospecting list—if competitors have dofollow links from a site, prioritize outreach there.
When a publisher agrees to a guest post, ask explicitly whether external links will be dofollow or check their existing articles with inspect before writing. After publication, verify the live link with browser tools within 48 hours; some editors change attributes post-launch or apply site-wide JavaScript that nofollows all external anchors. If you paid for dofollow and received nofollow, you have leverage to request correction or a refund. Track attribute status in your CRM or link-log spreadsheet so you can spot patterns—certain niches (legal, finance, health) nofollow almost everything due to YMYL caution, which should inform where you invest effort.
The attribute applies to individual links, not entire sites. A single page can contain both dofollow and nofollow links. Some CMSs apply nofollow globally to all external links via a setting or plugin, but that's a site-owner choice, not an inherent property of the domain. Always check specific links rather than assuming a whole site follows one policy.
Yes, indirectly. Google treats nofollow as a hint and may count the link in some cases. Even when ignored for PageRank, nofollow links drive traffic, increase brand searches, and provide topical signals through anchor text and surrounding content. A natural backlink profile includes a mix of both attributes; purely dofollow link lists can look manipulative.
Only if you control the page or can persuade the publisher to edit it. Reach out with a reason—correct an accidental policy application, upgrade a relationship from guest post to partnership, or offer updated content. Many publishers won't change attributes retroactively, especially if they nofollow by policy. Focus your negotiation effort on high-authority placements where the equity gain justifies the ask.
Crawl your site with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and filter the internal link report by rel attribute. Internal links should almost never be nofollow unless you're sculpting PageRank to specific pages (a tactic with limited modern value). Check your theme settings, SEO plugins, and any custom code—some plugins nofollow category or tag archive links by default, which can orphan content.
Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz all flag nofollow in their backlink indexes. Ahrefs displays a "Nofollow" badge and lets you filter the table by attribute. Semrush shows it in the "Attributes" column. For URLs not yet in those indexes, run them through Screaming Frog or use the MozBar browser extension to inspect live. Combining index data with spot-checks gives you the most accurate picture.
Not necessarily. If the site has strong domain authority, relevant audience overlap, and high traffic, the referral visits and brand exposure may justify the effort even without link equity. Nofollow placements also appear in your backlink profile, adding diversity and potentially triggering dofollow mentions elsewhere. Avoid those sites only if they offer neither traffic nor credibility and you're paying cash or significant content cost.