Guide · 3 min read ·
Dofollow vs nofollow: how to check whether a backlink really counts
You submit your startup to a directory, a partner adds your logo to a page, or someone writes about you. Then comes the question every founder eventually asks: does that link actually help my search ranking? The answer depends on a small piece of code called the rel attribute. This guide explains what it means, how to read it and what to do with the result.
What a dofollow link is
A normal link has no special instruction in it. Search engines treat it as a vote of confidence, a signal that the page being linked to is worth attention, and they may pass some ranking value along it. People call this a dofollow link, although there is no dofollow tag. It simply means the link has not been marked with anything that tells search engines to ignore it.
Links are one of the oldest ranking signals in search, which is why founders care about them. A dofollow link from a trustworthy, relevant site helps a young site get discovered and trusted.
Nofollow, sponsored and UGC
Site owners can add a rel attribute to say how much they stand behind a link. Nofollow was introduced to fight comment spam and says do not count this link. In 2019 Google added two more labels. Sponsored marks paid or advertising links, and UGC marks links inside user generated content such as comments and forum posts.
Since 2020 Google treats all three as hints, not strict commands, so a nofollow link may still be used in some ways. In practice, though, you should assume that nofollow, sponsored and UGC links pass little or no ranking value, and plan on that basis.
Why the type of link matters to a founder
Directories are a common source of early backlinks, but they differ widely. Some pass dofollow links, some use nofollow for every outbound link, and some only give a dofollow link once you meet a condition, such as adding their badge to your site. If you are choosing where to spend your launch effort, knowing which is which saves time.
A nofollow link is still not worthless. It can send real visitors, it helps people find you, and a healthy backlink profile contains a mix of link types. The mistake is expecting ranking value from a link that does not carry it.
How to check a link by hand
You can check any link yourself. Open the page, right click the link and choose Inspect, or view the page source and search for your domain. Look at the anchor tag around it. If you see rel with nofollow, sponsored or ugc, the link is restricted. If there is no rel attribute, or it only says noopener or noreferrer, the link is dofollow.
Two catches make doing this by hand error prone. First, a page can carry a robots meta tag or header that says nofollow, which applies to every link on it whatever each link says. Second, pages often hold hundreds of links, and it is easy to look at the wrong one.
How to read the results of this tool
Paste the address of the page where your link should appear. Add your own domain in the second box and the tool highlights every link to it and tells you whether all of them are dofollow. Each row shows the anchor text, the full address, the rel values found and a coloured label for the type.
- Dofollow: no restriction found, so the link can pass value.
- Nofollow: the link or the whole page tells search engines not to follow.
- Sponsored: marked as paid or advertising.
- UGC: marked as user generated content.
Why a link you can see may not show up
The tool reads the HTML the server sends, which is also what many crawlers read first. If a script adds the link after the page loads, it will not appear in the results. A page behind a login, or one that blocks automated requests, cannot be checked either. If a link you expect is missing, view the page source in your browser to see whether it is in the original HTML.
What to do when the link is nofollow
First, do not panic. Check whether the site offers a way to earn a dofollow link, and read their terms. On CircleSaaS, for example, a free tile link is nofollow until you add the CircleSaaS badge to your own site and verify it, and links on paid tiers are dofollow. If the answer is no, treat the listing as a source of visitors and visibility and look elsewhere for ranking value.
Once you have built a few links, come back and check them all. You can also run your landing page through the launch page grader to make sure the page those links point to is ready for the traffic.