Hello there! If you‘re looking to master the art of nofollowing links in WordPress, you‘ve come to the right place. As an experienced WordPress consultant and blogger, I‘ve seen firsthand how proper use of the nofollow attribute can safeguard your site‘s reputation and SEO.
In this comprehensive tutorial, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know about nofollow links, including what they are, why they matter, when to use them, and most importantly – step-by-step instructions for adding them to your WordPress site‘s posts, pages, and menus.
Whether you‘re a beginner or a seasoned pro, by the end of this guide you‘ll be fully equipped to manage nofollow links with confidence and precision. Let‘s dive in!
What Are Nofollow Links?
First, a quick primer. A nofollow link is a regular HTML link with a rel="nofollow" attribute added to the tag. This attribute is a signal to search engines that the linking web page does not endorse or vouch for the linked page, and therefore the link should not pass any PageRank or "link juice."
Here‘s what a nofollow link looks like in HTML:
Essentially, nofollow is a way to link to a web page without that link influencing the target page‘s search engine rankings. Nofollow links do not boost the linked page‘s SEO.
Why Use Nofollow Links in WordPress?
Now you might be thinking, "Why would I want to link to something without endorsing it? Isn‘t that the whole point of linking?"
There are actually several important reasons to nofollow certain types of links:
Preventing comment spam. One of the main original purposes of nofollow was to deter spammers from blasting websites with useless comments full of links, in an attempt to game search engines. By making comment links nofollow by default (which WordPress does), spammers have less incentive to pollute your blog.
To illustrate the magnitude of this problem, consider these staggering statistics:
- Back in 2009, Matt Cutts revealed that 80-90% of comments submitted to blogs were spam.
- In 2018, Imperva found that 96.8% of traffic to their sample ecommerce site‘s comment pages was spam or bots!
While anti-spam plugins and services have helped curb this deluge, nofollowing comment links is still a smart practice.
Avoiding penalties for selling links. If you‘re caught selling followed links to manipulate PageRank (commonly called "link schemes"), Google can penalize your site. Several high-profile brands have been punished for this, including:
- J.C. Penney in 2011 for an aggressive paid link campaign
- Overstock.com in 2011 for offering discounts in exchange for links
- Forbes.com in 2007 for selling links on contributor pages
- BMW Germany in 2006 for cloaking doorway pages full of keyword-rich links
Nofollowing sponsored and affiliate links keeps you on the right side of Google‘s guidelines.
Preserving your site‘s link equity. The concept of "PageRank sculpting" argues that extensively linking out to other sites with followed links "leaks" ranking power and authority that could be better spent internally. While reasonable external linking is beneficial, you can conserve your site‘s hard-earned link equity by selectively nofollowing certain links.
As influential SEO software creator Bruce Clay stated in a 2009 interview:
"Nofollow is a Band-Aid fix to a bigger problem… People need to be more selective about linking out. Linking out to everybody and their brother just because they ask you to is not a good strategy for your website."
In short, nofollow links protect your website and preserve your SEO. Used strategically, they are a valuable tool in your digital toolkit.
When to Use Nofollow Links
As a general rule, any link that you include for purposes other than editorial endorsement should be nofollowed. Google‘s official guidelines state:
"Use the nofollow value when other values don‘t apply, and you‘d rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site."
Common scenarios when you should definitely use nofollow include:
- Affiliate links and sponsored content
- Links in user-generated content (comments, forum posts, etc.)
- Links to registration or sign-in pages
- Paid links of any kind ("link schemes")
- Widgets, themes, or plugins that create links
- Links to sites/pages you don‘t fully trust or endorse
On the flip side, it‘s perfectly acceptable (and beneficial) to use followed links for:
- Editorial links to authoritative, relevant sources that provide value to users
- Links to other pages on your own site (internal links)
When in doubt, ask yourself: "Does this link serve my audience? Would I include it even if search engines didn‘t exist?" If the answer is no, nofollow it.
How to Add Nofollow Links in WordPress (4 Easy Methods)
Alright, now that we‘ve covered the why and when of nofollow links, it‘s time for the main event – adding them to your WordPress site! I‘ll show you four simple methods:
- Manually adding nofollow to individual links in the Block Editor
- Manually adding nofollow to individual links in the Classic Editor
- Using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin to nofollow links (no code!)
- Automatically nofollowing links in navigation menus
Feel free to use the method that best fits your setup and skill level.
Method 1: Manually Add Nofollow Links in the Block Editor
Adding nofollow to a link in the WordPress block editor takes just a few seconds. Here‘s how:
- Open the post or page you want to edit.
- Select the block containing the link you want to nofollow.
- Click the link icon in the toolbar to edit the link.
- Expand the "Link settings" panel if it‘s not already visible.
- Toggle on the "Open in new tab" option (recommended for external links).
- Click the three-dot icon and select "Edit as HTML."
- Locate the link‘s tag and add rel="nofollow" to it. For example:
Example - Click "Edit visually" to return to the block editor.
Here‘s a quick visual recap:
[Include screenshot of the "Edit as HTML" process outlined above]Repeat this for any other links you need to nofollow in the post. It takes a bit of HTML wrangling, but you‘ll get the hang of it!
Method 2: Manually Add Nofollow Links in the Classic Editor
If you‘re using the Classic Editor plugin, the process is very similar:
- Edit the post/page and switch to the "Text" tab to see the HTML.
- Find the tag for the link you want to nofollow.
- Add rel="nofollow" inside the opening . If there are existing rel values like noopener, add a space and then nofollow.
- Save or publish the post.
Method 3: Nofollow Links with All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
Looking for a way to nofollow links without touching any code? The excellent AIOSEO plugin makes it a snap:
- Install and activate the free version of AIOSEO.
- Edit the post/page containing the links you want to nofollow.
- Select the text for your link and click the link button.
- Paste in the URL and expand the "Link options" section.
- Check the "Add "nofollow" to link" box.
- Click the arrow button to add your nofollow link.
AIOSEO adds a handy "nofollow" checkbox right in the link popup, so you can easily toggle it on or off for each link. No HTML required!
This works for both the Block and Classic editor, making it an excellent go-to method for all WordPress users.
Many WordPress sites use navigation menus to link to external resources or profile pages. You can nofollow individual menu links as follows:
- Go to Appearance > Menus and select the relevant menu.
- Find the external link you want to nofollow and click the downward arrow to expand it.
- In the "Link Relationship (XFN)" field, type "nofollow".
- Click "Save Menu."
One caveat – the XFN field is hidden by default. To reveal it:
- Click "Screen Options" at the top-right of the Menus page.
- Check the "Link Relationship (XFN)" box under "Show advanced menu properties."
- Click "Set Menu Item" to apply the nofollow and save the link.
Frequently Asked Questions About Nofollow Links
Before we wrap up, let me address some of the common questions I hear about nofollow links from WordPress users:
Can I check if a link is nofollowed?
Yes! To quickly identify nofollow links on any page:
- Right-click the link and select "Inspect" to open the browser‘s developer tools.
- Look for rel="nofollow" in the link‘s HTML code.
- Alternatively, use a browser extension like NoFollow for Chrome which highlights nofollow links.
Do nofollow links help SEO at all?
Nofollow links don‘t directly boost your search rankings, but they still have value:
- They can drive referral traffic to your site, which is never a bad thing.
- They diversify your backlink profile, which looks more natural to Google.
- They help users discover your content, potentially leading to followed links down the line.
As Google‘s John Mueller succinctly explained:
"The nofollow basically tells us not to pass any PageRank. We will still see the link and we can still use it for discovery, we can still use it for other kinds of things. But we just don‘t pass any PageRank through that link."
So while nofollow links aren‘t a magic bullet, they‘re not valueless either.
Will I be penalized for nofollowing all my outbound links?
Google has stated that reasonable use of nofollow won‘t get you penalized. That said, excessively nofollowing all your external links can raise red flags.
Relevant, followed outbound links to authoritative sources are a quality signal. They show you‘re creating content that cites its sources and provides additional value to readers. Research has even shown a correlation between outbound links and rankings.
My advice? Save nofollow for links that need it (like affiliate or sponsored links) and aim to link out naturally when possible. Moderation is key.
Conclusion
Phew, you still with me? We‘ve covered a lot of ground! Let‘s recap the key takeaways about nofollow links in WordPress:
- Nofollow links contain the rel="nofollow" attribute, telling search engines not to pass PageRank.
- Nofollow protects your site by preventing comment spam, avoiding Google penalties, and conserving link equity.
- Common uses for nofollow include affiliate links, sponsored content, UGC (user-generated content), and links to sites you don‘t fully vouch for.
- You can manually add nofollow to individual links in WordPress using the block or classic editor (just look out for that rel= attribute!).
- Plugins like AIOSEO make nofollowing even easier by adding a checkbox right in the link workflow.
- Always nofollow external links in areas like widgets, themes, and menus as these can quickly add up.
- When in doubt, ask yourself if the link is truly relevant, valuable, and trustworthy. If not, nofollow it!
I hope this guide has given you the confidence to masterfully manage nofollow links on your WordPress site.
Remember, with great linking power comes great responsibility. By strategically wielding the nofollow attribute, you can maintain a healthy, high-performing link profile and avoid the SEO pitfalls that snare less savvy webmasters.
Now get out there and command your nofollow destiny! As always, if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I‘ll be happy to help. Happy linking!
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