This is a subject that this time last year I knew nothing about, and I mean nothing. It all sounds really technical, especially when you have no idea what it is. In this post I am going to try to break the whole thing down. To explain what exactly it is in terms that are easy to understand. Let’s explain, what is a No Follow Link?
We’re going to start at the beginning with a Domain Authority or DA for short. Your Domain Authority is rated on a scale of 1-100. This tells you how well your site is doing on search engines; think the higher the score the closer to the first page of Google. A brand new domain is likely to have a DA of 1. This is because it is new and no one will have linked to it.
Increasing your DA is not the easiest task, because you aren’t in control of how you rank. If you want to increase your DA then you’ll need to have links directing back to your site. The more links, the higher the score.
Of course we aren’t finished there. This then leads onto the follow links and no follow links. The big old questions of this post, of What is a No Follow Link?
A Follow Link: This type of link will add points to the sites DA. Therefore improving their score, so they are likely appear closer to the top of search engines.
A No Follow Link: This type of link tells the search engine not to include the points. This means the sites score does not improve.
That should explain why people want their links to be followed and not no-followed. It’s all about where they’ll be on the search engine; near the top or way back at the bottom. That is ‘what is a no follow link?’
A simple way to go is; if you have paid for the product and have had no dealing with that company then use do follow, but if the company have contacted you and sent you an item then it must be no follow.
This is the important bit:
If a company have sent you an item and you use a do follow link then you are breaking Google Guidelines. I had a company tell me that it isn’t against the law and which it might not be, but it is breaking Google Guidelines and if Google discover that you are using follow links in this way then your blog will not appear on their search engine.
It is so important that you do not give in and give a company a follow link when they have contacted you. If they do insist then they either do not know everything about these links or simply don’t care about what happens to your blog.
Google want to build their search engine off of genuine links, and that of course cannot be done when a company is paying or sending items out to everyone for follow links. It’s all to keep things under control and relevant, as anyone could pay for a higher DA, so who know what site you’d end up on.
It’s also worth noting that it is very easy to add a no-follow link on Blogger, but there are plenty of add on’s for wordpress that make it just as easy, so all you have to do is tick a box and you’re good to go.
Just remember that if Google discovers you using follow links when you shouldn’t. then you’ll be taken off the search engine which is not ideal.
How Do I Check My DA?
If you’d like to check your DA then you can do by clicking here! Just note that if you have blogspot or wordpress in your url then it will not be as accurate.
I hope I’ve managed to keep things simple, and this has cleared a few things up! If you have any other questions feel free to message me or comment down below! If you’d like more blogging help, here is a list of prop ideas. I hope this has answered the ‘What is a No Follow Link?’
Thank you for reading!
Great post! I’m always so confused by these Xx
Thank you, I hope this can help you xx
This is really helpful! I was under the impression that I only had to use no follow links on my sponsored posts but could use do follow links if I was just sent a product for consideration. I’m going to have to go back and change those right away!
xo, Liz
Thank you! I thought that for a while too, but it’s a lot better to use no follow for them all. I’m glad this post has helped you xx
This was super helpful, I was always confused when people talked about this! So, I have to get an add-on for wordpress in order for them to add a no-follow link? I’m deff going to do more research on this! Thanks so much love xxx
I’m glad you think so! It is such a confusing topic, but so important! Yeah, I think you can edit the coding, but that option seems so difficult! I found an odd on that I’ve struggled to find again, but it makes the whole thing so much easier! I hope you find it xx
This helps so much! Thank you for sharing th is informative post.
No problem, I’m glad you’ve found this helpful!xx
I’m so glad you wrote this and no follow links have confused me for what feels like forever now! I think I understand them now! X
Thank you! I’m glad it’s helpful to you! It’s such a confusing topic, but they’re so important!xx
This is super helpful. Thank you sweetie 🙂
<3
I’m glad you think so! No problem xx
I did not have the faintest clue about this! Thank you for sharing Hannah! Hope you are having a great week x
ALittleKiran | Bloglovin
It’s such a confusing topic, but it’s super important! I’m glad you find it useful! Thank you, and I hope you are too xx
This was very helpful for me, a new little blogger! It will take me a while to get my head around this, but you’ve broken it down really easily!
https://therecklesslifestyle.blogspot.co.uk/
I’m glad you think so! It is such a confusing topic, but it is so important! Thank you xx
I used to be so confused by these!!!
xoxo
Ileana
Novelstyle Blog
They’re such a confusing topic!xx
Great post hun! I wish I had known about DA etc years ago, as I’ve been blogging for years but didnt have a URL, grrrr. You live and learn!
Kate x
themakeupartistschoice.com
Thank you! Same here, I spent long without an url too! You definitely do xx
Super helpful. All of a sudden heard so much about this and not really known enough about it. How do you know if a link is a no follow link though?
x
I’m glad you think so! You have to change it, if you link something without marking it as no follow it will be follow. On blogger it’s a lot simple to tick the box, but for wordpress there are plugins that you can download which make it just as easy, I tried to find the one I use, but struggled to find it. Should be a case of a quick google xx