Let's talk about nofollow links

I recently came across an article on MediaMaker (a fantastic Ukrainian media for media professionals, by the way).

The article shared advice suggesting that all external links—even to credible sources—should be marked with the nofollow attribute.

It’s an interesting take, but also a bit... controversial.

Why? Because great content thrives on trust and connection. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, driving visibility, and creating networks of credibility.

When you link to high-quality sources, you’re not just helping your audience—you’re also building credibility for your own content. Applying nofollow universally can sometimes work against these goals.

Let’s break it down:

1️⃣ When is nofollow the right choice?

• For paid or sponsored links (use rel="sponsored").
• For user-generated content, like comments (use rel="ugc").
• When linking to untrusted or irrelevant sources (use rel="nofollow").

2️⃣ Why it’s worth reconsidering for trusted sources:

🔗 Trust matters: Linking to reliable sources with dofollow shows Google (and your audience) that your content is solid and well-researched.
🔗 It’s all about connections: Links help build relationships and improve visibility for everyone involved.
🔗 For media pros: Allowing dofollow links for credible citations helps foster organic link-building—the web thrives on these connections!

💡 Rule of thumb: If you trust the source, let the link pass equity. If you don’t? Maybe don’t link to it at all.

By the way, even nofollow links can be valuable. A nofollow link from a big site like The New York Times won’t pass “link juice,” but the visibility and traffic it generates? Still a win.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆:

Use nofollow thoughtfully, not automatically. Build trust by linking in a way that feels natural and transparent.