What Is Nofollow? Should I Use It On Internal Links?

TIP 22Adding rel=”nofollow” to a link effectively stops a link being a link, as far as Google is concerned. This means the link does not count as a vote, does not pass page rank, nor topical relevance(!). For instance, most blog comments are nofollow links, unlike this blog;

<a href="http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Hobo</a>

There are a lot of people who argue every single thing about nofollow and PR. That nofollow links pass PR, that you cannot sculpt page rank because you cannot see it. I think nofollow is as Google says effectively a non-link - and I think you can sculpt PR, just not ‘accurately’ lol.

You can certainly control PR on a granular level (page by page in this case) - ie which page gets available Google PR.

Some think, if that’s the case, you can sculpt Pagerank, and channel page rank to important pages in a site. For instance - adding nofollow to your contact page, or disclaimer, or privacy policy. I’m attempting to get to the end of this series before I mention Pagerank, as it really is not something you should be that concerned about. You get page rank by building links to your site - PR is a by product. Just get links.

I think it was Matt Cutts from Google who said (paraphrasing);

1. Yes, it’s ok to do this
2. Yes, it can have a ’second order effect’ (cryptic as usual)

I tested it, and as far as I am concerned, on a 300 page site at least, any visible benefit is microscopic.

Unlike some of the White Hat Shock Troops, I have no problem using it, but I would prefer to keep it to a minimum, and, old school, sculpt PR by having an intelligent navigation system.

As I said, I have no problem using it. It’s up to you. And Matt Cutts was telling the truth - it’s very much a second order effect, if not less.

I am using it on the Hobo site at the moment, although most of it will be going shortly. I will be keeping the nofollow link on my home page, to ensure the link back to my home page is a keyword. Just old habit really.

Nofollow can be a ‘complicated’ construct, depending on who you are listening to. I go into it more in the article;

• http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/seo-blog/index.php/sculpt-pagerank-nofollow/

If you have never heard of Rel=”nofollow” before, probably best to forget about it - but I thought it best to touch on it

The Hobo SEO Company

What Is Nofollow? Should I Use It On Internal Links?