Dofollow
Dofollow is the informal name for an ordinary link that carries no rel attribute, meaning search engines are free to follow it and pass along link equity (ranking value). There is no actual "dofollow" HTML attribute; the term simply refers to any link that is not nofollow.
- Dofollow is the catch-all name for an ordinary link with no rel value such as nofollow, sponsored, or ugc, where search engines follow the link and pass ranking value by default.
- "Dofollow" is not an official rel attribute value. Both Google and Ahrefs state plainly that it is not a real link attribute; any link you create without extra markup is dofollow by default.
- Nofollow, by contrast, is a real attribute you create by explicitly adding
rel="nofollow", signaling that the search engine should not follow the link or treat it as an endorsement. - Since 2019, Google has treated nofollow, sponsored, and ugc as hints for ranking and crawling rather than strict directives.
- Because dofollow links pass link equity (often called "link juice") and can influence the target page's rankings, they sit at the heart of backlink strategy.
Overview
Dofollow is the industry shorthand for a plain hyperlink that carries no rel attribute. It describes the default state in which a search engine crawler is free to follow the link, discover the target page, and accept the ranking value (link equity) the link conveys. In other words, an <a href="..."> link with no special markup is, by definition, a dofollow link.
The key thing to understand is that "dofollow" is not a real HTML attribute value. Ahrefs makes the point directly: although the word is widely used, it is not technically accurate, and no such link attribute actually exists. Google's official documentation likewise never defines a "dofollow" value, noting instead that there is no need to add a rel attribute to ordinary links you expect Google to fetch and parse without qualification. Put simply, dofollow is not something you create in code; it is just the name for the default state of every link that is not nofollow.
Dofollow vs. Nofollow
The terminology is somewhat backwards by nature. Nofollow is a real attribute you add by hand in code, whereas dofollow is the default state that exists when you do nothing at all.
| Aspect | Dofollow (default link) | Nofollow link |
|---|---|---|
| Real HTML attribute? | No (the absence of an attribute is the default) | Yes (explicit rel="nofollow") |
| Markup example | <a href="..."> | <a href="..." rel="nofollow"> |
| Crawler behavior | Follows the link | Generally does not follow it (may still be discovered another way) |
| Passes link equity? | Yes (affects rankings) | In principle, no |
| Value transferred | Referral traffic + link equity | Referral traffic only |
| Typical use | Ordinary citations or references to trusted sources | Ads and sponsorships, user-generated content, links you would rather not endorse |
The Three Nofollow-Family Attributes
When Google overhauled its nofollow policy in September 2019, it introduced attributes that let you describe the nature of a link more precisely. For links that are not plain dofollow links, the following three values express the link's intent.
- rel="sponsored" — for links tied to compensation, such as advertising, sponsorship, or paid placements.
- rel="ugc" — recommended for links inside user-generated content (UGC), such as comments and forum posts.
- rel="nofollow" — for cases where you want to place a link but signal no endorsement of any kind.
<!-- Dofollow: a default link, no rel needed -->
<a href="https://example.com">Trusted source</a>
<!-- Nofollow family: state the intent -->
<a href="https://ad.example.com" rel="sponsored">Ad link</a>
<a href="https://forum.example.com/post" rel="ugc">User comment link</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Unendorsed link</a>Hints, Not Directives
According to Google's official documentation, the three attributes nofollow, sponsored, and ugc are treated as hints for ranking and crawling rather than as strict directives. Google explains that it generally will not follow links carrying these rel attributes, but adds that the target page may still be discovered and crawled through other paths, such as a sitemap or links from other sites. Adding nofollow is therefore no guarantee that the page will never be indexed.
Significance in SEO
Dofollow links matter because they pass link equity, the ranking value often called "link juice," to the target page. As Ahrefs puts it, a nofollow link passes only referral traffic, whereas a dofollow link passes both traffic and equity. For this reason, dofollow links from trustworthy sites are prized as core assets in any backlink strategy. That said, a natural link profile normally contains a mix of dofollow and nofollow links, and artificially accumulating only dofollow links is not advisable.