Link attributes & basics · Knowledge
What does rel=“nofollow” actually do?
rel=“nofollow” is a note to search engines attached to a single link: “I do not vouch for this target – do not count this link as my recommendation.”
For human visitors nothing changes: the link looks the same, clicks the same, works the same. nofollow lives exclusively in the conversation between your HTML and the crawlers.
What it changes, what it does not – and where it belongs
A normal link is a vote: search engines read it as “this site recommends that page” and pass along a share of trust – the mechanism behind rankings since the beginning. nofollow withdraws that vote. The target loses nothing it had, it simply does not gain your endorsement; your page does not “bleed” anything either – the myth that outgoing links hurt is covered in its own question. What nofollow does not do is equally important: it does not hide the link (the URL is plainly visible in your HTML), it does not reliably keep the target out of the index (search engines know pages through many paths), and since the 2019/2020 policy change it is a hint search engines may weigh rather than a command they must obey – the history question tells that story. Where it belongs: on links you cannot or do not want to vouch for – user comments, submitted entries, paid placements (there with rel=“sponsored” as the precise sibling), and mass link collections. Where it does not belong: on hand-picked editorial references to strong sources, and never on internal links. Setting this per link by hand across a grown site is exactly the tedium a tool like our JNofollow plugin automates – the labelled in-house recommendation on this site.
Key facts
- Meaning: “I do not vouch for this target” – the link's vote is withdrawn.
- Visitors notice nothing: appearance, click and function of the link are unchanged.
- No hiding, no de-indexing: the URL stays visible and the target can still be indexed.
- Since 2019/2020 a hint, not a command – search engines may weigh it.
- Belongs on: comments, submissions, paid links, link lists – never on internal links.