Do Nofollow Internal Links Affect SEO?

Some SEO tools may advise you that a nofollow internal link will affect your performance on search engine results pages (SERPs). Advice like this is often given because no SEO tool takes human perspective into account—at least not yet. The truth is that using nofollow internal links won’t have an impact on how your site performs on any search engine. The SEO experts from Saba SEO, a premier San Diego SEO agency, offer a closer look at nofollow internal links and what they really mean in the world of SEO.

What Is a Nofollow Internal Link?

Before going any further, let’s define what a nofollow internal link really is. Google defines it as a link from your website you don’t want search engines to pay attention to for ranking purposes. These links have no SEO value. However, human visitors to your website can still use them.

Each Search Engine Treats Nofollow Links Differently

Google routinely defines nofollow links as ones that literally mean “do not follow this link.” However, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines treat this attribute a bit differently. “Nofollow” is actually meant to be used for instances when the author of a website isn’t likely to be responsible for the linked content.

Nofollow Internal Links Sometimes Make Perfect Sense

There may be times when you don’t want some of your internal pages to show up on SERPs. As long as you’re doing this for perfectly legitimate reasons, there’s no reason using nofollow internal links should impact your SEO results. For example, you might use this attribute for:

• Your login screen
• Ad content on your website
• The blog comments section on your site
• Internal pages that aren’t an accurate reflection of your site’s content

Nofollow Links Don’t Automatically Raise Red Flags

Google is well aware of the fact that some internal website content with links shouldn’t be followed. After all, do you really want searchers judging your site based on what’s said in random blog comments you can’t control? There are also some webpages with internal links that are only meant to make navigation easier. The point is Google won’t automatically scrutinize your site more carefully just because you have internal nofollow links.

Finally, be aware that any nofollow link will only work as intended if you pair it with a noindex command. This command needs to be on the destination page. Also, there can’t be any other links that are meant to be followable on the same page.

There are good reasons to use nofollow internal links, and you can rest easy knowing they won’t harm your rank. If you need help setting up links on your site, understanding how search engines view your content, or developing your overall SEO strategy, call on the SEO experts from Saba SEO, an industry-leading provider of San Diego SEO services with more than a decade of experience. Reach out to one of our SEO specialists today at 858-277-1717.