Summary in 30 seconds:
- The debate is still going on in the SEO community about the variation in the value of backs.
- Google has changed its position on these links.
- What do we get for our efforts?
- Are nofollow links worth it?
Are nofollow links a waste of time?
SEO specialists have been told for years that nofollow links have no value. It has become a mantra that has been repeated to the point where it has become a vulgar term for us.
Is this a healthy approach to link building? Should we ignore the opportunities of these diminished backs in the future? Here I would like to assert these modest search engine signals.
What is a dofollow and nofollow link?
I'll keep this short. There are no dofollow links. All links start by default as follows for search enginesresearch. Google came out many years ago with a new attribute called nofollow and asked website managers to add them to links in their comments section as unscrupulous spammers wreaked havoc on their algorithms. It was an easy way for these black hat SEO guys to build lots of links across multiple sites.
Over time, some websites have added this attribute to other parts of their content, or even to their entire website, to deter marketers from trying get links on their websites for SEO only. As a result, many marketers have lost much interest in these sites to provide them with contenu quality.
Google, with all its whims, updates their position
A little over a year ago, Google came out and we said he updated the algorithm to take into account some nofollow the links as clues . The extent of what this means may be subject to interpretation.
But it tells us that Google is paying attention. This does not mean that I recommend the open season and that your link building strategy must be built entirely on them. But there is definitely more value to them than most people realize.
Untracked backs can still provide authority
Google's published quality rating guidelines put a lot of emphasis on Expertise, authority and reliability (EAT) . By browsing the verbiage, you will find that they are authoritative over the authors of the content mentioned in news articles and publications. Even Wikipedia is specifically mentioned (which has untracked links as a policy on its entire website).
Forbes, Huffington Post, and Medium are great examples of websites that only provide untracked links, but I imagine that would have little concern about these quality reviewers.
By ignoring these posts, you could very well be missing one of the keys to increasing your website authority assuming there is a lack of link juice.
Search Console systematically provides these links in their reports
As much data as available in the Google Search Console, there is a little more information than us in the SEO community would like to see which are not easily provided in this tool. And yet Google has always provided lots of nofollow links mixed with regular backs in reports. Why do you think this is the case?
Google easily knows the difference between them and yet still provides them and has been for years. Not only that - they also fit them into the top section of the linking text (anchor text) which is a big part of this puzzle.
Resources
A mix of the two types has always been considered healthy for a back profile for your website. Where no monitoring can have a big impact, it is providing context. Be able to reinforce the brand name and other keyword terms for your site and individual pages.
No one can expect to get exact anchor text for keywords from high authority websites on a regular basis. But mentions in forums, comments and other places can now provide context if not link strength. If you are trying to refine your keyword targetinge your pages, it's worth it.
More direct traffic
Qualified traffic, whatever it is, is precious. If all of your work is to improve your website ranking, this point does not apply. an SEO generally means getting more organic traffic to your website. It would be hard to argue that visitors from high traffic websites to yours based on link intent would not be counted as such.
When visitors to these sites read their content on a particular topic and inevitably click a link to your website, which is a win in my book. In a way, this is the goal of your work.
Not to mention that someone who has researched a topic and browsed your repeatedly mentioned business namees on industry specific websites are starting to solidify that brand recognition everyone is still talking about.
Summary of nofollow backs
For seasoned marketers, much of this is known and sometimes a helpful reminder is welcome. Those who are new to the industry often hear the derision about it and avoid these backs without doing their research or testing them themselves.
These tips for search engines can be very valuable if used with deference and consideration. Don't be so willing to dismiss them right away.
Rob Delory is the founder of QuickSilver Agency . It can be found on Twitter @rdelory .
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