Dofollow

A dofollow link is a backlink without a rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" attribute. By default, every link is dofollow — the term exists only as a counterpart to the explicit "nofollow" annotation introduced by Google in 2005.

Dofollow links pass Link Equity (sometimes informally called Link Juice) to the target. They tell search engines: "the publisher of this page vouches for this destination." That endorsement is what gives backlinks their ranking power. When operators talk about pursuing high-value links, they almost always mean dofollow editorial placements on authoritative, topically relevant sites.

In raw HTML, there is no explicit "dofollow" attribute — that name exists informally as the opposite of nofollow. A link without rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" is treated as a normal, equity-passing link. Some CMSes and link-building tools display a "dofollow/nofollow" toggle to make the distinction visible.

Since 2019, Google treats nofollow, sponsored, and ugc as hints rather than directives, meaning Google may choose to count or ignore the link regardless of the annotation. The practical implication is that the dofollow/nofollow line is fuzzier than it used to be — a high-quality nofollow mention from a major publication still carries reputational value and may contribute to ranking systems even though the publisher chose not to formally endorse.

For audit purposes, a healthy backlink profile has a broad mix of dofollow and nofollow sources. A profile that is 100% dofollow is suspicious and may signal manipulation. A profile that is 100% nofollow is rare in the wild — most editorial sites do not consistently nofollow outbound links.

When pursuing a placement, dofollow is the default goal, but a strong nofollow from a top publication is often more valuable than a dofollow from a tier-three blog. Quality of source dominates attribute mechanics.