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[Linus Ruzicka Company: Wealth Masters International Contribution Level: 4]

Guys,

I am looking for three things:

1. What good is "No Follow" in HTML code on links?

2. Do we want to use them on internal links, external links, or both?

3. If you suggest using them on internal links (within our own blogs)- why?

I am reading conflicting reports on thier use and whether Google even recognizes them any more. Here is my site of reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Follow. Look at the table half way down and see what I'm talking about.

Thanks,

Linus Ruzicka

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

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Hey Linus,

The way I use nofollow is like this ...

1. Internal Links
I use the tag here to control the flow of PageRank, essentially telling Google that I do not want "points" given to the page on the other end of the link. This is done for the sake of preserving the PR of the referring page. When I do allow a dofollow link it is intentional to build the PR of the receiving page.

2. External Links
Similar to my internal linking ideology, I control the flow of PR to external links. Typically I use nofollow on all external links, with the exception of linking to properties I own; but still on a limited basis.

The main idea here is by preserving PR internally and used on a case by case basis you are controlling the authority of ny particular page. Obviously if you have a page with high PR or "high authority" then a link from that page will carry more weight than a page with low PR. (in theory)

So the use of nofollow and preserving PR allows you to manipulate which internal pages you wish to give more authority. Make sense?


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The main misconception I hear when it comes to nofollow is the thought that it blocks the link credit completely; which is incorrect.

Whether a link is dofollow or nofollow has no bearing on whether you will get "link luv." It simply means the referring page will not be sharing it's PR with your page, hence increasing your page's PR.

I believe at some point back in the 90's the nofollow tag was used to control actual indexing but it no longer works in that capacity. (as indicated in the chart) I've personally used links from sites that utilize nofollow to bookmark or link to a brand new blog post for instance and that post is easily indexed within a few hours and often times sooner. So the "no index" theory in that Wikipedia entry is basically shot.

NoIndex is a common function within your site's robot text, and could be why the nofollow tag is no longer used in that capacity.


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As far as deciding whether or not to use them, it's a personal choice.
This is called PR Sculpting and is a fairly advanced methodology, so your average webmaster does not employ its use. I've read a great deal on the topic and usually it's a process reserved for sites with huge content reserves that aren't ranking well.

The idea is that if you have a behemoth site and it's ranking poorly then you your internal linking is more than likely hemorrhaging somewhere causing the site to suffer. By employing PR Sculpting you bind the wound and get better rankings by leveraging the power of your own content and internal page authority.

Does that help answer your questions?
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[Linus Ruzicka Company: Wealth Masters International Contribution Level: 4]

Thanks for the background info on "NoFollow" guys.

I guess the main thing is to figure out where I want to use it externally.

Have you guys noticed a difference in using or not using the NoFollow code in your links?

[Cathy Fletcher Company: Life Plus International Contribution Level: 2]

Thanks Linus for bringing this up...and Richard for giving an answer that I almost understand. I always wondered what nofollow dofollow was on my WP blog, and just didn't have time to chase after an answer.

I'm a long way from contributing something worthwhile here but I've never been disappointed with popping into BetterNetworker (except when Kevin the pirate was around). The default is set for nofollow so I just left it that way, and it doesn't seem to apply to me. One less thing to worry about.

[Steven Downward Contribution Level: 2]

Wow Richard, that was big. I never thought about the link juice before and how it get's passed around like that and how you can control it a bit. But I gues, I have never been that focused on the PR of my site, I just thought that It will go up over time and with me linking to it.

[Julieanne van Zyl Company: Vemma Nutrition Company Contribution Level: 2]

Matt Cutts from Google has something to say about "do follow" and "no follow" on a recent video interview at WebProNews.

He said we shouldn't use the "no follow" on any internal web pages, and maybe use it for when you're linking to "external" sites. You might want to watch the video for more accuracy about what he actually said.

Click here to listen to Matt Cutts Interview

[Fergus McDonnell Contribution Level: 1]

I just found your tread and am wondering about the no follow code for internal links. I would have thought that passing PR to inner pages would be good. All my internal links are do follow and I am currently making most external links no follow. Am I getting this wrong? Here is my site http://www.ieDepot.ie for tools and hardware.

Fergus

[Host.co.in Ltd. Contribution Level: 2]

Matt Cutts from Google has something to say about "do follow" and "no follow" on a recent video interview at WebProNews.

He said we shouldn't use the "no follow" on any internal web pages, and maybe use it for when you're linking to "external" sites. You might want to watch the video for more accuracy about what he actually said.

Click here to listen to Matt Cutts Interview

Thanks for sharing this, Matt is the only source to get some secrets revealed.