How NoFollow External Links Can Help In Optimizing Off-Page SEO

Expert SEO service providers know the value of nofollow external links.

The world of SEO is interesting, where a nofollow tag is also considered good news. NoFollow external links are HTML tags. Using this tag, which is coded as rel=”nofollow”, tells Google not to follow a link or to ignore a link that has been tagged with rel=”nofollow” link. So, a backlink on a website that has been tagged will be ignored by Google. This means that when a backlink is posted on another website, Google will ignore that backlink on the other website, negating the chances of ranking the linked pages. SEO services emphasize the need for external links for SEO optimization.

The opposite of nofollow is dofollow. These are links that allow Google to crawl them. This, in turn, helps in ranking a page on Google. Note that all the links are automatically dofollow links unless defined as link nofollow.

Off-page SEO, hands in gloves with nofollow links

External links are a part of off-page SEO activity. Off-page SEO refers to activities carried out outside the website to get Google to rank a page. It is a way to get referral traffic to a website via guest posting, link building, mentions, social media shares, etc. These activities are about posting links or content on platforms outside the website; hence they are called off-page SEO.

A term that you will come up with simultaneously is on-page SEO. As the term suggests, on-page SEO activities are carried out for the internal optimization of a website. The activities that help in on-page enhancement optimize URLs, Content, title tags, and internal links. A reputed Tampa SEO service will offer you effective on and off-page SEO services.

So how do SEO nofollow external links help off-page SEO

Here are five ways that highlight how nofollow external links help off-page SEO

• Referral traffic on websites: A nofollow tag does not stop a backlink from appearing on other websites or web pages. The HTML tag is meant only for Google to skim over the presence of such backlinks on a website. This means that the backlink will always be visible to the visitor, and the referral traffic will still end up on the page that the backlink is linked to. A nofollow link gets the backlinks visibility.
• Nofollow tags help reduce dofollow link congestion: Dofollow links are good. But are 100% dofollow links appreciated? It must be understood that a perfect score here is fishy business. So, the need for nofollow is also a criterion for credibility.
  The fact that nofollow tags were introduced to do away with backlinks that tried to ride on the success of a similar but another reason must be reiterated here. A website with all dofollow links would mean paid links being authorized to be linked to the website. However, Google is always watching. It is, therefore, always advisable to keep a healthy mix of external links which are nofollow and dofollow at 60% to 90%. But then there is no data to validate this. It will all be a game of trial and error.
• Traffic generation is the end game for nofollow links in SEO: The importance of nofollow tags is for traffic generation. These tags do not help accentuate ranking or aid in falling ranks (in search engines). However, these links still create and funnel traffic into websites. In SEO terms, it is referred to as “link juice.” However, the factor that will help optimize SEO via link juice is when the website has established authoritative sites linked to it.
  Google search engines are usually less stringent when a website has an authoritative association with it. It does choose to ignore the nofollow tag at times when the website is an established one. In such a case, Google crawls a nofollow link which aids in ranking the website.
• New business opportunities: When a website has a decent number of nofollow links, it is already optimizing link juices. This is good news when it comes to new business. The nofollow links are getting the website visibility, generating better traffic. Optimizing on a link, nofollow is one of the crucial aspects of SEO optimization.
• Nofollow from authoritative websites count: It is not easy for backlinks to be given a dofollow tag by established websites that generate massive traffic. But should that be the end of an SEO attempt? Absolutely not! Even a nofollow external link by an authority site is as good. It gets the backlink highlighted on the website increasing the chances of visibility and quality traffic.

The impression of nofollow external links is deceptive. They look like no good links, which are bad news. Hopefully, the pointers here have helped in changing that perception. A reputed Tampa SEO company with expertise in SEO emphasizes how welcome a nofollow link is from a website that has a considerable presence. SEO experts want to get backlinks to get a dofollow tag on such sites, but even they know that a nofollow tag is the second-best in the lot.