“Is the backlink dofollow?” is one of the first questions buyers ask, and it is understandable. Link attributes influence how search engines interpret a link, so people want to know what they are paying for.
The problem begins when that one field becomes the entire definition of quality.
A dofollow link can come from a thin, unrelated page nobody reads. A nofollow link can come from a respected publication that sends hundreds of qualified visitors, creates branded search demand and leads to other writers discovering your company. Reducing those two mentions to a yes-or-no attribute misses most of the picture.
The useful approach is to understand what the attributes mean, confirm the terms before you order and judge each placement by the job it needs to do.
First, a terminology note
“Dofollow” is common SEO language, but there is no rel="dofollow" attribute required for a normal link. A standard link without restrictive relationship attributes is often described as dofollow.
Other attributes can give search engines more context, including:
- nofollow
- sponsored
- ugc
Publishers decide how they apply these based on editorial, advertising and platform policies.
Why buyers prefer dofollow links
The preference is simple: SEOs generally pursue standard editorial links because they may contribute more directly to ranking signals than links marked with restrictive or qualifying attributes.
That makes sense as one part of a campaign. If you are comparing two otherwise similar contextual placements and one is a standard editorial link while the other is nofollow, link treatment can influence the decision.
But “otherwise similar” is doing a lot of work there.
A link's relevance, source quality, page context, visibility and audience can differ dramatically.
What a nofollow link can still do
A nofollow link is not invisible.
People can click it. Journalists can discover your brand through it. Search engines can discover URLs through the broader web ecosystem. The mention can increase familiarity and send referral traffic. It can create evidence that a business is being discussed in real places.
For a public relations campaign, those outcomes may be the main goal.
Imagine two placements:
Placement A: a dofollow link on an unrelated site with almost no real readership.
Placement B: a nofollow link in a well-read industry publication directly relevant to your buyers.
If your goal includes brand discovery, qualified traffic and credibility, Placement B may be more valuable overall even if it is not the link attribute an SEO spreadsheet prefers.
Where nofollow links naturally appear
You may see nofollow links in:
- News and media publications.
- Large community platforms.
- Comments and user-generated areas.
- Some directories.
- Social networks.
- Sites with strict external-link policies.
- Sponsored content programs.
A natural backlink profile can therefore contain a mix of link treatments simply because a brand is mentioned across different parts of the web.
Sponsored links deserve their own category
Paid placements create a different relationship from earned editorial coverage. Publishers may use the sponsored attribute to identify advertising or compensated content.
That is not a technical nuisance to be “fixed.” It is part of transparent publishing practice.
If you buy guest post backlinks, ask what the current placement terms are before checkout and understand that third-party policies can change. On named marketplace listings, review the link-type information as a comparison field rather than assuming it can never change.
UGC links and community participation
The ugc attribute may be used for links created through user-generated content such as forums and community posts.
That does not mean community participation is useless. A useful forum answer can send targeted visitors, build reputation and introduce a brand to people with a specific problem.
Our forum and community backlink service is best understood in that context. The goal should be genuine participation and relevant references, not manufacturing keyword-rich links across hundreds of threads.
Why a dofollow-only profile can be a bad campaign objective
If you tell every vendor, PR contact, directory and publisher that you will only accept dofollow links, you are filtering the web according to an SEO preference rather than how publications actually operate.
That can push the campaign toward sites that are willing to sell link treatment rather than sites with the best audience or editorial relevance.
A stronger campaign asks:
- Is the site relevant?
- Is there a real audience?
- Does the page itself make sense?
- Is the link contextual?
- Is the publication credible?
- What attribute is used?
- What is the price?
- What other campaign value might the mention create?
Link attribute belongs in the checklist, not at the top of the hierarchy every time.
A comparison framework
| Placement factor | Why it matters | Should it override everything else? |
|---|---|---|
| Link attribute | Affects how the link is characterized | No |
| Topical relevance | Determines whether the reference makes sense | Often more important |
| Real traffic | Indicates potential human visibility | Important |
| Page context | Shows how naturally the link is integrated | Important |
| Editorial quality | Helps distinguish real publications from link inventory | Important |
| Price | Determines campaign efficiency | Important |
| Audience fit | Can create referral and brand value | Often underestimated |
Use the full picture.
What about nofollow links in digital PR?
Digital PR frequently earns coverage where the publication controls the final link treatment. The journalist may link, mention without linking, use nofollow, or change the article later.
If the campaign produced genuine coverage from highly relevant media, treating it as a failure because one link was nofollow would misunderstand the purpose of PR.
Our digital PR backlink service focuses on earning coverage opportunities rather than promising a specific outcome that remains under publisher control.
When link attribute should matter a lot
There are cases where it deserves more weight.
You are comparing paid placements with similar quality
If two relevant publications have similar traffic, editorial standards, price and audience, link treatment can be a sensible tie-breaker.
You are specifically buying an SEO placement
If the commercial objective is clearly link acquisition, you should understand the attribute before you spend money. Transparency matters.
Your current profile is heavily skewed
If almost every recent link is from one type of source or carries one pattern, diversity may become part of the planning conversation.
How to audit link attributes without overreacting
Export your backlinks and segment them into standard, nofollow, sponsored, UGC and unknown where possible.
Then review where each group comes from.
Do not panic because 20% or 40% of links are nofollow. There is no universal ratio that every legitimate site should match. A news-heavy brand may have many nofollow links. A small B2B site earning partner links may have mostly standard links.
Look for explanation, not a target percentage.
Link treatment can change after publication
Third-party websites control their code. A publisher can update templates, change policy, add attributes, remove a link or edit a page after you receive delivery.
That is one reason no responsible provider should promise permanent control over an external website.
If you use contextual backlinks or niche edits, confirm the observed link treatment at delivery and keep records, but understand that the publisher remains in control afterward.
Referral traffic can make a nofollow link commercially valuable
SEO teams sometimes forget to look at analytics after a placement goes live.
If a nofollow link sends ten qualified prospects a month to a high-value page, the link has created business value regardless of how a ranking tool classifies it.
Add referral metrics to your reporting:
- Sessions from the referring page.
- Conversion events.
- Assisted conversions.
- Time on page.
- Branded search changes around major coverage.
- Leads that mention the publication.
This is especially important for media and community links.
Should you pay the same price for nofollow and dofollow?
There is no universal answer because price reflects more than the attribute. A strong publication charges for access to its audience, editorial work and brand, not only for SEO treatment.
If you are buying purely for link-building value, you may value a nofollow placement differently. If the publication has real reach, the media value may justify the cost.
Our guest post pricing guide explains how traffic, authority, relevance and editorial quality should influence price alongside link type.
A sensible campaign mix
A mature backlink plan can contain:
- Standard editorial links from relevant articles.
- Branded mentions from PR coverage.
- Nofollow links from strong media or platforms.
- Sponsored links where commercial relationships are disclosed.
- UGC links where users genuinely discuss the brand.
- Citations and directories where they serve a real discovery or entity purpose.
The mix should emerge from real promotion, not from a spreadsheet trying to imitate randomness.
The buyer's checklist
Before approving any placement, ask:
- What is the current link treatment?
- Is that treatment guaranteed by the publisher, or simply what is observed today?
- Is the site relevant to my audience?
- Does the page have a reason to mention my destination?
- Does the publication have credible content and real visibility?
- What happens if the publisher changes policy?
- Is the price sensible for the complete value of the placement?
That gives you a much better decision than “dofollow = good, nofollow = bad.”
Search engines evaluate a web full of different relationships. Your backlink strategy should reflect that reality. Pursue strong editorial links where they make sense, but do not throw away a valuable mention simply because a publication uses a different attribute than your spreadsheet hoped for.