What Are Dofollow Backlinks?

Not all backlinks are equal. A single editorial link from a relevant site can outweigh a hundred directory links. Here's every type that matters, ranked by actual SEO impact.

By Link Attribute

Type	What it means	SEO value
Dofollow	Default. Passes ranking credit.	Full value
Nofollow rel="nofollow"	Tells Google not to pass credit. Used for paid links, comments, untrusted content.	No direct ranking value, but drives traffic and looks natural in a profile
Sponsored rel="sponsored"	Marks paid placements. Required by Google's guidelines.	No ranking value (but paid links work for traffic/referrals)
UGC rel="ugc"	Marks user-generated content (forum posts, comments).	No direct ranking value

A natural backlink profile has a mix — roughly 70-90% dofollow with the rest nofollow/UGC. A profile that's 100% dofollow looks manipulated.

By Placement

• Editorial / contextual — a link inside the body of an article, placed by the author because your content is worth referencing. The gold standard.
• Resource page — listed on a "helpful resources" page. Good if the page is curated and relevant.
• Guest post bio — link in your author bio. Fine, but the in-content links in the post itself carry more weight.
• Sidebar / footer — sitewide links. Heavily discounted by Google; a footer link on 500 pages counts as roughly one link.
• Directory — listed in a directory. Real niche directories (think industry associations) have some value; general "SEO directories" have none.

By Source Quality

What actually determines a link's power:

1. Relevance — a link from a site in your niche beats a higher-authority link from an unrelated site.
2. Authority — the linking domain's own backlink strength (its Domain Rating / Authority).
3. Traffic — real sites with real visitors. If nobody visits the linking page, Google notices.
4. Editorial standards — was the link placed by a human who chose your content, or sold/bought/automated?
5. Link position — early in the content, surrounded by relevant text, beats a buried link.

What to Avoid

• PBN links — private blog networks. Work until they don't, then you lose everything overnight.
• Link farms — pages that exist only to link out. Zero editorial bar.
• Automated / generated links — forum spam, blog comment blasts, "backlink generator" output.
• Exact-match anchor spam — 50 links all saying "best plumber dallas" is a penalty waiting to happen.

The Bottom Line

Chase editorial, contextual, dofollow links from relevant sites with real traffic. Everything else is either a supporting signal or a waste of money. And always check what the sites outranking you actually have — that's your real target.

Dofollow Backlink FAQs

What are dofollow backlinks?

A dofollow backlink is a normal link with no rel attribute telling search engines to ignore it — it passes ranking credit ("link juice") from the linking page to yours. They're the default: every link is dofollow unless explicitly marked nofollow, sponsored, or ugc.

What is the difference between dofollow and nofollow backlinks?

Dofollow links pass ranking credit; nofollow links (rel="nofollow") tell Google not to pass credit. Nofollow links still drive referral traffic and make your profile look natural — a healthy profile has both, roughly 70–90% dofollow.

Are nofollow links good for SEO?

Indirectly, yes. They don't pass ranking credit, but they drive real traffic, diversify your profile (100% dofollow looks manipulated), and nofollow links from high-traffic pages often get seen — and re-linked as dofollow — by others.

How do I get dofollow backlinks?

Earn them with linkable assets (data studies, free tools, definitive guides), find competitor gaps with a link gap analysis, or buy editorial placements on real sites. Avoid anything automated — that's how profiles get penalized.