Should You Use NoFollow Tags?
Should You Use NoFollow Tags? Mostly no, but sometimes yes.
The nofollow value (also known as nofollow tags, or more specifically the rel=nofollow tag), is a value that can be added to your content to keep search engine authority on the linking page (instead of passing it via the link, thereby making stuff like comment spam ineffective and discouraging people from doing it). It was recommended by the face of Google, Matt Cutts, in 2005.
That’s the definition of nofollow. But does nofollow matter anymore? Like many other site optimization tools, nofollow is now essentially obsolete. Only a year after his initial recommendation, Matt Cutts explained that nofollow does not ‘keep’ authority on the linking page after all.
So, why do people continue to use it? Probably because they don’t keep up with new developments. But is there ever a time when you need to use the nofollow tag? Yes. If you’re selling links or doing something that could be interpreted as selling links, and want to avoid getting banned, you may want to use nofollow tags when necessary.
Be careful, though. Matt Cutts is sounding off on nofollow again, saying that it now “burns” PageRank. He explains, “I wouldn’t recommend it, because it isn’t the most effective way to utilize your PageRank. In general, I would let PageRank flow freely within your site. The notion of “PageRank sculpting” has always been a second- or third-order recommendation for us. I would recommend the first-order things to pay attention to are 1) making great content that will attract links in the first place, and 2) choosing a site architecture that makes your site usable/crawlable for humans and search engines alike.”
That’s a lot to digest, so here’s a simpler explanation: It’s smarter to make sure that users and Web crawlers can find your site by clicking links, rather than by using nofollow tags to “sculpt” PageRank. In other words, pay more attention to your site architecture than to other’s linking practices on your site. Then, using nofollow tags won’t feel like such a necessary action – because you know that your site is strong enough to handle a few bad links in the comments.
