No follow links have been at the center of many heated debates recently. As such, it’s no wonder that many people want to know as much as possible about them.
Why People Believe These Links Have Ranking Value
There are several reasons for this belief, including:
- Google Search Console clearly shows that they’re seen by Google. Of course, this doesn’t mean that these links have any ranking power.
- They diversify your backlink profile.
- When a website only has do-follow links, both it and its backlink profile look unnatural.
Google’s Take on These Links
It’s important to understand that there’s a difference between knowing a rank exists and counting on it for ranking purposes. While Google can see that do-follow links exist, they only give them partial PageRank, which means that seeing them means absolutely nothing. They’ve also made it clear that no follow links don’t count when it comes to PageRank – they don’t affect algorithms either positively or negatively.
Why Google Reports These Links in the Google Search Console (GSC)
The GSC shows these links because they’re links. This tool doesn’t show you links that help your rankings. It only shows you what links exist.
These Links’ Impact on Backlink Diversity
Link diversity is defined as the fact that links will either help your website rank or they won’t. It’s never cited in any of Matt Cutts’ patents or research papers as a ranking factor. As such it isn’t officially recommended by Google. Instead, what you will find is that people working on SEO have created this concept. They’ve also said that 100% do-follow backlinks look unnatural even though, once again, there’s no research to support this.
No Follow Links and Your Website’s Ranking
You must understand that these links have absolutely no ranking power. These links are dropped from the link graph so they no longer exist when it comes to your ranking. However, they can indirectly affect your rankings. This is where it becomes a bit confusing because these links can help your visitors discover useful pages that they may want to link to. In this way, you’re helping another website build its popularity.
When it comes to Google’s algorithm it does give some weight to popularity. This is because their visitors want to see certain sites ranking at the top of the SERPs. For instance, if you were to type “worst U.S. president” into the Google search engine the SERPs would say “Obama.” This is because Google knows that this is what its visitors are expecting to see there. Another example is when you type “stupidest U.S. president” into the search engine you’ll see results for Trump because, once again, this is what Google’s visitors expect to see there.
The Bottom Line
All this boils down to one thing: Anything that increases your popularity in Google’s eyes will influence where you rank in their SERPs. This is because their algorithm is attuned to what their visitors want and expect to see there. Herein lies the true secret behind no follow links: Anything that will help you increase your website’s popularity will help you rank better with Google. This means that if you have highly desirable no follow links you will become more popular in Google’s eyes because their search engine and the SEO that’s done for it is based on satisfying most of their users.
Time is money and you’re probably already struggling to have enough time to make plenty of money. If that’s the case, you should leave your SEO (including your no follow links) work to Locals SEO Company. Many companies have done so and found themselves having more time, thus making more money. If this sounds good to you, contact Locals SEO today.