September 26, 2008 by James Oliver
One of the most keenly discussed tools at the disposal of SEOs currently is the Nofollow tag. While a large proportion of SEOs champion it as a reliable and well tested way to help pages climb the rankings, others are more sceptical, preferring to simply to adjust their site architecture or robots.txt file.
So what is Nofollow?
PageRank on Google, as we know, is defined by links coming in – the more links the higher the rank. Pages on the up can drag other pages up with them by linking to them in turn – a process known as, ‘passing link juice.’
Now, here’s where the Nofollow attribute becomes important. If your top ranked web page (probably your home page) has 5 links to other pages your ‘link juice’ will be distributed evenly, 20% each. However, if you were to add a Nofollow attribute to one of them, that link would receive no juice and the distribution to the remaining four would be greater, 5% greater in fact. Think of it like placing your thumb over the edge of a hose pipe, the flow immediately gets stronger.
Essentially the point of Nofollow is to divert attention away from unimportant pages like the ‘contact us’ page and siphon that attention to the page, or pages you want greater exposure for. Almost immediately, you’ll start seeing your pages climb up the rankings. They in turn will be in a position to start gathering links after people find them in search engine results further enhancing rankings in a recurring cycle.
Of course, it isn’t that easy, this is the internet after all. There are things you need to consider. Most importantly, you need to have a complete understanding of how customers use and access your site. If, for example, you have a lot of people coming in through the ‘contact us’ page, you really don’t want to start messing around with its rankings.
Before you start using Nofollow you have to know your site inside out. Ask yourself questions, which pages are making you money? How are users navigating around the site? Would it be better to simply change the architecture?
When you’re sure, use Nofollow slowly, change a couple of things at a time and document the results to see it they’re working. It’s also worth remembering that there’s an ongoing debate about whether Nofollow can make a site look ‘over optimised,’ so keep abreast of that to avoid getting penalised. Also, because of Nofollow’s history as an anti-spam measure, to some, Nofollow on a link sends up warning signs that say ‘do not trust this link.’ Is that the impression you want your site to create.
Just remember, if you’re careful with it, Nofollow can be your best friend. If not, it can be a quick way to sabotage yourself. Go in with your eyes open.
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