Why Nofollow Still Matters
With all of the focus here on dofollow, I thought it would be important to remind everyone that nofollow sites still matter for the following reasons.
1. There are important social networking sites that are nofollow.
Think about the most popular social networks – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, and so on. While all of these networks are nofollow, they do provide a lot of other benefits, including making social connections and building an online presence and reputation.
2. There are high traffic generating social bookmarking networks that are nofollow.
StumbleUpon is the main social bookmarking network that comes to mind in terms of nofollow networks that generate a lot of traffic when used properly, and should not be ignored.
3. There are great blogs in every niche that are nofollow.
Most of the biggest blogs in every niche are probably nofollow. Getting a valuable comment in first on a high traffic blog might give you greater exposure to others interested in the same topics that you write about.
4. Link building should look natural.
For those just interested in the dofollow movement for link building, remember that search engines like natural link building. Natural links can be both dofollow and nofollow – having a nice mixture can be beneficial in a successful link building campaign.
Your Nofollow Campaign
While I’m sure a lot of readers of this site focus on dofollow, are there any other reasons you can think of to add some nofollow to your list as well?
One of the first parts of my link building campaigns is to submit to places that might actually bring me relevant traffic in their own right, so I completely agree with you. I only really worry about nofollow in this context if I am paying for the link.
David Leonhardt’s has talked a bit about whether nofollow links are actually given value in “Look who follows NoFollow links!” and recently on SEOmoz there was a test by Danny Dover “An Update to Our Testing on PageRank Sculpting with Nofollow” which wasn’t broad enough to be conclusive, oh well.
I think there needs to be a shift in thinking regarding the nofollow tag, lets hope that sites such as this can make a difference.
Latest blog ..How to hire a UK based SEO Copywriter or Copywriting Service
Most often I start writing comment on what I read on the page. I rarely check whether the blog is do follow or nofollow. I know dofollow will allow me to gain bit of linkjuice but the traffic advantage from nofollow sites can never be ignored.
Regarding Stumbleupon, it used to be one of the largest source of traffic to my blog, but gradually organic (search engine traffic) started to grow to a considerable number and stumbleupon interface changed that made it different how you can share your links, made it less useful.
Latest blog ..I Write for Those Ugly Ads
I agree with you, I only leave comments on posts that I enjoy and have something to add to. The whole nofollow vs dofollow thing never really enters my mind.
Latest blog ..How To Combat Work Overload
I can’t wait for the day when the Search Engines ignore and dofollow, and nofollow. This would remove this debate and help level the playing field for those who don’t know so much about SEO.
Latest blog ..Why Haven’t You Achieved Your Biggest Goal Yet?
Well, Thanks for the tips. I am trying my maximum to get both nofollow and dofollow links.
Latest blog ..Google Continuously Updating Backlinks?
I really dislike the nofollow tag. I think it’s a way to change the content of a website and make it something other than the surfer sees. It’s not much different than cloaking to me.
I think Google should develop ways to devalue some links, such as the ones in bookmarking sites or anywhere where there is no actual human editor overseeing the link quality. It’s their issue and should be handled within their algorithm. I don’t think it’s up to webmasters to artificially manipulate the way the internet is shaped.
Latest blog ..Know of a Good Program for Domainoholics?