SEO Follow Links: What They Are and How to Earn Them Safely

If you have ever worked on SEO follow links, you have probably heard the term dofollow used just as often. Both describe the same thing: a normal link that can help the page it points to in search results. Understanding how these links work, and how Google treats the other types of links, is one of the most practical steps you can take for off-page SEO.

What Are SEO Follow Links?

A follow link is a standard HTML link with no special attribute telling search engines to ignore it. In practice, that means a link without rel=”nofollow”, rel=”sponsored” or rel=”ugc”. There is no official rel=”dofollow” attribute. When people say a link is dofollow, they simply mean the link does not carry one of those three attributes.

A typical follow link looks like this in the page code: a standard anchor tag with an href and no rel value. Anchor text, which is the clickable words, still matters because it gives search engines context about the page you are linking to.

How Google Treats Nofollow, Sponsored and UGC Links

Google used to treat nofollow as a strict instruction. In September 2019, it announced that nofollow would become a hint, and that change took effect in March 2020. Google also introduced two more attributes at the same time. InMotion Hosting’s guide to nofollow, sponsored and UGC links explains the three attributes in plain language.

• rel=”nofollow” is for links you do not want to endorse. Google may still crawl them and may use them as hints.
• rel=”sponsored” is for paid placements, ads and affiliate links. Google prefers this attribute for any link that was paid for.
• rel=”ugc” is for user-generated content, such as blog comments and forum posts.

The key point is that these are hints rather than strict commands. A nofollow link is not worthless, and a follow link is not a guaranteed ranking boost. The SEOJuice guide on nofollow and dofollow links makes the same point: the useful question is whether a link is an editorial endorsement, not simply whether it passes value.

Why SEO Follow Links Still Matter

Follow links remain one of the clearest signals that another site vouches for your content. When a relevant, trustworthy website links to your guide, product page or research, that endorsement can help search engines understand your topic and your authority. Over time, a natural mix of follow links from different domains is a strong part of a healthy backlink profile.

Quality matters far more than quantity. One link from a respected industry site that writes about your topic can be worth more than dozens of links from unrelated, low-quality pages. Relevance, editorial context and the surrounding content are what make a follow link useful.

How to Earn SEO Follow Links the Right Way

The best follow links come from being worth linking to. Here are the approaches that tend to work over the long term:

• Publish original research or data. Surveys, benchmarks and original tests give journalists and bloggers a reason to cite you.
• Create comprehensive guides. Detailed, accurate resources are often linked from other sites as references.
• Do digital PR. Pitch genuinely newsworthy stories to relevant publications and offer expert commentary.
• Fix broken links on other sites. If a site links to a page that no longer exists, you can offer a working replacement, such as your own similar guide.
• Build partnerships. Guest posts on relevant sites, interviews and joint projects can earn natural follow links when they are editorially relevant.

Outreach should be personal and honest. Explain why your resource helps the reader of that specific site, and do not send the same template to hundreds of people.

Paid Links: Use Sponsored, Not Follow

Paid links need a clear label. If you pay for a placement, sponsor a post or run an affiliate link, use rel=”sponsored”. Using a normal follow link on a paid placement goes against Google’s guidelines and can put a site at risk of a manual action. Relevant Audience’s breakdown of link attributes covers when each attribute fits.

Common Mistakes With SEO Follow Links

• Chasing only follow links. A profile with only follow links can look unnatural. Real websites usually have a mix.
• Buying links without disclosure. Paid follow links are a common reason sites lose visibility.
• Spamming comments and forums. These links should normally be ugc or nofollow, and mass posting rarely helps.
• Ignoring relevance. A follow link from an unrelated site adds little context.
• Forgetting internal links. Your own site’s internal links also help search engines understand your structure, and you control them fully.

How to Check Whether a Link Is Follow

You do not need special software for a quick check. Right-click the link on the page, choose Inspect, and look at the anchor tag. If there is no rel attribute, or if the rel value does not include nofollow, sponsored or ugc, the link is a follow link. Browser extensions and SEO tools can also check many links at once, which is useful when auditing a whole site.

SEO Follow Links Checklist

• Link only when the source is relevant and trustworthy.
• Use descriptive anchor text, not generic phrases like “click here”.
• Mark paid links as sponsored.
• Mark user comments and forum links as ugc.
• Keep a mix of follow and nofollow links that looks natural.
• Review your backlink profile every few months and remove or disavow clearly harmful links.

Frequently Asked Questions About SEO Follow Links

Is a dofollow link the same as a follow link?

Yes. Dofollow is an informal term for a link without nofollow, sponsored or ugc attributes.

Do nofollow links help SEO at all?

They can. Google treats nofollow as a hint, and such links can still bring real visitors and brand exposure, which can lead to more natural links over time.

How many SEO follow links do I need?

There is no fixed number. A smaller set of relevant, high-quality follow links usually matters more than a large number of weak ones.

Can I buy SEO follow links?

Buying links that pass ranking value violates Google’s guidelines. If you pay for a placement, it should carry rel=”sponsored”.

Final Thoughts

SEO follow links are valuable when they come from editorial endorsements. Focus on creating resources that people genuinely want to cite, label paid and user-generated links correctly, and build a natural mix over time. For more practical guides, explore our SEO and marketing category.