Dofollow

A dofollow link is an ordinary hyperlink that passes ranking authority to the page it points to. In practice, "dofollow" is not a special attribute you add to a link; it simply describes the default behavior of a standard link that has not been marked otherwise. When a page links to another page without any instruction to withhold credit, search engines are free to follow that link and pass along a share of the source page's authority, helping the destination rank. The word exists mainly to contrast with nofollow links, which explicitly tell search engines not to pass that value.

Mechanically, a dofollow link is just an anchor element pointing to a destination, with no rel attribute value that restricts how search engines treat it. Because the link carries no such restriction, crawlers follow it, count it as a signal, and let authority flow through it, an effect often described informally as passing link value. This is the behavior that makes links so central to search ranking: the default assumption is that a link is a genuine reference, and a genuine reference deserves to transfer credibility. The amount of value passed depends on factors like the authority and relevance of the linking page, but the key point is that a dofollow link is eligible to pass it at all, whereas a nofollow link is not.

The term was coined by contrast. When Google introduced the nofollow attribute in 2005 as a way for sites to link to a page without vouching for it, the community needed a word for the normal links that still passed value, and "dofollow" emerged as the natural opposite. There has never been an official "dofollow" attribute in HTML; the label is a convenient shorthand for "a link that is not nofollow," which is to say, an ordinary link behaving the way links always did before nofollow existed.

For a business, dofollow links matter because they are the links that actually build search authority. When you earn a dofollow link from a reputable, relevant site, some of that site's credibility flows to your page, strengthening your ability to rank. This is why link building focuses heavily on acquiring quality dofollow links: they are the ones that move the needle for organic search. Nofollow links can still bring referral traffic and brand exposure, but for the specific purpose of building ranking authority, dofollow links are the currency that counts.

There are important nuances. A common mistake is assuming every link you earn passes authority; many large platforms, user-generated sites, and paid placements apply nofollow or related attributes by default, so a link's visible presence does not guarantee it is helping your rankings. Another error is chasing dofollow links so aggressively that you pursue low-quality or manipulative sources, which can build a profile of toxic backlinks and invite penalties. Relevance and trust still matter more than the dofollow label alone. It also helps to remember that a healthy, natural link profile includes a mix of both dofollow and nofollow links, since a pattern of only authority-passing links can look engineered. The practical approach is to earn quality dofollow links naturally while accepting that a diverse mix is normal and healthy.