{"id":17010,"date":"2020-04-21T10:06:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T10:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?p=12325"},"modified":"2022-02-03T20:52:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T20:52:43","slug":"googles-john-mueller-explains-follow-links-rankings-seo-misconceptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-follow-links-rankings-seo-misconceptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s John Mueller explains do-follow links, rankings, and SEO misconceptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are dofollow links necessary for rankings? Can nofollow also be useful, or should those links just be discarded?<\/span><\/p>\n

Google\u2019s John Mueller recently clarified some common misconceptions about dofollow links, nofollow links, search engine rankings, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a Google After Hours Office Hangout, a webmaster asked the following question:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows that a dofollow link will help to gain rank besides many other signals. So no one is linking to me with a dofollow link as it costs some link juice for them as well. So how can a newbie like me grow my website if no one is willing to give me dofollow links?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The website owner continued by mentioning the nofollow policies of some popular websites. He added:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd many big sites have implemented sitewide nofollow policies, so it\u2019s just next to impossible for me as a newbie to get a dofollow link from a big site.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How can a newbie grow in 2020, or should they write content and wait indefinitely?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Is Google\u2019s system the same like others who favor only big players? Or will Google come up with new rules for links that will not differentiate between the type of links?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Dofollow and Nofollow links<\/b><\/h2>\n

In his response, John Mueller confirmed that nofollow links are considered as an SEO signal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mueller answered:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re already in that state we\u2019re using nofollow as a signal. It\u2019s not the case that we completely always ignore those links.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Especially in some locations, we\u2019ve seen that a lot [of] new websites are only linked with nofollow links, and it would be a shame for us not to be able to discover those links and to show them in search.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That\u2019s something where we do try to use nofollow more as a signal.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The bigger picture<\/b><\/h2>\n

The biggest takeaway here is that the publisher was focusing on the wrong thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of blaming the lack of dofollow links for lower search engine rankings \u2014 which is not a factor as Mueller explained \u2014 the publisher should have looked into other factors and how to improve search rankings without only relying on external links.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Mueller also echoed the same thoughts. He further added:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, though, I think it\u2019s also worthwhile to think about the bigger picture when it comes to the web and not just to assume that you need to always just get links, and then you\u2019ll be shown in search.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

John also compared opening up a website to opening and operating a regular physical business. In both cases, you need to make your business stand out and be different from other businesses. Moreover, you will also need multiple ways to bring traffic to your business, without solely relying on recommendations (links) by others.<\/span><\/p>\n

As John said, <\/span>\u201cEssentially, opening up a website it\u2019s kind of the same as opening up a business, and you need to do various things to get the ball rolling. And at some point, if you\u2019re doing really great work, if you\u2019re doing something that\u2019s really fantastic for people, then you will get recommendations from various folks.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And those recommendations could be in the form of dofollow links. They could be in the form of nofollow links.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is very important information. If we are to summarize this, we will highlight two main points:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dofollow links aren\u2019t absolutely necessary. Google will also look at nofollow links and count them as a link signal.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Online businesses should not just rely on backlinks and recommendations. Focus on other factors. For example, making your business different and providing value to your customers, and links may follow in the form of dofollow and nofollow.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Are dofollow links necessary for rankings? Can nofollow also be useful, or should those links just be discarded? Google\u2019s John Mueller recently clarified some common misconceptions about dofollow links, nofollow links, search engine rankings, and more. In a Google After Hours Office Hangout, a webmaster asked the following question:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[33,22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nJohn Mueller explains link, rankings and misconceptions | IMSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Google\u2019s John Mueller recently clarified some common misconceptions about dofollow links, nofollow links, search engine rankings, and more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-follow-links-rankings-seo-misconceptions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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