Wondering what are “do follow”, “no follow” and sponsored links and how to add no follow links on your website. Read this FREE tutorial to understand different type of links, how can you no-follow/sponsored link and when should you use no follow links or sponsored links on your website.

With Gutenberg adding No Follow links or Sponsored links has become much more easier. Updated the article to add – How to add no Follow links using Gutenberg editor

What is a link?

One text linking to a blog post or url.

For e.g. Here is an awesome list of Best Blogging Resources I use and recommend.

In above – Best Blogging Resources links to my blog post – https://bloggingmadeeasier.com/recommended-best-blogging-tools-resources/

So, it is an example of link.

What is an anchor text?

The text we use to link is called anchor text.

In above example “Best Blogging Resources” is called an anchor text.

What are internal links?

When I link to my own website. 

In the same blog above you will see me linking to another blog post of mine on http://www.bloggingmadeeasier.com like below. It is called internal linking

E.g. “Related – What is WordPress.org versus WordPress.com”

What are external links?

When I link to a website other than my own website. 

In the same blog above you will see me linking to multiple other blogsites for example Siteground. It is called external linking

E.g. – Click here to Save 8$ per month and get started Siteground at 3.95$ per month

There is also something called Do follow links and No follow links that we would talk about them in next section. 

How to add links?

1. Select a text and press ctrl key and K
2. Or you can use Link button in your WordPress Editor

What are “Do Follow” and “No Follow” links?

From user perspective Do follow links and No follow links are same. From Google perspective they are different.

What is Do Follow tag?

“Do follow” tag tells Google follow this link to reach another site.

What is No follow tag?

“No Follow” tag tells Google do not follow this link to reach another site.

When should I use No follow links?

You should use – No Follow attribute when you want to tell search engines not to follow specific outbound link.

This is usually done when you are asked to add a link in exchange of payment. Nowadays we also have sponsored tag for the purpose.

Do follow links are important for SEO strategy and is a way for websites to build their authority.

Thus, you would see marketing campaigns where and mail people offer to pay money to buy Do follow links. Because it helps people with their SEO strategy.

But please delete such mails and don’t participate in such campaigns. 

IMPORTANT – Getting Do follow links by payments or giving Do follow links on receiving payment is against Google Terms of service. If you give such Do follow links your site may get blocked by Google and you would lose all chances of getting traffic.

If you ever give links on payment make them “No follow” or “Sponsored links”

What are Sponsored links or tags?

Sponsored tag or link is a way of letting Google know that you have been paid for this post.

As per Google guidelines any new sponsored content after September 2019, we should use sponsored tag to let Google know that you have been paid for placing that link. Please note that using no follow tag is ALSO acceptable.

Just do not give “Do Follow” tag for paid link placement.

How to add a “Do Follow” link or tag

Any link by default is Do Follow so you do not have to do anything to make it a “Do Follow” link.

How to add No follow link in Classic WordPress editor?

Add a link as you usually do. Switch to html mode. (You can do this by clicking on text tab at top of your post)

Find your link in html it would look like below

<strong><a href=”http://www.bloggingmadeeasier.com”>No Follow link</a></strong>

To make it “No follow”. Add the tag rel=”nofollow” as below

<strong><a href=http://www.bloggingmadeeasier.com rel=”nofollow”>No Follow link</a></strong>

Well that is it. This tag makes your link a “No follow” links and tells Google not to follow it.

Here is a quick video to show how you can add a No-Follow link

How to add Sponsored tag to links in WordPress

How to add a nofollow link or sponsored links using Gutenberg editor?

I am in love with the new editor. Believe me it too me 6 months to move to it but after I have moved there is no looking back and every day I think – Why did I not move earlier.

Okay. So here is how to add a link using Gutenberg editor. When you are typing a paragraph – click on ctrl K or link icon as before.

You would get a Pop up with check boxes on whether you want to make this link no-follow or sponsored.

If by chance you do not get this checkbox, You can select your block – click on three dots on the right side and click on “edit in html’ and then add no follow tag as we did in Classic editor.

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You may also be interested in reading – How to create Author Box using Gutenberg reusable blocks

Neha Gupta (Blog Coach)

I have been blogging professionally since 2014. I do not only blog about blogging. I reveal and share what I have learned by earning money from my parenting website. So that YOU do not have the repeat the same mistakes I did and can grow and earn FASTER. You can expect some honest truths here.

Want to have a profitable blog – Start here. Already have a blog – Join our FREE Grow your blog challenge

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