Latest NoFollow link policy with some changes, what is it?
Hello everyone! Welcome back to the blog for another online advertising news round-up. I have got the latest news for you all. Do you know what the news is about? The news is related to nofollow links. Now Google is changing the way it interprets nofollow links. Yes, you read it right because Google has updated nofollow link policies with some new changes.
Before I start talking about the changes in nofollow links, first have a look at the intro of nofollow link below.
What are “nofollow” links?
Google introduced nofollow links back in 2005. Nofollow links are those links that do not pass link equity from the linking page to the linked page. These links don’t pass link juice. Moreover, nofollow links don’t allow search engine bots to follow links. It means nofollow links don’t pass PageRank and don’t help a page’s placement in the SERPs. Google crawlers don’t follow nofollow links and therefore the website doesn’t get any authority.
Google’s new announcement to treat nofollow links as “hints”
Last year in the month of September, Google announced that nofollow links will be used as “hints” than as directive from the 1st of March 2020. So what this basically means? It means Google will now consider nofollow links as a hint. Now Google will not give these links credit or a commandment. Basically, Google will use these links as a hint for the purpose of crawling and indexing.
Google’s statement, “For crawling and indexing purpose, nofollow will become a hint as of March 1, 2020.”
Therefore, nofollow link will simply flag up links that Google should consider. This will protect websites form any penalties. Thereby, certain nofollow links will have SEO vale after March 1st.
Google also added two new link attributes for nofollow links
In the announcement of Changement in nofollow attribute to hint, Google also introduced two new attributes to help webmasters to clarify the intent of links.
The two links are:
- rel=“sponsored”: This link is introduced for sponsored links such as ads, sponsorships, etc.
- rel=“ugc”: This link will be used for user-generated content like forums, comments, etc.
In simple words, Google now wants you to apply a unique nofollow attribute to each type of link. Therefore, the current default ref=“nofollow” will be used for guests’ posts and other areas like credit removal. And rel=“sponsored” and rel=“ugc” will be used for other specific niche circumstances.
Any benefit for publishers when using nofollow links as “hints”?
As per the study released from SEO experts, nofollow link attributes as a hint gives no benefits to publishers. Here are three important points:
- No benefit to publishers in the form of a ranking boost.
- Cost of implementing change outweighs perceived benefits
- Publishers will not get any incentive for using nofollow new link attribute.
What’s the new change means for webmasters?
This is a very tough question to answer. It is simply because you will not be able to see any immediate changes to your website. It will take some time to make an impact on your website. Furthermore, if you want Google to have a better understanding of your content then you should update your rel tags as soon as possible. Ultimately, the more Google knows about your website, the better your ranking chance is- as long as you’re abiding the rules and regulation.
What do you think this change will only impact webmasters? No guys, people like publishers and marketers will also be impacted, how? Read below to know.
What’s the new change of nofollow links mean for marketers and publishers?
To be very clear, these new changes in nofollow links have made less impact on publishers and marketers. Google has already said that nofollow links will continue work as they did before. So there is no chance to be penalized even if you use sponsored or UGC attributes. However, Google won’t penalize you for using the wrong attribute but it may penalize you for using neither.
Furthermore, in terms of SEO benefits, you will not see anything change if you use new attributes. But you will surely see a positive impact on websites.
The bottom line
Guys, the new changes Google made in nofollow links are good for every marketer or webmaster. With these new changes, brands can get more value from incoming links without the host website running any risk of being penalized. I have explained how new changes will benefit marketers, webmasters, and publishers. Thereby, you can also utilize these new changes to get a good rank of your site on Google.
Kindly comment below to let us know if you have any query. For more informative articles get in touch with us till then keep reading and keep sharing.
