1) The author conducted an experiment with two identical websites, one receiving nofollow links and the other receiving follow links, to test the impact of nofollow links on SEO. 2) Over the course of a year, the website receiving nofollow links consistently outperformed the one receiving follow links in visibility and page 1 keyword rankings. 3) This experiment provides evidence that nofollow links still have value for SEO and can help with website rankings, despite common beliefs that they provide little SEO benefit. The author advocates reporting on and optimizing for nofollow links.

1. The True SEO Value of
Links – Nofollow vs.
Follow Link Experiment
Sarah Fleming | Kaizen
SLIDESHARE.NET/SARAHFLEMING24
@SARAHHFLEMINGPR

2. Building PR coverage, let alone
links is TOUGH

3. ‘Nofollow links have little impact
on SEO’

4. But two-thirds of us agree
nofollow links have value
DO YOU REPORT ON NOFOLLOW LINKS?
NO.
OF
RESPONDENTS
CREDIT: AIRA LINK BUILDING REPORT
2021
66%
34%

5. So how prevalent are nofollow
links in 2021?

6. Based on
analysing 20,000
pieces of
coverage, 16% are
nofollow links
Other links
8%
Follow
59%
No Follow
16%
Mention
17%

7. That’s
equivalent to
one in five links
being nofollow!
Other links
10%
Follow
71%
No Follow
19%

8. Some of these nofollow links come
from top tier publications

9. On March 1st 2020,
Google began to
treat nofollow links
as a "hint" when
crawling sites.

10. A timeline of Google’s nofollow link
2005
Nofollow links
introduced to
reduce comment
spam
September 2019
Google announce
nofollow links will be
seen as a "hint" as well
as changes to UGC &
Sponsored links
March 2020
Nofollow links
now considered
as a hint when
crawling or
indexing
v

11. So one year ago, I
set up 2 identical
sites to prove the
true value of
nofollow links...

12. How important are
nofollow links in
relation to traffic
and keyword
rankings?

13. Today...
The methodology of
the experiment
The results of the
experiment
How to gain value
from nofollow links

14. The rules of the
nofollow experiment

15. Similar domain names

16. Twinned website
structure & products

17. Similar copy, but not duplicate

18. Links pointing to both sites from
the same domains

19. Only one website
received follow links and
the other, nofollow links

20. Limitations of the experiment:
Links were purchased

21. It was impossible
to keep the
experiment
credible without
purchasing links

22. *Drumroll*, let me
introduce you to
the websites...

23. TheNofollow Site
ChristmasPetCollars.com

24. TheFollow Site
Xmas-Pet-Collars.com

25. Same fake products and onsite
content
(Nofollow site) (Follow site)

26. Similar product copy, but not
identical
(Nofollow site) (Follow site)

27. Same target keywords
Red
Christmas
Santa Hats
For Bunny
Rabbits
Christmas
Wreath
Collars For
Dogs
Red
Christmas
Hats For
Guinea Pigs
Green
Knitted
Christmas
Cat Collars
Red
Christmas
Reindeer
Hats For
Large Dogs
Christmas
Antlers and
Bell Collars
For Dogs

28. Bought links to both sites on Fiverr
Sponsored by @PeteCampbell

29. Example link purchased

30. The link profiles
(Nofollow site) (Follow site)

31. So, what were the results?!

32. The nofollow site has outranked the
follow site’s visibility score consistently
Nofollow site
Follow site
Data taken from AWR Cloud
Links were
purchased &
built
December
starts
Nofollow site
outranking

33. The nofollow site has MORE page 1
keywords than the follow site
(Nofollow site) (Follow site)

34. It’s worth noting that the
nofollow site had a more
keyword rich domain

35. So to what extent do nofollow links
help with rankings?

36. Based on this experiment, there are
massive benefits to attaining
nofollow links

37. It’s clear that a natural backlink
profile includes all types of links

38. And the March 20’ algorithm update
is already having an impact on the
value of nofollow links

39. So how can you gain value from
nofollow links?

40. 1. Make your content relevant to the
audience you're trying to target

41. 2. Ensure you're building links that
will drive traffic to your site

42. 3. Get people talking, make your
content for both links and social
media

43. 4. Actually REPORT on nofollow
links!

44. Thank you!
Tweet me @sarahhflemingpr
Find the slides at
slideshare.net/SarahFleming24