Google search engine optimization offers various techniques to keep track of the activities of the websites while used in the search engine. The various tags, attributes, and links are used on the web pages that can easily crawl in the Google search engine.
The web pages are indexed and it helps in getting the Search Engine Page Ranks (SERP) for every page. The page ranks help in promoting the web pages in the search engines that make it visible on the higher pages.
The various useful features of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) provided by Google helps the websites to get the much-needed recognition in the world of internet marketing by offering higher page ranks to the web pages.
What is the nofollow link attributes in SEO?
The Nofollow is the HTML tag without any link and make use of the attribute rel=”nofollow”. The nofollow tag is used with links that are ignored by the search engines.
The nofollow links don’t have any impact on the search engine because these links don’t trigger the page rank of a web page. The link is not used either for crawling or indexing. The use and the purpose of the page ranks are to drive the traffic and to help SEO indirectly.
The nofollow attribute is actively used while promoting web pages in the search engine for the past 14 years. Google on September 10th, 2019, had announced that the nofollow attribute would get two more similar elements such as the sponsored attribute and the UGC (user-generated content) attribute.
Src – https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/09/evolving-nofollow-new-ways-to-identify.html
The nofollow attribute is defined as:
<a href=”http://www.example.com/” rel=”nofollow”>Link text</a>
The nofollow attribute is useful in highlighting the link to Google which cannot parse the Pagerank and the destination URL will not be influenced.
What is the need for two more attributes when the nofollow attribute was working perfectly well? The two new attributes – sponsored and the UGC attributes introduced by Google will not allow the links to parse the PageRanks but will offer a hint to Google regarding usage of link and its intent.
What the No Follow Links 2.0 change means?
The changes in the nofollow links that Google has introduced regarding its usage and influence on the search engine is in the form of two additional attributes – sponsored attribute and the UGC attributes which are used for handling the links.
The UGC attribute allows random people to make use of links to add to the website content. The Sponsored attribute allows webmasters to use the links for advertisement.
How the No Follow Links became unreliable?
The nofollow links were introduced first in the year 2005, and it has been found in many prominent areas that are far more influential than blogs, spam, etc.
But the Nofollow links have become unreliable due to the factors given below:
- Newspaper content: Several highly influential websites, web portals are often found using nofollow links in the content published by the guest writers. Most of such links are sold dishonestly. The nofollow links are used for false purposes.
- Website navigation: To promote the websites and to enhance the page rank of the web pages, most of the webmasters used nofollow links for indexing and for internal navigation. In 2009, Google decided to reduce the influence of the internal link completely.
- User profile links (UGC): The user profile links are used which have resulted in heavy spam for 15 years. The nofollow links are used and it has completely influenced forum, community software, and other applications till recently – in the year 2019.
- Comment links (UGC): The nofollow links were used heavily for about 15 years. The link software, other relevant services are used, maintained, updated, and sold till the changes were made in the year 2019.
- Highly reputable resources: Many high profile websites have made use of nofollow links and are used worldwide. Wikimedia has used such links in English as well as in German languages and it has higher influence in many cases.
- Random websites: While using the Premium WordPress plugin, the few options t allow nofollow links to be used internally and externally in the random websites, despite the penalty.
- Fines & Penalties: The link sellers who sell the nofollow links illegally are fined by Google for the outgoing links. Google also gives penalties to the buyers for buying the links from the illegal link sellers.
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What do you mean by Sponsored Link Attribute?
The sponsored link attribute is mainly used to make the advertisements. The attribute added to the link as sponsored is a definite label and indicates its purpose of endorsement to the webmaster. It comes under the category of trustworthy links.
How to add a sponsored link?
To add the sponsored link, make use of the attribute rel = ‘sponsored’ for any paid or sponsored link.
<a href=”http://www.example.com/” rel=”sponsored”>Link text</a>
What do you mean by UGC Attribute (How to Add?)
The UGC (user-generated content) attribute indicates that the link remains within the user-generated-content. It can be used as a user message on a forum post or a user-comment. The webmaster signifies the UGC attribute does not endorse a link but treats it as a user-generated link.
How to add a UGC attribute?
To add UGC attribute, make use of the attribute rel = ‘ugc’ for the user-generated content related link.
<a href=”http://www.example.com/” rel=”ugs”>Link text</a>
Why Not Just Stick With the Nofollow Attribute?
After it is introduced in the year 2005, the nofollow attribute has become part of the website and the web pages which have become part of the Google search engine. Unlike other attributes and links used in the web pages, which are used in crawling and indexing the web pages in the Google search engine and helping the search engine to promote the website.
The useful attributes and links allow indexing of the web pages to get higher page ranks for the web pages in the Google search. The nofollow links remain ineffective and do not influence the Google search engine or page rank. The nofollow links neither crawl in the search engine nor does it index the web pages.
The nofollow attribute works perfectly well from the day it was introduced. The link works effectively when it is used along with the search engine. The link is useful in extending the attribute nofollow.
The attribute neither crawls into the search engine nor does it allow indexing. The nofollow links don’t influence the page rank in Google. The linking architecture is improved with the help of two useful attributes.
The two attributes sponsored and UGC is used in defining the links. Both the links offer natural patterns that are useful in defining the page ranks in the Google search engine.
The new attributes are also useful in assisting Google while analyzing the anchor text which about destination content. The attributes sponsored and UGC are introduced in 2019 and have helped the site owners in getting higher ranks in the search engine and protects them from working against illegal activities.
How do the Nofollow, Sponsored, & UGC Updates Affect Webmasters or Impact SEO?
The links nofollow, sponsored and UGC are highly useful links, and each of the links has its functionality. These updates of the links are definitely useful and help webmasters in managing the websites using search engine optimization.
Nofollow link is specially designed to extend the attributes without having any impact on the Google search engine. The links are not allowed for any form of endorsement.
It has also created confusion about the links because it was not clearly known that which links are trustworthy and which are untrusted. Also, it is not easy to find which are the links placed by the webmasters in the websites and which are placed by the users.
There are some activities relating to the links are taken place which is not legal at all.
Let us find out some of the useful factors which can help webmasters to handle the newly introduced attributes effectively:
Webmasters should follow the given tips below:
The attributes should be used according to relevance. The attribute rel can be defined as given below:
rel = ‘nofollow UGC’.
For the paid links the attributes used can be used in the following given form.
- You can use the nofollow attribute or
- you can use the combination of – nofollow + sponsor
It is not required to have markup changes when the nofollow attribute is used on either advertisement or the sponsored links. But Google always allows switching the elements of future link as per the convenience.
Bottom Line:
The aspects of the Google search engine and the well-defined procedures are useful in supervising the websites, web pages, and the content offered in web pages. The SEO techniques help in finding the usefulness of the websites and also to check the validity of various factors such as attributes, tags, links, uniqueness of the content, and the website.
The links such as nofollow, sponsored, and the UGC help in using the links properly without having any doubt or misunderstanding. The links are useful while designing the websites and managing the content.
The webmasters find the added attributes highly useful and it also helps in keeping the websites according to the Google requirement and effectively promoting in the Google search engine.
