How to Check if a Backlink is Dofollow

When working on your blog’s SEO strategy, you’ll quickly realize that backlinks play a pivotal role in improving your search engine rankings. But not all backlinks are equal. Dofollow links are the golden ticket in SEO because they pass “link juice” or SEO value to the linked page, helping to boost your site’s visibility and domain authority. However, before you start building your backlink profile, it’s essential to determine whether the links you’re receiving (or giving) are dofollow or nofollow.

In this blog post, we will explain how to check if a backlink is dofollow, why it matters, and the best tools and methods to easily identify the type of backlinks pointing to your website.

What is a Dofollow Backlink?

Before diving into how to check for dofollow links, let’s clarify what a dofollow backlink is.

A dofollow backlink is a regular hyperlink that passes SEO value (often called link juice) from one page to another. When a website links to your content with a dofollow backlink, it sends a signal to search engines like Google, indicating that the linked page is trustworthy, authoritative, and worthy of a higher ranking. In short, dofollow links help improve your rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

If you want to optimize your blog’s SEO, earning dofollow backlinks is crucial, but first, you need to identify them accurately.

Why Checking for Dofollow Links Matters

Knowing whether a backlink is dofollow or nofollow can make a huge difference in your SEO strategy. Here’s why:

Impact on SEO: Dofollow links pass SEO value, which directly influences your search engine rankings. A high-quality dofollow link from an authoritative site can give your blog a boost in the SERPs.
Link Profile Quality: Google evaluates the quality of backlinks pointing to your site. A natural backlink profile includes a mix of dofollow and nofollow links. Focusing only on dofollow links can make your link profile look unnatural, which could lead to penalties. So, understanding the balance is key.
Focus on the Right Links: If you’re working on link-building strategies, you’ll want to focus on dofollow links since they can improve your SEO performance. However, checking all your backlinks—dofollow or nofollow—helps you analyze your overall link-building efforts.

How to Check if a Backlink is Dofollow: Methods

There are several methods available to check whether a backlink is dofollow or nofollow. Some are manual, while others require the help of SEO tools. Let’s break them down:

1. Inspecting the HTML Source Code Manually

One of the most straightforward ways to check if a backlink is dofollow or nofollow is by inspecting the HTML source code. Here’s how you can do it:

Step-by-Step Guide:

Right-click on the hyperlink (backlink) you want to inspect.
Click “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” (this option will vary slightly depending on your browser).
In the developer tools that open, look for the <a> tag that corresponds to the link.
Check if there is a rel="nofollow" attribute in the link.
- If the link has rel="nofollow", then it is a nofollow link.
- If the rel attribute is missing, or there is no “nofollow” value, the link is dofollow by default.

Example:

Nofollow link:htmlCopy code<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Click here</a>
Dofollow link (no “rel” attribute or other values):htmlCopy code<a href="https://example.com">Click here</a>

This method requires you to check each individual link, but it’s a quick and effective way to identify whether a link is dofollow or nofollow directly on the page.

2. Using Google Chrome Extensions

If you’re looking for a quicker and more efficient way to check backlinks, several browser extensions can instantly tell you if a link is dofollow or nofollow. These tools are especially useful if you’re analyzing multiple backlinks on a website at once.

Here are a couple of popular extensions for Google Chrome:

SEOquake: This is a free browser extension that provides a wealth of SEO data, including information about backlinks. It will show whether the link is dofollow or nofollow directly on the page.
NoFollow: The NoFollow Chrome extension is a lightweight tool that automatically highlights nofollow links in a different color, making it easy to spot them on any webpage.

How to Use:

Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
After installation, simply visit any page with backlinks.
The extension will highlight nofollow links or provide you with a summary of link attributes, showing which links are dofollow or nofollow.

These extensions work in real-time and are incredibly useful for quickly assessing a large number of backlinks without having to dig into the code.

3. Using SEO Tools and Software

For a more detailed analysis of all backlinks pointing to your website, you can use SEO tools. These tools are designed to analyze backlink profiles, showing which links are dofollow, which are nofollow, and providing other critical SEO data.

Some popular SEO tools that can help you identify dofollow backlinks include:

Ahrefs: Ahrefs provides an in-depth backlink analysis and clearly shows whether backlinks are dofollow or nofollow in its backlink reports.
Moz: Moz’s Link Explorer allows you to analyze your website’s backlinks and provides information on whether they are dofollow or nofollow.
SEMrush: SEMrush offers a detailed backlink analysis tool that shows you both dofollow and nofollow backlinks, helping you monitor the quality and effectiveness of your link-building efforts.

How to Use These Tools:

Create an account and log into your SEO tool of choice.
Go to the Backlink Analysis section (the exact location may vary depending on the tool).
Enter your website URL to get a list of backlinks.
The report will show the backlink type (dofollow or nofollow) for each link along with other helpful metrics like authority, anchor text, and more.

These tools usually come with a paid subscription, but they offer free trials or limited free access, making them a worthwhile investment for anyone serious about SEO.

4. Using Backlink Checkers

If you want a quick and free way to check your backlinks, backlink checkers can be very helpful. Some tools allow you to analyze the type of backlinks pointing to your site without requiring a paid subscription. These are typically more limited in features but still quite useful for basic checks.

Some free backlink checker tools include:

Ubersuggest: Provides a basic overview of your backlinks, including whether they are dofollow or nofollow.
Small SEO Tools: Offers a free backlink checker that shows both dofollow and nofollow links.

Simply enter your website URL or the target page URL, and these tools will generate a report showing the type of backlinks.

Why You Should Track Dofollow Links

While nofollow links don’t pass link equity, dofollow links are incredibly important for SEO because they help build your website’s authority and improve rankings. That’s why it’s critical to track which of your backlinks are dofollow, as they can directly impact your website’s performance in search results.

Here’s why you should focus on acquiring more dofollow backlinks:

Increase Domain Authority: Dofollow links help increase your domain authority by transferring trust and relevance from authoritative websites.
Boost Keyword Rankings: Google uses backlinks as one of the key ranking factors. Dofollow links from relevant and high-quality sites help improve your chances of ranking higher for your target keywords.
Drive Organic Traffic: High-quality dofollow links from reputable sites not only improve rankings but can also send referral traffic to your site.

Conclusion

Identifying whether a backlink is dofollow or nofollow is an essential part of your SEO strategy. Dofollow backlinks help improve your search engine rankings by passing SEO value to your site, while nofollow links don’t have the same impact on rankings, but still offer indirect benefits like traffic and brand visibility.

By using a combination of manual checks, browser extensions, and SEO tools, you can easily identify and analyze the type of backlinks pointing to your website. This allows you to fine-tune your link-building strategy, focus on high-quality do-follow links, and maintain a healthy, natural backlink profile.

Tracking and managing your backlinks is a long-term process, but it can yield significant rewards for your blog’s SEO and online visibility. Happy backlink hunting!