Teardown
Do follow link and no follow link: a teardown for product pages
Two offers land in your inbox on the same day. One says dofollow, the other says nofollow, and both promise a mention for your hoodie page. Here is how to read them.
LinkSell editorial team ·
Offer A is a hypothetical $9 link on a small fashion blog, marked dofollow. Offer B is a hypothetical free mention in a marketplace seller forum, marked nofollow. Both are examples, not real listings.
What the attribute changes
| Do follow link | No follow link | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML | A plain anchor with no rel value | Anchor with rel="nofollow" |
| Original meaning | Counts as a normal recommendation | Asks the engine not to pass credit |
| Since March 2020 | Treated as a signal | Google treats it as a hint, not a rule |
| Related values | None | rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" also exist |
| Where you see it | Editorial placements | Comments, forum posts, many ads |
Myths a store owner hears about both
Myth: nofollow is worthless
Reality: a nofollow mention can still send visitors and get your brand seen. It just should not be the part of the plan you expect ranking credit from.
Myth: dofollow always helps
Reality: a dofollow link from a poor or irrelevant site can do nothing at all. The source matters as much as the attribute.
Myth: you can check it by eye
Reality: the attribute lives in the page source. Use your browser's inspect tool, or a link checker, and look at the anchor itself.
Myth: a mix is suspicious
Reality: real profiles have both. A store with only dofollow links from articles looks less natural than one with some forum and social mentions too.
How to read Offer A and Offer B
Offer A costs money and sits in an article, so ask about the page. Is it live, indexed, and about clothing or something unrelated?
Offer B costs nothing but time. Treat it as a way to be seen by shoppers, and measure it by clicks to the hoodie page rather than by anything in the link graph.
Here at LinkSell the placements are permanent dofollow, which is a stated product fact. That tells you the attribute, not the outcome, and we cannot promise any ranking movement.
Before you buy any link
- Open the donor page and read it as a customer would
- Inspect the anchor and note its rel value
- Check that the page is indexed in Google
- Compare the niche with what you sell
- Write down price, date and target in your sheet
Short questions on rel values
What is the difference between a do follow link and no follow link?
A dofollow link has no rel restriction and is read as a normal link. A nofollow link carries rel="nofollow", which Google, since March 2020, treats as a hint when deciding whether to pass credit.
Does a nofollow link hurt my store?
No, a nofollow link does not hurt you by itself. It may bring visitors, and a natural profile includes some. Just do not rely on it for ranking credit. For what a profile looks like, see the inbound link check example.
What this means for a hoodie page
Say you sell hoodies and want links to the hoodie page. Look at each offer through Google Search Console, Ahrefs or Majestic after it lands, and note whether the donor is indexed.
Google's September 2019 announcement introduced rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" next to nofollow, and from March 2020 all three act as hints. Paid placements are meant to be marked, which is why the rules differ by site.
Write it down. Price, date and URL belong in your own record. For the broader context of what you already have, try the inbound link check example or compare price ranges.