Understanding Link Signals is crucial for small business owners who want to maximize their SEO efforts without hiring expensive agencies. These three HTML attributes—DoFollow, NoFollow, and NoIndex—act as communication tools between your website and search engines, directly impacting how Google crawls, indexes, and ranks your content. Mastering these signals can give you a significant competitive advantage in both local and online markets.
What Are Link Signals and Why They Matter for Your Business
Link signals are HTML attributes that provide instructions to search engines about how to treat specific links and pages on your website. Think of them as traffic signals for search engine crawlers—they guide bots on which roads to take, which to avoid, and which destinations to include in their maps (search results).
For small business owners, understanding these signals is essential because they directly impact three critical SEO factors:
- Crawl Budget: How efficiently search engines explore your site
- Link Equity Distribution: How authority flows through your website
- Index Management: Which pages appear in search results
According to Google’s official documentation[1], properly implementing these signals helps search engines understand your content structure and improves your overall SEO performance.
DoFollow Links: The SEO Powerhouses
DoFollow links are the default link type—they don’t require any special HTML attributes. When you create a standard link like <a href="https://example.com">Link Text</a>, it’s automatically a DoFollow link.
How DoFollow Links Work
DoFollow links pass what SEO professionals call “link juice” or PageRank from one page to another. Recent research shows that dofollow links are the primary drivers of SEO success[2], making them essential for building domain authority and improving search rankings.
When Google’s crawlers encounter a DoFollow link, they:
- Follow the link to the destination page
- Pass ranking authority (link equity) to the linked page
- Consider the link in their ranking algorithms
- Use the anchor text as a relevancy signal
Best Practices for DoFollow Links
For small business websites, DoFollow links should be used strategically. Link to high-quality, relevant sources that add value to your content. Internal DoFollow links help distribute authority throughout your site, while external DoFollow links to authoritative sources can improve your content’s credibility.
Consider this example: If you run a local bakery and link to a flour supplier guide using DoFollow links, you’re helping search engines understand the relationship between your content pieces and passing valuable authority to important pages.
NoFollow Links: When and Why to Use Them
NoFollow links include the rel="nofollow" attribute and tell search engines not to pass link equity to the destination page. The HTML looks like this: <a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Link Text</a>.
The Evolution of NoFollow
In 2019, Google updated how it treats NoFollow links. Google now treats the nofollow attribute as a hint rather than a directive[3], meaning they may still consider these links in their ranking calculations if they perceive them to be high quality.
Google has also introduced additional link attributes:
rel="sponsored"for paid links and advertisementsrel="ugc"for user-generated content links- Multiple attributes can be combined:
rel="nofollow sponsored"
When to Use NoFollow Links
Small business owners should use NoFollow links in these situations:
Paid Partnerships and Sponsorships: Any link you’re paid to include should be marked as NoFollow (or preferably “sponsored”) to comply with Google’s guidelines and avoid penalties.
User-Generated Content: Comments, forum posts, and review platforms should use NoFollow links to prevent spam and maintain your site’s link quality.
Untrusted Sources: When linking to sources you cannot fully vouch for, NoFollow links protect your site’s authority while still providing value to readers.
The SEO Value of NoFollow Links
Contrary to outdated beliefs, NoFollow links remain relevant for SEO in 2025[4]. They provide several benefits:
- Generate referral traffic from high-authority sites
- Improve brand visibility and recognition
- Create natural link profile diversity
- Support overall link building strategies
NoIndex: Controlling What Appears in Search Results
The NoIndex directive is fundamentally different from link attributes—it’s a page-level instruction that prevents specific pages from appearing in search engine results. Google’s documentation explains that NoIndex can be implemented using meta tags or HTTP headers[5].
NoIndex Implementation Methods
You can implement NoIndex using several methods:
Meta Tag Method: Add <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> to your page’s <head> section.
HTTP Header Method: Use the X-Robots-Tag: noindex HTTP header for non-HTML files or server-level implementation.
Robots.txt vs. NoIndex: This is a crucial distinction many small business owners misunderstand. If you want search engines to not include content in search results, you must use NoIndex and allow search engines to crawl the content[6]. Blocking pages with robots.txt prevents crawlers from seeing NoIndex tags.
Strategic NoIndex Use Cases
Small businesses should consider NoIndex for:
Thank You Pages: Post-purchase or contact form confirmation pages provide no search value and can create thin content issues.
Internal Search Results: Dynamic pages showing search results from your site’s internal search function should typically be NoIndexed to prevent duplicate content issues.
Privacy Pages: Terms of service, privacy policies, and legal pages often perform better when NoIndexed, allowing you to focus crawl budget on revenue-generating content.
Duplicate Content: When you have similar pages that serve different user functions but might confuse search engines, strategic NoIndex usage helps consolidate ranking signals.
Building a Balanced Link Signal Strategy
The most effective SEO approach combines all three link signals strategically. Recent analysis suggests that both dofollow and nofollow links work together to create solid link building strategies[7], with the key being natural balance rather than artificial manipulation.
The Natural Link Profile
A healthy website typically has:
- 70-80% DoFollow links for primary content and authority building
- 20-30% NoFollow links for user-generated content, paid partnerships, and untrusted sources
- Strategic NoIndex implementation for non-essential pages
For local businesses, this might mean DoFollow linking to your service area pages, NoFollow linking to customer testimonial sources, and NoIndexing administrative pages.
Platform-Specific Implementation
WordPress Users: Most SEO plugins like Yoast, RankMath, and AIOSEO provide easy interfaces for managing these signals without touching code.
Wix Users: Wix provides built-in SEO tools for managing NoIndex tags[8] through their SEO settings panel.
Shopify Users: E-commerce sites benefit significantly from strategic NoIndex usage on checkout pages, cart pages, and administrative functions while maintaining DoFollow links for product and category pages.
Common Mistakes Small Businesses Make
Understanding what not to do is just as important as implementing best practices:
Over-Using NoFollow: Some business owners NoFollow all external links thinking it preserves their authority. This creates an unnatural link profile that search engines may view suspiciously.
Blocking and NoIndexing: Using robots.txt to block pages while trying to NoIndex them creates conflicting signals that prevent proper implementation.
Ignoring User Experience: All link signal decisions should prioritize user experience first, SEO benefits second. Links should be helpful and relevant regardless of their technical attributes.
Inconsistent Implementation: Switching between DoFollow and NoFollow randomly for similar content types creates confusion for both users and search engines.
Measuring the Impact of Your Link Signal Strategy
Track the effectiveness of your link signal implementation through:
Google Search Console: Monitor which pages are being indexed, crawl errors, and coverage issues. The Index Coverage report shows how Google treats your NoIndex directives.
Site Authority Metrics: Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz can help you track how link equity flows through your site and identify opportunities for optimization.
Traffic Patterns: Analyze which pages drive the most organic traffic and ensure they’re properly linked with DoFollow attributes from high-authority internal pages.
Conversion Tracking: Ultimate success comes from business results. Track how SEO improvements from proper link signals translate to leads, sales, and revenue.
Advanced Link Signal Strategies for Competitive Advantage
Once you’ve mastered the basics, consider these advanced techniques:
Strategic Internal Linking Architecture
Create topic clusters where your main service pages receive DoFollow links from related blog content, guides, and resources. This creates clear authority hierarchies that search engines can easily understand.
Seasonal NoIndex Implementation
For businesses with seasonal offerings, strategically NoIndex out-of-season content rather than deleting it. This preserves the content for when it becomes relevant again while focusing current crawl budget on active offerings.
Competitive Link Signal Analysis
Analyze how successful competitors in your market use these signals. Tools like Screaming Frog can help you audit link attributes across websites, revealing opportunities to improve your own implementation.
Key Takeaways
- DoFollow links are your SEO workhorses – use them for high-quality, relevant internal and external links that pass authority and improve rankings
- NoFollow links still provide value – they drive traffic, improve brand visibility, and create natural link profiles when used for paid content and untrusted sources
- NoIndex controls search visibility – use it strategically for administrative pages, thank you pages, and duplicate content while ensuring crawlers can access the pages
- Balance creates natural profiles – aim for 70-80% DoFollow and 20-30% NoFollow links with strategic NoIndex implementation
- Platform tools simplify management – WordPress, Wix, and Shopify offer built-in solutions for implementing these signals without coding knowledge
- User experience trumps SEO tactics – always prioritize helpful, relevant linking over technical optimization
- Measurement drives improvement – use Google Search Console and analytics tools to track the impact of your link signal strategy
Take Control of Your SEO Success
Understanding and implementing proper link signals gives small business owners a significant competitive advantage in search rankings. These technical SEO fundamentals, when combined with quality content and user-focused design, create the foundation for sustainable organic growth.
Ready to audit your current link signal implementation? Start with our comprehensive SEO Checklist to identify optimization opportunities across your entire website. For personalized guidance on implementing these strategies for your specific business model, consider our free SEO audit service where we analyze your current link profile and provide actionable recommendations.
Don’t let technical SEO overwhelm you—master these fundamental link signals and watch your organic visibility grow. Your competitors are already using these strategies; it’s time to level the playing field.
References
[1] Google for Developers. (2025). “Qualify Outbound Links for SEO | Google Search Central Documentation.”
[2] Elementor Blog. (2025). “Dofollow Vs Nofollow Links: 2025 Guide To SEO Success.”
[3] SE Ranking. (2024). “Dofollow and nofollow links and their impact on SEO.”
[4] Quora. (2025). “Are nofollow links still relevant for SEO in 2025?”
[5] Google for Developers. (2025). “Block Search Indexing with noindex | Google Search Central Documentation.”
[6] AIOSEO. (2024). “When to use NOINDEX or the robots.txt?”
[7] Outreach Monks. (2025). “What is the Ideal Dofollow-Nofollow Backlinks Ratio?”
[8] Wix SEO Hub. (2024). “What is the noindex tag? How to use it for better SEO.”
