If you've spent time online trying to boost web traffic, you may have heard of dofollow backlinks and nofollow links. 

They sound odd, but we promise they serve a particular purpose. This is a purpose you will want to take advantage of when you embark on your next search engine optimization (SEO) campaign.

What Are Backlinks? The Basics

A backlink, or an 'inbound link' or 'incoming link,' is a link from one website to another. 

Search engines use the number and quality of backlinks as ranking factors. Google uses them to see how high to rank a site in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Why Are Backlinks Important For SEO?

Backlinks are essential for SEO. They indicate that other websites consider the content on the linked-to webpage valuable and relevant. In the end, do you have top-of-the-line content that can help Internet users? 

When a website has many high-quality backlinks, Google interprets this as an indication that the website is credible and authoritative.

More backlinks can lead to higher rankings in SERPs, leading to more traffic and visibility for the website. What's not to like?

What's more, backlinks from reputable and high-authority websites can also give the content on your website more credibility. 

More credibility helps attract more organic traffic and improve your website's click-through rate. For a local business, for example, backlinks are an invaluable currency. In short, backlinks are important for SEO because they help to increase a website's visibility and credibility. 

Visibility and credibility lead to higher rankings in SERPs and organic traffic.

But there are certain types of links with SEO. Namely, dofollow and nofollow links. 

Let's go with dofollow links first.

What Are Dofollow Backlinks?

Dofollow backlinks are links from one website to another that tell search engines to follow and crawl the linked website. 

These links pass on 'link juice' and improve the search engine ranking of the linked website. 

Dofollow links are the direct opposite of nofollow links, which tell search engines not to follow or crawl the linked website.

Wait, What's Link Juice?

'Link juice' in SEO refers to the value or authority passed from one webpage to another through a link. Its other name is 'link equity.' It often goes by the latter term these days. 

We'll be using the two terms interchangeably. Just know they mean the same thing.

When a web page links to another, it's 'vouching' for the content on the linked page and passing some of its own authority to it. It's a valuable endorsement Google will pick up on when indexing sites.

This is why links from high-authority websites can be precious, as they can pass significant amounts of link juice to the linked webpage. 

The link juice passed can help to increase the linked web page's search engine rankings and visibility. For an in-depth SEO campaign, this is essential.

Dofollow Backlinks vs. Nofollow Links

‍

Where dofollow links pass link juice to the linked page, a nofollow link does the exact opposite.

Search engines will still follow the link and crawl the linked webpage. But the link will not affect the search engine rankings of the linked webpage.

People use nofollow links in situations where the linking website doesn't want to pass link juice, such as in sponsored content or paid links. 

Search engines treat nofollow links as 'hints' and not as directives. As such, they may still crawl the link but not count it for ranking purposes.

A healthy backlink profile should have a mix of both dofollow and nofollow links. 

It would be best to acquire high-quality, relevant dofollow links. But nofollow links can also drive traffic and increase brand awareness. And we love boosting brand awareness.

Dofollow Backlinks For SEO

Here are a few strategies for acquiring dofollow backlinks for an SEO campaign.

1. Make it great. Create high-quality, informative, and helpful content that other websites will want to link to.
2. Reach out to other websites. Why not ask for a link? Especially if you have created content that is relevant to their audience.
3. Guest post on other websites. This will allow you to include a link back to your own website within the content.
4. Be involved online. Take part in online forums or communities related to your industry, and include a link to your website in your forum signature.
5. Get creative. Create infographics, videos, or other multimedia content that other websites may want to embed and link to.
6. Get everything organized. Submit your website to relevant directories, such as industry-specific or local business directories.
7. Get familiar in your space. Build relationships with other website owners and influencers in your industry, as they may be more likely to link to your website.
8. Make it look good (and functional). Make your website easy to navigate and include a sitemap and XML sitemap.

It's worth noting that all backlink strategies should focus on quality, not quantity. Having a few high-quality, relevant backlinks is better than many low-quality ones. 

Avoid buying links or using link farms. It can cause penalties from search engines. With Google's December link spam update, your content may take a hit if you buy links. So play it safe; create something worth reading and researching!

Why You Need To Care About Anchor Text

Anchor text, also known as link text, is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that links one webpage to another. In the HTML code, the anchor text is placed within the <a> tag and the link's destination URL.

In SEO, anchor text is essential because it provides context about the linked webpage's content to both users and search engines. Search engines use anchor text to understand the topic of the linked webpage and how it relates to the linking website. This affects the search rankings of both pages.

When building backlinks, it's important to use descriptive and relevant anchor text that accurately represents the linked page's content. 

Avoid using generic text like "click here" or "learn more" as anchor text. Using keywords in anchor text can help search engines understand the topic of the linked page. It also helps the linked page rank for those keywords. 

For example, we wouldn't invite users to click on something about SEO by writing 'click here.' Instead, we would link to a page dealing with the search engine optimization services we offer our clients. Make it organic instead of awkward.

Use a variety of anchor text and avoid keyword stuffing! When you're not diverse, Google can see it as manipulative and can lead to penalties down the road.

Dofollow Links Backlinks Best Practices 2023

Best practices for using dofollow links include:

1. Only link to high-quality, relevant content. This will ensure that the link juice and SEO value pass to pages that deserve it.
2. Use descriptive, keyword-rich anchor text. Anchor text with keywords helps search engines understand the context and relevance of the linked page.
3. Link to a variety of different types of content. This will help to diversify your link profile and prevent it from looking unnatural.
4. Use a mix of internal and external links. Internal links help distribute link juice throughout your site. External links will help to increase the authority and trust of your site.
5. Avoid using too many dofollow links in a single post or page. This can make your site's link profile look unnatural and may trigger a spam filter. Remember the December 2022 spam link update!
6. Be selective with the website you link to, and avoid linking to spammy or low-quality websites. Do your due diligence and see if a website is trustworthy.
7. Be smart about linking. Use dofollow links sparingly and judiciously to ensure they are valuable to users and search engines.

Learn More About Backlinks With Sprinkles Media

Why not let SEO experts take control? With SPrinkles Media, a team of SEO professionals, local businesses, and big-name brands can take advantage of lucrative linking opportunities. 

Get valuable content, get valuable backlinks. 

Whether it's dofollow links or nofollow links, the Sprinkles Media SEO team has a plan!