Give Out Some Link Love and Remove NoFollow

When people leave a comment on your blog (or generate a trackback by linking to a blog post), your blogging software is most likely adding the “nofollow” microformat extension. The result is that search engines like Google don’t follow those links off your site, and therefore the sites linking to you don’t gain any Google Juice from your blog.

The links work – people can click on them – but the links don’t provide any search engine value to the originating site/blog.

Why NoFollow?
The reason blog software like WordPress adds NoFollow is to minimize the benefit you’re giving any spammers who might sneak a comment or trackback in. If spammers’ links added search engine value back to their sites it would be quite beneficial for them – so NoFollow combats that.

Let’s Remove NoFollow Anyway
Recently there’s been a growing disenchantment with the NoFollow concept. If people provide legitimate, quality comments or links back to your blog, what’s the harm in giving them a little value in return? And with spam plugins like Akismet available (which do a very good job of stopping spam comments and trackbacks) it makes sense to open things up a bit and give your community some link love.

Andy Beard has a definitive list of DoFollow plugins available on his site.

Try The Link Love Plugin
I decided to implement one of the plugins called Link Love. It’s a newer plugin so I don’t know how well it works or how stable it is, but the idea is that it only removes NoFollow after a certain number of comments have been left by someone. You can set the determining value to whatever you want. I’ve set it to 3. So after you leave 3 comments, all of your links back to your site will have NoFollow removed.

I like this idea because it benefits my real community; people who frequent Instigator Blog regularly and participate. Those are the people I want to give some added value to.

DoFollow For Your True Community
NoFollow’s intention is worthy. But even with NoFollow being automatically done on blog software like WordPress you’ll still receive tons and tons of spam. So it’s not as if NoFollow by itself has stopped spammers. By removing it you’re telling your community that you care, and you’re willing to give ‘em a little link love.

Incidentally, I also enjoyed Dawud Miracle’s post about branding yourself through blog comments which added fuel to the fire for me to remove NoFollow.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it!

March 16, 2007 Posted in Blogging by Ben Yoskovitz

http://andybeard.eu Andy Beard

There are 2 problems I have heard about with Link Love, first php versions, and secondly the amount of processor cycles it uses.

A few people have used dofollow and then removed it after a while, either after careful consideration informing their readers of why, or just decided to remove it.

There are very popular bloggers who removed their Dofollow plugins without saying anything, well before the current “movement” even started.

Ben, you might like to check out Lucia’s Linky Love, I think it is much better coded, and in very active development.
http://www.singlegrain.com/blog Sujan Patel

Ben looks like you’ve made a good decision well at least for the people that comment
http://www.singlegrain.com/blog Sujan Patel

Ben looks like you’ve made a good decision well at least for the people that comment
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Sujan – Generally I’m happy to give out some Google Juice and link love, but I’m also going to look at Andy Beard’s plugin recommendation and see if it works better…
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Sujan – Generally I’m happy to give out some Google Juice and link love, but I’m also going to look at Andy Beard’s plugin recommendation and see if it works better…
http://gajemaster.com Gaje Master

I love using the do-follow. It gives my commentators something in return. I wish that more people used this. I have added it on all of my blogs.
http://gajemaster.com Gaje Master

I love using the do-follow. It gives my commentators something in return. I wish that more people used this. I have added it on all of my blogs.
Pingback: U Comment I Follow | Personal Development by Transition Coach
Anonymous

I decided to follow you and will get rid of nofollow. Going to give Link Love a try.
http://www.thesmojo.com smojo

I decided to follow you and will get rid of nofollow. Going to give Link Love a try.
http://blogsformoney.com/ Blogs for Money

Using nofollow seems completely pointless. Spammers don’t care whether you follow or not, and will still spam your site. They’ll just keep increasing they amount of spam they post to make up for the nofollowers. It would only work if 100% of people did nofollow on comments, and that’s just not going to happen, because some of us like sharing the love
http://blogsformoney.com/ Blogs for Money

Using nofollow seems completely pointless. Spammers don’t care whether you follow or not, and will still spam your site. They’ll just keep increasing they amount of spam they post to make up for the nofollowers. It would only work if 100% of people did nofollow on comments, and that’s just not going to happen, because some of us like sharing the love
http://www.reallyreally.net/chit-chat/i-do-follow-you-do-you-follow-me.html Bree DoFollow

I think this is also the way to go! I do-follow links now on my Aussie housewife blog. After a long time procrastinating I have seen the importance of dofollow and using the “do follow” principal to help keep the Internet better connected. http://www.reallyreally.net – Take a look at my dofollow blog and feel free to comment. Thank you, Regards Bree.
http://www.reallyreally.net/chit-chat/i-do-follow-you-do-you-follow-me.html Bree DoFollow

I think this is also the way to go! I do-follow links now on my Aussie housewife blog. After a long time procrastinating I have seen the importance of dofollow and using the “do follow” principal to help keep the Internet better connected. http://www.reallyreally.net – Take a look at my dofollow blog and feel free to comment. Thank you, Regards Bree.
http://www.characterplanet.com Matthew Anton

honestly I think the do-follow movement is a good thing. I only found out about your blog cause of one of those lists to be honest…BUT then I started reading it. I only read do follow blogs because if I have something to add to the conversation I would appreciate some type of reward. Only makes sense.
http://www.characterplanet.com Matthew Anton

honestly I think the do-follow movement is a good thing. I only found out about your blog cause of one of those lists to be honest…BUT then I started reading it. I only read do follow blogs because if I have something to add to the conversation I would appreciate some type of reward. Only makes sense.
Pingback: New Feature - DoFollow | cynix.us
http://www.guitarflame.com Electric guitars

A good movement. I speak mainly about electric guitars, less about SEO and SEM initiatives but this is a great one, by the way.
http://www.guitarflame.com Electric guitars

A good movement. I speak mainly about electric guitars, less about SEO and SEM initiatives but this is a great one, by the way.
http://www.lvrealty.net Jacqulyn Richey in Las Vegas

No follow is pretty outdated now with so many excellent spam filters out there. Plus, most spammers use automated bots who will spam you regardless of no follow or not.
http://www.lvrealty.net Jacqulyn Richey in Las Vegas

No follow is pretty outdated now with so many excellent spam filters out there. Plus, most spammers use automated bots who will spam you regardless of no follow or not.
http://www.terramir.com/ Leonard Terramir

Certainly a great movement to get into. I hope that it succeeds as I am sure it will
http://www.terramir.com/ Leonard Terramir

Certainly a great movement to get into. I hope that it succeeds as I am sure it will
http://www.kruse.co.uk/ Bill

Does anyone know where the latest list of dofollow blogs is these days please? From the old one I found a really good blog on finance and related issues where they like what I write and I like the link-juice I get for my SEO clients from it so I go back to it more often than I need to for strictly commercial purposes. I try to remember there’s a distinction between a blog and a forum though. Anyhoo, I could use an up-to-date list so I can search out good rewarding blogs on other subjects that will repay my contributions with some linky-lurrrrrrve, baby. Woh yeah

BB
http://www.kruse.co.uk/ Bill

Does anyone know where the latest list of dofollow blogs is these days please? From the old one I found a really good blog on finance and related issues where they like what I write and I like the link-juice I get for my SEO clients from it so I go back to it more often than I need to for strictly commercial purposes. I try to remember there’s a distinction between a blog and a forum though. Anyhoo, I could use an up-to-date list so I can search out good rewarding blogs on other subjects that will repay my contributions with some linky-lurrrrrrve, baby. Woh yeah

BB
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

I’m pretty sure Andy Beard keeps an ongoing list somewhere. Try a search on his name on Google.
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

I’m pretty sure Andy Beard keeps an ongoing list somewhere. Try a search on his name on Google.
http://www.houstonlawyersdirect.com Max

So I am pretty new to this whole blogging thing and WordPress. I suppose I have never really understood why WordPress didn’t allow the option to remove or keep the nofollow tags. It seems like that would be a logical inclusion. I searched the site and haven’t heard of any developments in that direction, anyone have any input on that?
http://www.houstonlawyersdirect.com Max

So I am pretty new to this whole blogging thing and WordPress. I suppose I have never really understood why WordPress didn’t allow the option to remove or keep the nofollow tags. It seems like that would be a logical inclusion. I searched the site and haven’t heard of any developments in that direction, anyone have any input on that?
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Max: I’m not sure why WordPress doesn’t have that implemented. I know it’s been discussed by others in the past…
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Max: I’m not sure why WordPress doesn’t have that implemented. I know it’s been discussed by others in the past…
Pingback: U Comment, I Follow — Join the Movement. | mommyknows.com
http://www.realestateoncentralcoastcalifornia.com/websites Penny Gould

Thanks to everyone for stating their preferences about the follow – nofollow issue. This helped me cement my decision to allow robots to follow links posted on my site. I will be adding a blog, and after reading all your input I feel ready to jump in! ;- )
http://www.realestateoncentralcoastcalifornia.com/websites Penny Gould

Thanks to everyone for stating their preferences about the follow – nofollow issue. This helped me cement my decision to allow robots to follow links posted on my site. I will be adding a blog, and after reading all your input I feel ready to jump in! ;- )
http://miracleuk.info/ miracle fruit

So what’s your opinion on dofollow links almost a year later? I hope you’re happy with your choice – I think it’s commendable and brave of you and hope it pays off.
http://miracleuk.info/ miracle fruit

So what’s your opinion on dofollow links almost a year later? I hope you’re happy with your choice – I think it’s commendable and brave of you and hope it pays off.
http://www.keenwebtemplates.net Commenter

This dofollow movement is a double edged sword. If you think about it, it help your blog by increasing the number of comments but sometimes they may not be relevant, may be there just for the link. I guess your time to approve/delete them also increased right?
http://www.keenwebtemplates.net Commenter

This dofollow movement is a double edged sword. If you think about it, it help your blog by increasing the number of comments but sometimes they may not be relevant, may be there just for the link. I guess your time to approve/delete them also increased right?
http://www.kruse.co.uk Bill Kruse

Of course it will. Sometimes a blog format isn’t the best as a busy one will merge the boundaries between that and with a forum. Perhaps we should start calling ourselves forbloggers or blogrums. Bring on the new software!

BB
http://www.kruse.co.uk Bill Kruse

Of course it will. Sometimes a blog format isn’t the best as a busy one will merge the boundaries between that and with a forum. Perhaps we should start calling ourselves forbloggers or blogrums. Bring on the new software!

BB
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Commenter: Time to approve/delete hasn’t really increased EXCEPT with people using SEO-centric names to post comments, knowing they can get some Google Juice from it. I find that somewhat annoying and have made it a policy to edit those names. Although I’ve yet to make the policy public, which is my mistake.
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Commenter: Time to approve/delete hasn’t really increased EXCEPT with people using SEO-centric names to post comments, knowing they can get some Google Juice from it. I find that somewhat annoying and have made it a policy to edit those names. Although I’ve yet to make the policy public, which is my mistake.
http://www.kruse.co.uk Bill Kruse

I think you only need to alter the first instance of anchor text of any link (to any one site). That’s the current theory anyway.

BB
http://www.kruse.co.uk Bill Kruse

I think you only need to alter the first instance of anchor text of any link (to any one site). That’s the current theory anyway.

BB
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Bill: As you can see, I’ve just added a quick comment policy. It’s not exactly thorough but I think it gets to the heart of what I wanted to say, and tells people what’s important to me – community, helping others, but not being “used” for Google Juice and link love…
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

@Bill: As you can see, I’ve just added a quick comment policy. It’s not exactly thorough but I think it gets to the heart of what I wanted to say, and tells people what’s important to me – community, helping others, but not being “used” for Google Juice and link love…
http://www.21asianews.com tere

great work,i think all blog should remove it,so we can feel more comfortable express our thought
http://www.21asianews.com tere

great work,i think all blog should remove it,so we can feel more comfortable express our thought
http://www.oilpaintingsmarket.com Caravaggio

I learnt recently about the dofollow and nofollo, and in fact I’m doubting recently if they did right with the invention of the nofollow tag, I mean, what’s the aim of it?
http://www.oilpaintingsmarket.com Caravaggio

I learnt recently about the dofollow and nofollo, and in fact I’m doubting recently if they did right with the invention of the nofollow tag, I mean, what’s the aim of it?

Ben Yoskovitz

I'm VP Product at GoInstant.

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