Turns out we’ve got a movement on our hands.
I wrote about removing NoFollow from your blog just about a month ago. Since then more and more people have followed suit. I didn’t start the movement, but it’s nice to be a part of it and push it along.
For those catching up, NoFollow is a tag added automatically to URLs input into comments so that those URLs don’t gain any link love / Google juice from you. It was a means to deter spammers from posting comments to try and boost their URLs search rankings. Of course it didn’t deter spammers at all. And people who comment properly and regularly on your blog weren’t getting as much value as they could from doing so.
Removing NoFollow is extremely easy and there are numerous WordPress plugins for doing so.
What’s particularly interesting about this whole thing is the true movement of people making the switch to DoFollow – inspired by others.
Randa Clay has made the move, and on top of that she’s created a cool little icon you can put in your sidebar to let people know that you’ve setup DoFollow.
It’s a nice way for bloggers to show they care about the people who comment regularly and add real value. Plus, it’s a great move on Randa’s part to do a little marketing of her own…nice work Randa!
If you haven’t setup DoFollow yet, go for it. Don’t be shy. You won’t get more spam. You won’t have more work to do. At minimum you’ll be helping others. You may also start to see more comments and interesting discussion take place on your blog, which is what it’s all about.
Added Note: Andy Beard just informed me of his No NoFollow I Follow DoFollow Community setup through BUMPzee. I’ve just signed up to show my support for the cause.
Founding Partner at 
I’m not getting too many more “good job” comments, but I am getting people using the Name field for something SEO specific, which is OK in some cases, but I’m getting more and more frustrated with.
Don’t you think its kind of fair enough though? Maybe someone should mod wordpress to allow a name and anchor text, still only accepting valid comments but at least then the commenter gets something in return?
Don’t you think its kind of fair enough though? Maybe someone should mod wordpress to allow a name and anchor text, still only accepting valid comments but at least then the commenter gets something in return?
See, that FireFox SEO plugin link was a legitimate link, but it is glowing red on my screen. This is no good.
If you have the Firefox SEO plugin installed all no-follow links on page will show up bright red. Having this installed and accessing your page shows me that you have no-follow links.
“I’m not getting too many more “good job” comments, but I am getting people using the Name field for something SEO specific, which is OK in some cases, but I’m getting more and more frustrated with.”
If you stop trying to control everything and just moderate you will have better blogging experiences.
This is logical and in my opinion, perfectly acceptable. I have even done it here. The reason for this is that we are giving away benefit for useful contributions. If a person’s anchor text is always their name, it will create a spammy looking linking profile according to Google. I also try to alternate these titles to be appropriate to the post, as the fact that my name might be ‘John’ is alot less relevant than if I’m ‘Web Blog Developer’.
If you have the Firefox SEO plugin installed all no-follow links on page will show up bright red. Having this installed and accessing your page shows me that you have no-follow links.
“I’m not getting too many more “good job” comments, but I am getting people using the Name field for something SEO specific, which is OK in some cases, but I’m getting more and more frustrated with.”
If you stop trying to control everything and just moderate you will have better blogging experiences.
This is logical and in my opinion, perfectly acceptable. I have even done it here. The reason for this is that we are giving away benefit for useful contributions. If a person’s anchor text is always their name, it will create a spammy looking linking profile according to Google. I also try to alternate these titles to be appropriate to the post, as the fact that my name might be ‘John’ is alot less relevant than if I’m ‘Web Blog Developer’.
See, that FireFox SEO plugin link was a legitimate link, but it is glowing red on my screen. This is no good.
Aaron – since my redesign I haven’t fully tested out the Link Love plugin I’m using. It may not be setup correctly.
Having said that, I also set it (way back when) to only remove no-follow after you left 3 comments, which also might be why it’s still no-follow.
As for the anchor text you use for your name – I’ve asked people to use their name. I still haven’t put up a proper Comment Policy (but I will at some point.) This is a choice I’ve made with my blog – it might not suit everyone, and that’s OK. I don’t think it should stop people from leaving legitimate comments and joining the discussion.
For me, comments are about the conversation and the people, not trying to gain a bit of Google Juice with good anchor text. But again, that’s me, and my blog. Anyone else can have different policies for difference reasons.
Aaron – since my redesign I haven’t fully tested out the Link Love plugin I’m using. It may not be setup correctly.
Having said that, I also set it (way back when) to only remove no-follow after you left 3 comments, which also might be why it’s still no-follow.
As for the anchor text you use for your name – I’ve asked people to use their name. I still haven’t put up a proper Comment Policy (but I will at some point.) This is a choice I’ve made with my blog – it might not suit everyone, and that’s OK. I don’t think it should stop people from leaving legitimate comments and joining the discussion.
For me, comments are about the conversation and the people, not trying to gain a bit of Google Juice with good anchor text. But again, that’s me, and my blog. Anyone else can have different policies for difference reasons.
hey cool i have been wondering what those u comment i follow buttons are about but now i know. I am going to install that on my blog as well
hey cool i have been wondering what those u comment i follow buttons are about but now i know. I am going to install that on my blog as well
Great post, I’ve been noticing a lot of blogs that have disabled the nofollow function, I think this is great. Of course you gotta worry about spam and irrelevant comments but for the most part you’ll receive legit comments from readers who truly want to voice their opinion on your post.
BTW, my blog has dofollow…hit me up anytime!
Great post, I’ve been noticing a lot of blogs that have disabled the nofollow function, I think this is great. Of course you gotta worry about spam and irrelevant comments but for the most part you’ll receive legit comments from readers who truly want to voice their opinion on your post.
BTW, my blog has dofollow…hit me up anytime!
Ben, great post! I have been seeing more and more bloggers joining in on the dofollow movement. I think it is a great idea. I am definitely installing the plugin on my blog! Thanks for leading the way! 🙂
Ben, great post! I have been seeing more and more bloggers joining in on the dofollow movement. I think it is a great idea. I am definitely installing the plugin on my blog! Thanks for leading the way! 🙂
Nice one. I agree, nofollow sucks and does nothing to encouraging commenting.
Nice one. I agree, nofollow sucks and does nothing to encouraging commenting.
absolutely agree. i’ve removed my nofollow some months ago and people now comments often on my posts
absolutely agree. i’ve removed my nofollow some months ago and people now comments often on my posts
I have seen this everywhere and I hope it’s not taking away rather than adding to. I’m going to give it a try on my blog and see what happens. Thanks for the post.
I have seen this everywhere and I hope it’s not taking away rather than adding to. I’m going to give it a try on my blog and see what happens. Thanks for the post.
I just installed the dofollow plugin to my wordpress today. It seems like a great idea. The default no-follow seems to ruin the idea of xfn.
I just installed the dofollow plugin to my wordpress today. It seems like a great idea. The default no-follow seems to ruin the idea of xfn.
I use dofollow to make google find out the links of the blogs of my readers. If all bloggers make this we can have a much better web.
I use dofollow to make google find out the links of the blogs of my readers. If all bloggers make this we can have a much better web.
I’ve been using the DoFollo search engine off and on and it seems to be a pretty good idea. I’m not sure how it adds blogs to it’s index though. I seem to run across the same blogs a lot in my searches.
I’ve been using the DoFollo search engine off and on and it seems to be a pretty good idea. I’m not sure how it adds blogs to it’s index though. I seem to run across the same blogs a lot in my searches.
There’s a large number of blogs on the No NoFollow I Follow DoFollow BUMPzee Community that are not nofollow. Many of them seem to be about search engine optimisation!
There’s a large number of blogs on the No NoFollow I Follow DoFollow BUMPzee Community that are not nofollow. Many of them seem to be about search engine optimisation!
I have been going Do-Follow for a few months now with good results. My main concern was getting spam comments. I’ve found that the Spam Karma plugin flags most of the spam comments and it just takes me a few minutes a day to monitor comments.
I think dofollow will become more popular since social media is becoming so big. Encouraging comments enhances community building and relationship building.
I have been going Do-Follow for a few months now with good results. My main concern was getting spam comments. I’ve found that the Spam Karma plugin flags most of the spam comments and it just takes me a few minutes a day to monitor comments.
I think dofollow will become more popular since social media is becoming so big. Encouraging comments enhances community building and relationship building.
Wow, This sounds pretty cool. I am going to follow suit and hopefully it will help some of the starters out.
Wow, This sounds pretty cool. I am going to follow suit and hopefully it will help some of the starters out.
I hadn’t really thought about the Dofollow issue until I read some pieces last week but will definitely be following suit and show some blog love….
I hadn’t really thought about the Dofollow issue until I read some pieces last week but will definitely be following suit and show some blog love….
We have created a comprehensive “Do Follow List” that includes over 300 blogs and forums at
http://www.tucsonseosolutions.com/dofollowlistoflists
Thanks
We have created a comprehensive “Do Follow List” that includes over 300 blogs and forums at
http://www.tucsonseosolutions.com/dofollowlistoflists
Thanks
I am testing the plugin out in my blogger blog. Plan to add dofollow to me regular blog. This is the way forward. BTW, I joined BUMPzee yesterday!
I am testing the plugin out in my blogger blog. Plan to add dofollow to me regular blog. This is the way forward. BTW, I joined BUMPzee yesterday!
i think google can't deny the web nature, it's because it, we call the web… doesn't it??
the world wide WEB, i didn't know how to call the internet after all links become nofollow links, may be we must change all the web adressess as: WW.nofollowedaddress.com
just the World Wide… no more WEB any more
seeya
i think google can't deny the web nature, it's because it, we call the web… doesn't it??
the world wide WEB, i didn't know how to call the internet after all links become nofollow links, may be we must change all the web adressess as: WW.nofollowedaddress.com
just the World Wide… no more WEB any more
seeya
I'm following suit too. I like the phrase “spread the love”. Let's make the web a lot nicer with DoFollows.
I'm following suit too. I like the phrase “spread the love”. Let's make the web a lot nicer with DoFollows.
im following the movement too.. wrote a nice article on my blog aswell.. our main mission should be to get worpdress remove it from their default package.
thanks for breaking down what dofollow is..I had heard the word mentioned, but never knew what it was.
I agree with you guys!
The value of user comment has been severely neglected lately. If there is some kind of extra value contained in the user comments submitted to a post, then any kind of “thanks” would be nice. Dofollow really does the job and definitely more and more people are going to pick up.
There is always the problem with spam posts, but the price of dealing with spam is worth the value contained in user comments.
😉
A really good idea. I found your page in Google. I will back soon ;).
I'm thinking of adding this to my blog as well, to move the conversation back to the blog and off of twitter.
thats a good idea with the dofollow. this one will keep people motivated to post comments at your posts
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