no follow use?

[Snoopy_inc]

Hi all,

I have been told to use the no follow tags... i have a couple of questions about this.

1) how does this work?
2) where should one implement this and why?
3) If one doesnt vs Does what kind of a Ranking difference is one looking at?
4) How does one implement this?
5) anything else that needs to be implemented with the nofollow command?
6) what exactly is the command itself "ie" "no=follow" etc

Thanks

[Blazingpie]

1) how does this work?

It tells Google (and Yahoo and MSN are supposed to follow the directive as well, but I don't think they do) not to pass any link weight with that link, ie you are not giving the target page an "editorial vote"

2) where should one implement this and why?

Whenever you don't want to pass link juice to a target page from that link. It's main use is to stop comment spammers' links helping their sites, but many people use them. Hell, I use them on wikipedia links on my blog because I feel spiteful :p

3) If one doesnt vs Does what kind of a Ranking difference is one looking at?

Matt Cutts has confirmed that implementing nofollows will NOT affect your rankings at all.

4) How does one implement this?

In the link code, simply add in rel="nofollow", eg <a href="forums.digital-m.co.za" rel="nofollow">Link</a>

5) anything else that needs to be implemented with the nofollow command?

Nope, only targeted links get affected by it

6) what exactly is the command itself "ie" "no=follow" etc

rel="nofollow"

[Snoopy_inc]

It tells Google (and Yahoo and MSN are supposed to follow the directive as well, but I don't think they do) not to pass any link weight with that link, ie you are not giving the target page an "editorial vote"


Editorial Vote? What that mean? and how that function... any urls that i can read up on it?


3) If one doesnt vs Does what kind of a Ranking difference is one looking at?

Matt Cutts has confirmed that implementing nofollows will NOT affect your rankings at all.

I was talking more along the lines of ... Does it make your rank better if you impelment it?


4) How does one implement this?

In the link code, simply add in rel="nofollow", eg <a href="forums.digital-m.co.za" rel="nofollow">Link</a>


So when should one impelment it? For a Seach button? and directly within the URL link? or after the link?

Many thanks for the replies its starting to form a neat picture for me. :)

[Blazingpie]

Editorial Vote? What that mean? and how that function... any urls that i can read up on it?


It's a fancy term your right as an editor to link to what you want to. Each link is a vote for that site/page, using the link text as the keyword. That's the basis of all search engine rankings.

However, not every "vote" is equal. For example, Google will devalue a link from a page about cats to a page about astrophysics, as there isn't any relevancy.


I was talking more along the lines of ... Does it make your rank better if you impelment it?


As my reply said, Matt Cutts (an engineer at Google who is also the spokesperson for them to the SEO world) has confirmed that implementing it wont affect your rankings, either positively or negatively. It's jsut a tool to help you control how the link weight is spread from your site. Note though, that giving link weight to another page does not mean that the page the link is on looses any weight.


So when should one impelment it? For a Seach button? and directly within the URL link? or after the link?


You should implement it whenever you do not wish to pass on any link weight, plain and simple. Especially common implementations include on forum link posts, links in blog comments, etc (to try control the spam). It can only be implemented on static text links (<a href=""></a>).

As for the position of the rel="nofollow" bit in the link itself, it is an html element, thus it can appear anywhere inside the html tag (in this case, the <a> tag), thus the following are equally valid:

<a href="http://www.digital-m.co.za" rel="nofollow">Digital-m</a>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.digital-m.co.za">Digital-m</a>

[Koz]

wow Blazingpie, pretty good explanations. You should right a manual

[Blazingpie]

wow Blazingpie, pretty good explanations. You should right a manual

nah, im not that good

[Snoopy_inc]

BLAH i should get credit for asking the right questions :P
Just teasing.... thanks blazingpie.... really helping here.... its starting to form a picture.

[Blazingpie]

BLAH i should get credit for asking the right questions :P


lol, perhaps you should :) good answers sometimes only come from good questions :)

[Snoopy_inc]

AWWWW ... make me feel all fuzzy inside ;)

[Koz]

lol, you're right. The wrong questions seldom get the right answers. Snoopy, good work excellent questions!

[Snoopy_inc]

Thanks Koz,

Trying to get more convo going here @ DM. Its a fantastic place to be part of.