When its comes to SEO, using Do Follow or No Follow for links has always given birth to a heated debate. For bloggers the debate is whether to use No Follow for comments or not? No Follow attribute for links was introduced by Google in 2005 to combat SPAM comments (not really – Google just wanted to stop Spam sites from getting link juice).
Now the idea of using rel=nofollow has somewhat changed. Google made changes to its definition on No Follow and asked web masters to use it for paid links. I support using No Follow for paid links but I get confused if to use No Follow for comments or not. How to deal with this situation.
You just have two options, either use No Follow (coded by default in WordPress, Blogger and other Blogging Platforms) or force Do Follow. Below we discuss a little on applying No Follow and Do Follow.
No Follow (rel=nofollow)
This link attribute simply cuts out link juice to link. It is supposed to not give link juice to a link thus preventing any increment to the domain or web page you have linked to. As most blogging platform has No Follow for comments already coded in from start, you are not required to do anything to use it. There are certain advantages of using No Follow. It helps reduce comment spams. Spammers softwares mostly search for Do Follow Blogs and by using No Follow you are out of their league. It is also rumored (I cannot verify this statement) that using No Follow saves your Page Rank.
There are also certain disadvantages of using it. You are discouraging commentators (I do not know why some most people advocate this point). Some say that by using it you are showing no trust in the commentator (Hmm…! Trust – a stupid point). And many more tings like this.
Do Follow (rel=dofollow)
I do not know how this came to existence but I think it came after nofollow. Using Do Follow or using no attribute for link is almost same. Do Follow is just a way to force Search Engines. By using Do Follow you give link juice and contribute to Page Rank of the targeted URL. You can add Do Follow to comments by installing Do Follow plugins (in WordPress and other platforms) or by removing No Follow from your blog theme or template (works for Blogger and may be WordPress).
The advantages of using Do Follow are just the opposite of using No Follow. You get more comments and may be more support. But using Do follow surely can increase Spams if you are not using any plug-in to stop it. You may enable moderation to stop comment(Warning! – it discourages commentators more than anything).
Using Do Follow or No Follow is your own decision. For me I support both. What about you? What do you use in your blog? If you have any point to discuss feel free to comment.
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Really, a nice and informative article, THNx
.-= Joseph Moore´s last blog ..Kerala Honeymoon Tour =-.
According to the recent Google PageRank Sculpting algorithm, using No-Follow links will make the Do-Follow links loose the Juice it gets.
So I would prefer using Do-Follow comments one I shift to WordPress.
Interesting Information. Need to check it. Can you provide any useful links.
I always think that the idea of dofollowing the comment section is retarded. I mean, if someone wants to get thousands of comments then there are hundreds of other ways to do it, right?
.-= Melvin´s last blog ..This Thing Pisses Me Off With Bloggers =-.
This is way good a post which is good, but, in the end gives the opinion of letting the users decide.
I got the point.
.-= Team Nirvana´s last blog ..Twitter’s Competitor Dead or Still Alive-Rejaw =-.
Personally I encourage people to use do follow since I think people should get something back when they are participating in discussions online. Unfortunately there will always be spam, so to protect ourselves we sometimes got to use no follow.
.-= Stefan´s last blog ..How to make money with Twitter =-.
for i support do follow.
.-= elmot´s last blog ..The Blogger Who Showered Me With Stars =-.
Hi Deepak! Feels good to see you back again!
I converted into WordPress and Also turned to do-follow comments
.-= Tech-Freak Stuff´s last blog ..Reveal the Real Long URL behind the Masked Shortened URL =-.
Great post and well explained. I think dofollow is better but you need a plugin installed on your blog to prevent spam!
Do follow will encourage readers to comment more..
I support do-follow on my blog because I want some discussions through comments. Anyway, there is always the akismet plug in to filter spam comments.
.-= Tyrone | Millionaire Acts´s last blog ..15 Questions to Ask Before Going Into Business =-.
After reading ur post, the question is still open whether to use noFollow or DoFollow.
But as per GGL change in PageRAnk algo, I think doFollow good blogs proves better
.-= Atul´s last blog ..Earn Money through AVG Affiliate Program =-.
If you want my opinion, using no follow for comments is better idea for SEO.
Thanks for the info.
Yes, using nofollow is a selfish way to keep a blog. If you want more traffic you shift dofollow and commenters will “Luv” you.
Now, for those who are aiming targeted traffic there is Dofollow Portal, a directory where other Internet promoters can locate your website on a very advanced filtering basis. Just take a look, it’s really worth!
Kind regards,
Marius
.-= Marius´s last blog ..Bader Blog =-.
I’m relatively new to blogging and am learning bit by bit. Occasionally, I come across the option “Do Follow” or “No Follow” and it’s not really clear to me what the difference is. I read through the comments here, but still don’t have a clear understanding. Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but could someone please explain in simple terms what the difference actually is and how it works. Thank you in advance.
i also think that we have to give something to our commentators and i think do follow is best, my blog is also do follow and added commentLuv,
.-= mostlyBlog´s last blog ..Windows 7 is Ready To Launch In New York City =-.
I recently made the decision to revert back to no follow for my blog comments. It does seem to be a double-edged sword either way, but I personally felt that it was a good decision to revert back to no follow from a business perspective. As time goes by I imagine there will be alot more bloggers reverting back to using the no follow attribute for their blog comments. Link or no link, if someone has something worthwhile to say in a comment, they still will, and at the same time the spammers go away.
Hmm, just found this post after watching a video from Jim Morris at his Search Engine Seduction website. The debate to use nofollow or dofollow will always go on and your comments about using dofollow encourages commenters is true according to tests we’ve performed however I will say that what Tammara above said is correct as well…that if someone has something worthwhile to say, they still will regardless of nofollow or not!
I will say that when using tools like the pro version of SEOmoz’s “Linkscape”, one would be surprised how it counts nofollow links in it’s reports
Btw, it’s interesting you chose nofollow for this blog, yet you still have a healthy amount of comments…proof that a good topic will get comments. Keep up the good work!
According to the recent Google PageRank Sculpting algorithm, using No-Follow links will make the Do-Follow links loose the Juice it gets.
So I would prefer using Do-Follow comments one I shift to WordPress.
It is supposed to not give link juice to a link thus preventing any increment to the domain or web page you have linked to. As most blogging platform has No Follow for comments already coded in from start