What are nofollow links (and when to use them)?

A 'nofollow' is an attribute on a link that tells search engines not to pass ranking authority through it. It's a technical detail, but a useful one to understand for a few situations.

When nofollow is appropriate

• •Paid or sponsored links (required by Google's guidelines).
• •User-generated links you can't vouch for (comments, forums).
• •Links you don't want to endorse.

Don't overthink it

For most of your own internal and editorial links, you want normal ('followed') links. Nofollow is mainly for paid or untrusted links. A well-built site applies it where it's needed automatically.