Is there any reason to Nofollow Internal Links or XML Sitemap?

[Atlanta-SMO]

I am viewing a new client's site and they have the following nofollow(S) on their site homepage. Is there a reason for this?  Also, they people who originally built their site have a footer link on every page to their company (I guess to promote their work). They didn't "nofollow" that link lol... What are the thoughts on footer links?

• About Us
• Privacy Policy
• Customer Service
• Shipping & Returns
• Blog
• Contact Us
• Site Map

Thanks

James Chronicle

[kwoolf]

Uh, I can't think of a reason to do that really, especially for internal links. I can't imagine those are paid links, so I'd remove the nofollow. And I'd take out that link to the developer's blog, too. Bring out the axe!

[danatanseo]

I think perhaps the intention was that they didn't want these pages to be indexed. This makes sense for certain things/links from a homepage, like "My Shopping Cart." But honestly it looks like a lame attempt at Pagerank sculpting, which Google has been wise to for many years. The two "nofollow" links that concern me the most are the "Site Map" link and the link to their blog. Why in God's good name wouldn't you want a bot to follow links leading to your sitemap and blog. That's nonsensical.

Regarding the other "nofollow" attributes, those aren't necessary either. Get rid of them all. Matt Cutts has said on several occasions that he sees no practical reason why any Web site would want to "nofollow" any internal page. Here's a video where he says that:   http://youtu.be/86GHCVRReJs

So, bottom line, "If it's a link within your site to another page within your site, I would leave the 'nofollow' off."

There you have it. I hope that helps!

Dana