The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Link Building
    4. Will No Follow Links count toward your root domain links for Domain Authority?

    Will No Follow Links count toward your root domain links for Domain Authority?

    Link Building
    5 4 2.1k
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • FastLearner
      FastLearner last edited by

      I am wondering if no follow links help, hurt, or do nothing when it comes to increasing page and domain authority?

      I know they are not supposed to pass rank and I have read discussions that some people suspect they still might, but I am wondering if I have a mix of follow plus no follow, will the no follow ones increase the count of the root domains linking to me and help boost my authority?

      Assuming of course the no follow links are coming from quality sites with high page and domain authority of their own.

      Thanks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Hurf
        Hurf last edited by

        No follow links certainly don't hurt! Whilst they may not pass on any direct PR, they can still attract REAL click through traffic (maybe even REAL customers!) especially if the nofollow links are coming from related "quality sites with high page and domain authority of their own." - If these sites which feature your no follow links are indeed quality then they will attract traffic as a result - if your no follow links are present amongst the quality information on these sites it stands to reason that you can only benefit from those links.

        No follows links also help to create LINK DIVERSITY which will improve appearance of any link building method you use - as it is expected that a number of your inbound links will be no follow links.

        There are some  who suspect that Google MAY take no follow links into consideration despite their clear statements to the contrary.

        So in summary, if you can get no follow links from quality sites you should certainly do so as they will NOT harm your DA or ranking - at worst they would be neutral in this regard - but still pass additional traffic your way.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • FastLearner
          FastLearner last edited by

          Awesome Mark,

          Thanks for responding so quickly. I am off to get some no follow links to diversify my link portfolio 🙂

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • StalkerB
            StalkerB last edited by

            A lot of what Mark said, but it definitely depends where it's coming from.

            A big part of the social web has nofollow links in profiles (quite correctly as they can't control what people are linking to), but I'm pretty sure the big search engines are looking at SM sites in order to determine part of a domains authority.

            Nofollows don't hurt and there is always the advertising value of them. Though if these are editorial links it's got to be worth talking to the site owners to see if you can get the nofollow removed.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • MediaCause
              MediaCause last edited by

              Does anyone know if Mark and Barry's answers still hold true (nearly 1 year later)?

              We have a disproportionate amount of NoFollowed Linking Root Domains and I'm worried that it's having a negative effect on our rankings.

              Thanks!

              Eric

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • 1 / 1
              • First post
                Last post
              • Page Authority vs Domain Authority for Inbound Links
                Linda-Vassily
                Linda-Vassily
                0
                4
                530

              • Subdomain links vs root domain links? Are the less valuable?
                Yeeply.com
                Yeeply.com
                0
                2
                351

              • Link value from high authority domains vs low authority domains. How big is the difference?
                MonicaOConnor
                MonicaOConnor
                0
                5
                1.2k

              • Are High Domain Authority, Low Page Authority Links Good?
                KeriMorgret
                KeriMorgret
                0
                7
                3.3k

              • If i get link pointing to a specific page , will that link add up to the count of linking root domains too ?
                RobMay
                RobMay
                1
                4
                81

              • Too many external links vs linking root domains - good or bad?
                RyanKent
                RyanKent
                0
                4
                1.2k

              • Do sites on the same c-block and same server count as seperate linking root domains when linking to each other?
                RyanKent
                RyanKent
                0
                4
                1.4k

              • How to improve (ASAP) the linking root domain, the followed linking root domains and the linking C-Blocks? Linkbuilding (or whatever) techniques.
                Kirram
                Kirram
                0
                5
                2.4k

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              • Digital Marketers
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • Local Citation Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy