Everything you need to know about nofollow, UGC and sponsored link attributes?

Have you ever heard the words nofollow, user-generated content (UGC) and sponsored links and wondered what do these mean and how does it affect the SEO on my website? Read on to find out!

Internal and external links are both very important for search engine optimisation, and every SEO should know the importance of linking on your website.

When writing content, you’ll want to tell search engines that some links are sponsored, user-generated content or nofollow links. Using these link attributes properly gives you more control over how search engines understand the links within your content.

Regular links compared with nofollow, UGC and sponsored links

Regular links are shown in the HTML code like below:
<a href=”https://www.engageweb.co.uk/”>Engage Web</a>
However, if you want to tell search engines to nofollow (meaning they won’t go through to those links). You would want to change the HTML code to below:
<a href=”https://www.engageweb.co.uk/” rel=”nofollow”>Engage Web<a/>

The rel section is where you tell search engines to nofollow links, that the link is user-generated content or that a link is sponsored.

If you’re using a platform like WordPress to manage your website, then you won’t be able to change the code sometimes within links. Instead, you can go into ‘Link attributes’ and add rel=”” tags to your links.

Why is it important to add nofollow, UGC or sponsored links to your website?

In Google’s documentation you have to disclose if a link is sponsored. Otherwise, if Google works out that a link is sponsored and you haven’t added rel=”sponsored” to the link, then your website may get penalised. This can result in a loss in impressions within search results and result in fewer clicks through to your website.

If you’re looking to increase your business’s visibility online, then get in touch with our expert team to have a chat about how we can help to increase your sales and leads.

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Jonathon Roberts

Jonathon lives and breathes marketing, boasting a degree in Business Management and Marketing Management and a diverse list of experiences both professional and voluntary. Having grown up in the thick of the digital and social media age, he has been quick to dive into online marketing and search engine optimisation in his career and spare time, spanning such fields as academics, local business and sport.

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