How to Add Nofollow Links in WordPress (Complete Guide)

Are you looking to add nofollow links in WordPress but aren‘t sure where to start? Using nofollow links is an important search engine optimization (SEO) tactic.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explain everything you need to know about nofollow links and how to easily add them in WordPress.

Here‘s what we‘ll cover:

• What Is a Nofollow Link and Why Does it Matter?
• When Should You Use Nofollow Links?
• How to Add Nofollow Links in the Block Editor
• How to Add Nofollow Links in the Classic Editor
• How to Add Nofollow Links in Menus
• Plugins for Auto-Nofollowing Links
• Other Ways to Add Nofollow Links
• When Not to Use Nofollow Links

Let‘s start by understanding exactly what nofollow links are and how they can impact your site‘s SEO and ranking potential.

What Is a Nofollow Link and Why Does it Matter?

A nofollow link is a link that includes a rel="nofollow" HTML attribute. This tells search engines like Google not to pass any link equity or authority from your page to the linked page.

Here is an example of a nofollow link in HTML:

<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow">Example Link</a>

Now you may be wondering – why does using nofollow links matter for SEO?

Links remain one of the most important ranking factors used by Google and other search engines. In simple terms, more links generally mean better rankings, because links signal trust and authority.

When you link out to an external site from your page, search engines will pass a small amount of "link juice" to that site, giving it a slight boost in authority. This is the case for a normal follow link:

Example of how a follow link passes authority (image created for illustrative purposes)

However, adding rel="nofollow" stops the flow of link equity:

With a nofollow link, no authority is passed (image created for illustrative purposes)

This prevents your link from diluting the SEO power of your own site. Using nofollow links strategically is considered an SEO best practice.

According to Google Trends data, worldwide search interest in nofollow links has grown significantly over the past decade:

Google Trends data showing rising search interest for "nofollow links" (sample data)

Now that you understand the purpose of nofollow links, let‘s see when you should use them.

When Should You Use Nofollow Links?

As a general guideline, use nofollow links whenever you link to external sites that you don‘t fully endorse or trust.

Here are some of the most common examples of when to use nofollow links:

Affiliate Links

If you join affiliate programs to earn commissions promoting certain products or services, always add rel="nofollow" to those links. Otherwise, search engines may think you are selling links or spamming.

By nofollowing your affiliate links, you ensure your site does not get penalized for overly promotional content.

Sponsored Posts and Paid Links

If you accept money from a brand in exchange for posting links to their site, nofollow those sponsored links. This applies to sponsored guest posts, paid reviews, promoted tweets, and similar types of monetized links.

Nofollowing tells search engines these are paid links that don‘t organically endorse the site.

User-Generated Links

WordPress automatically adds rel="nofollow" to all links in user comments. This prevents spamming. However, you may also want to nofollow other types of user-generated links like forum posts or wiki entries. These often come from random users and could contain sketchy sites.

Link Exchanges

Avoid link exchanges where you trade links in bulk with other sites purely to boost rankings. If you do exchange links editorially, add nofollow to be safe. Don‘t pass equity to low-quality sites.

Widget and Sidebar Links

Often blogs will display a list of external links in a sidebar widget, footer links, etc. The problem is, this can create site-wide links from all your pages to just a handful of sites.

Nofollowing these aggregated links prevents too much authority from passing through them.

Any Untrusted External Site

When in doubt, use nofollow links for references or sources that are not authoritative or reputable. For example, linking out to a shady-looking external blog vs a trustworthy newspaper article. This protects your site‘s SEO authority.

Now let‘s go over how to actually implement nofollow links in WordPress.

How to Add Nofollow Links in the Block Editor

The block editor is the default option for creating posts and pages in newer versions of WordPress. Here are the steps to add nofollow links:

1. Highlight the anchor text you want linked.

2. Click the link icon in the toolbar.

3. Enter the URL to link to.

4. Check the box next to "Add nofollow to link".

5. Click the ↵ arrow icon or press Enter to apply the link.

Here is a visual guide:

How to add a nofollow link in the block editor (sample animation)

That‘s it! Now any links where you check that nofollow box will have rel="nofollow" added automatically.

Tips for the Block Editor:

• You can select existing links and enable nofollow the same way. Just open the link settings and check the box.

• If you forget to enable nofollow when inserting a link, switch to HTML view. Find the <a> tag and add rel="nofollow".

• Consider opening all external links in a new tab for better user experience. Check the "Open in new tab" option.

• To nofollow multiple links quickly, use the HTML editor instead of visual mode.

The block editor makes it quick and easy to manually nofollow any links. Next let‘s see how to do it in the classic editor.

How to Add Nofollow Links in the Classic Editor

The classic editor uses the traditional WordPress WYSIWYG interface. Here are the steps to add nofollow links:

1. Highlight the anchor text, then click the chain link icon in the toolbar.

2. Enter the URL and click "Add Link".

3. Re-select the link. Click the cog icon to open settings.

4. Check the box for "Add nofollow to link".

5. Click "Update" to apply.

Here is how it looks:

How to add a nofollow link in the classic editor (sample animation)

When adding links in the classic editor, always remember to re-open the settings and enable the nofollow option for any external sites.

Tips for the Classic Editor:

• To quickly nofollow multiple links, switch to Text view. Add rel="nofollow" manually to each <a> tag.

• If you forget to enable nofollow initially, you can still edit the link code later. Open Text view and add it.

• Consider opening external links in new tabs by checking that option in link settings. Improves usability.

Now that you know how to manually add nofollow links in both editors, let‘s go over some additional ways to implement nofollow links.

How to Add Nofollow Links in Menus

You may want to add nofollow links in your navigation menus for any external sites. Here‘s how to do it:

1. Go to Appearance → Menus.

2. Open the menu and add a custom link menu item. Enter the external URL.

3. Expand the menu item to access settings.

4. In "Link Relationship (XFN)", enter nofollow.

5. Click Save Menu.

Now that menu link contains a nofollow attribute. Repeat this when linking to any untrusted external sites in menus.

Plugins for Auto-Nofollowing Links

Manually adding nofollow to each external link on your site can become time consuming. Fortunately, there are some great WordPress plugins that can automatically nofollow links:

WP External Links

This plugin allows you to globally enable nofollow for all external links. Under Settings, just change "Set follow or nofollow" to "Nofollow". There are also options for opening links in new tabs, excluding certain domains, etc.

Pros

• Simple "set and forget" option to nofollow all external links

• Handles site-wide auto nofollow

Cons

• Not as customizable for individual URLs if you want exceptions

SEO Ultimate

The SEO Ultimate plugin contains powerful options for controlling nofollow links. Under Settings → Links, you can auto-nofollow specific post types and page types, exclude certain domains, and more.

Pros

• Very granular control over auto nofollow behavior

• Option to customize by post type, domain, etc.

Cons

• More complex setup required

SEO Link Juice Plus

This user-friendly plugin allows you to auto-nofollow all outbound links with just a single click. Toggle it on globally, or enable only for individual posts/pages.

Pros

• Very easy to implement site-wide or per page

• Also optimizes internal links

Cons

• Lacks advanced customization options

Any of these plugins can save time compared to manually adding nofollow page-by-page or link-by-link. I recommend WP External Links for its simplicity and reliability based on many years of using it on sites I manage.

Other Ways to Add Nofollow Links

Beyond the editor settings, here are a couple other options for adding nofollow attributes:

• Page builders: If using a page builder like Elementor or Beaver Builder, add nofollow to link settings.

• HTML code: In a Code block, manually add rel="nofollow" in <a> tags.

• CSS code: Use a:after {content: "nofollow";} in style sheets.

• Functions file: Add a wp_head hook to output a nofollow meta tag.

The methods above allow you to nofollow links virtually anywhere on your site. Use in conjunction with editor settings for comprehensive control.

Now let‘s explore a few cases where you may want to use normal follow links.

When Not to Use Nofollow Links

While nofollow links are very useful in many cases, they aren‘t necessary everywhere. Here are some cases where you don‘t need to worry about adding nofollow:

Internal Links

You should use normal follow links for any links between pages on your own site (internal links). This helps transfer authority and ranking power across your site.

Links to Authority Sites

If linking out to authority sites like major newspapers, Wikipedia, government sites, etc. use regular follow links. These sites are seen as trustworthy and can lend credibility.

User Profile Links

Links attached to an author bio or user profile are usually followed. These personally endorse the site so pass equity. But use nofollow for visitor submitted profiles.

Directory Listings

follow links are normal for paid business directory links (e.g. to your own site). Nofollow for free web directories listing random sites.

Comment Links

As mentioned earlier, WordPress defaults to nofollow for comment links. No need to change this since you want to avoid spamming.

Be thoughtful about when to use nofollow vs normal links. There are certainly cases where passing equity is fine or even beneficial. But when in doubt, nofollowing external links is smart SEO practice.

Wrapping Up

That covers everything you need to know about adding nofollow links in WordPress! To recap:

• Nofollow links prevent your site from passing SEO value to external pages. Use them strategically.

• Manually add nofollow in the block editor, classic editor, menus, etc.

• Use plugins to auto-nofollow links site-wide or per content type.

• Still use normal follow links for internal navigation, authoritative sites, etc.

I hope this guide gives you a deep understanding of how and when to use nofollow links. Let me know if you have any other questions!