What Is a Dofollow Link?
A dofollow link is a hyperlink that instructs search engine crawlers to follow the link and pass authority from the source page to the destination page. It is the default link type on the web. When you add a standard anchor tag without any restrictive rel attribute, the link is dofollow by nature.
The term "dofollow" is not an actual HTML attribute. Rather, it describes the absence of rel="noopener", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc". Search engines such as Google treat dofollow links as votes of confidence. When a reputable South African news site like News24 or BusinessTech links to your website without a nofollow attribute, that link tells Google your site is worth referencing, which can have a meaningful positive effect on your organic rankings.
Dofollow links are at the heart of SEO link building. Google's PageRank algorithm was built on the premise that links represent endorsements. A page that receives many high-quality dofollow links from authoritative domains tends to rank better for relevant search queries than a page with few or no links. The amount of authority passed through a dofollow link is influenced by the linking page's own authority, the relevance of the linking site to your industry, and where the link appears on the page (in-content links typically carry more weight than footer links).
Not all dofollow links carry equal value. A link from a trusted .co.za finance publication carries far more weight than a link from a newly registered blog with no history. Quality always outweighs quantity in modern link building. Acquiring a handful of genuine dofollow links from respected South African publications is more beneficial than hundreds of links from low-quality directories.
Dofollow Links In Practice
The scenario below is an illustrative example, not a Juicy Designs client result. The figures indicate the scale of effect that earned dofollow links typically produce, so treat them as indicative rather than measured.
Consider a Pretoria-based accounting firm that publishes a helpful article on the Two-Pot Retirement System changes. A personal finance journalist at a major South African outlet reads the article and links to it from their own piece, without adding nofollow. That single dofollow link from a high-authority domain could plausibly shift the accounting firm's page from page three to page one for relevant search queries, depending on how competitive those queries are.
South African businesses can earn dofollow links through several means: producing original research or data that journalists want to reference, publishing guides that other businesses link to as resources, getting listed on industry association websites, contributing expert commentary to news articles, and building relationships with local bloggers and content creators in their niche. Digital PR campaigns that generate coverage on .co.za media properties are one of the most reliable ways to earn quality dofollow links at scale.
When auditing your own backlink profile using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, filtering for dofollow links specifically gives you a clear picture of which sites are actively contributing to your domain authority and which links require follow-up or outreach to remove if they appear toxic.
Dofollow versus nofollow links
The difference is whether a link passes ranking signal. A dofollow link, the default for a normal link, tells search engines to follow it and pass link equity to the destination, so it can help that page rank. A nofollow link carries a rel attribute asking search engines not to pass that signal, historically used for untrusted, user-generated or paid links so they do not confer unearned authority. A natural link profile contains both, and Google now treats nofollow as a hint rather than a strict rule. For SEO, dofollow links from relevant, authoritative pages are the ones that most influence rankings, which is why the value of a backlink depends not just on its existence but on whether it passes signal.
Earning quality dofollow links
Because dofollow links from strong, relevant sites carry ranking value, earning them is a core SEO goal, but the emphasis must be on quality and legitimacy. The durable way is to be worth linking to: publish original data, genuinely useful guides, tools or expert commentary that other sites choose to reference, and support this with digital PR and legitimate outreach. Relevance matters as much as authority, a dofollow link from a respected, related site outweighs many from unrelated or low-quality ones. What to avoid is buying dofollow links or joining schemes, which breach Google's guidelines and risk a penalty. Earned dofollow links from credible sources build durable authority; manufactured ones are a liability, so the safe path is to deserve the link.
FAQ
How do I check if a link is dofollow or nofollow?
Right-click the link in your browser, select Inspect, and look at the anchor tag. If there is no rel attribute or the rel does not contain nofollow, sponsored, or ugc, the link is dofollow by default.
Do dofollow links from South African websites help local SEO?
Yes. Dofollow links from .co.za domains and South African news sites send strong geographic relevance signals to Google, reinforcing your site's authority within the South African market and improving local search visibility.
How do you check if a link is dofollow or nofollow?
Inspect the link's HTML: a nofollow link includes rel="nofollow" (or related values like sponsored or ugc), while a dofollow link has no such attribute. Browser extensions and SEO tools can highlight nofollow links automatically, saving you from checking the source code manually.
Are dofollow links better than nofollow links?
For passing ranking signal, yes: dofollow links from relevant, authoritative sites influence rankings, while nofollow links generally pass little or none. But a natural profile contains both, and nofollow links can still drive traffic and awareness, so they are not worthless, just different in SEO effect.