Dofollow vs Nofollow Links: What Real Estate Sites Actually Need

What is a Dofollow Link?

A dofollow link is a standard hyperlink that allows search engine crawlers to follow it and pass ranking authority from the linking website to the destination page. When a respected UK property publication links to your estate agency website with a dofollow link, it passes a portion of that publication’s authority to your site. Google uses this transfer of authority, often called link equity or PageRank, as one of its primary signals for determining how trustworthy and relevant your website is for property-related searches.

Most links on the internet are dofollow by default. When a website owner or editor links to another site without adding any special attribute, that link passes authority to the destination. This is why editorial links earned through genuine outreach and quality content are so valuable: they represent a real website making an unrestricted endorsement of your content.

For real estate websites, dofollow links from relevant property publications, regional news outlets, housing market blogs, and finance sites are the core of any link building programme. Each one signals to Google that a credible, relevant source has endorsed your website, which builds the authority needed to rank for competitive property searches.

What is a Nofollow Link?

A nofollow link contains the attribute rel=”nofollow” in its HTML code. This attribute tells search engines that the linking website does not want to pass ranking authority to the destination. Nofollow was introduced by Google in 2005 to combat comment spam, where people would post links in blog comment sections to artificially boost their own rankings.

The practical effect of a nofollow attribute is that the link passes significantly less ranking authority than a standard dofollow link. For years, the SEO industry treated nofollow links as worthless for ranking purposes. In 2019, Google updated its treatment of nofollow links in a way that changed that calculation meaningfully.

Nofollow links commonly appear in the comment sections of blogs and news sites, on social media platforms, in forum discussions, on Wikipedia, and on many news publications that add nofollow to all outbound links as editorial policy. This means that a mention of your real estate business in a major UK newspaper may technically carry a nofollow attribute, but that does not mean the link provides no value.

Google’s 2019 Update: Nofollow as a Hint

In September 2019, Google officially announced a significant change to how it treats nofollow links. In a post on the Google Search Central blog, the company stated that all link attributes including nofollow, sponsored, and a new UGC attribute would be treated as hints rather than directives.

Before this change, a nofollow attribute was a hard instruction that Google would not count the link for ranking purposes. After the change, Google stated it would use these hints, along with other signals, as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyse and use links within our systems.

Google’s Danny Sullivan clarified the practical meaning: nofollow became a hint for ranking purposes. What this means in practice is that a nofollow link from an authoritative editorial source can still influence rankings, even if the impact is less direct than a dofollow link from the same source. A nofollow link from a major UK property publication or regional news outlet carries value that a nofollow link from a low-quality blog does not, because Google evaluates the hint in the context of the linking site’s overall authority and editorial credibility.

For real estate businesses, this means that opportunities to earn links from high-authority publications should not be declined simply because those links will be nofollow. A nofollow mention in the Guardian property section or a nofollow citation in a BBC housing market article carries real value even without the direct authority transfer of a dofollow link.

The Three Link Attributes Real Estate Businesses Need to Understand

Google’s 2019 update introduced three distinct link attributes that each carry different signals:

rel=”dofollow” (the default, no attribute needed) tells Google the linking site endorses the destination and that authority should pass. This is what every real estate link building programme is primarily working to earn.

rel=”nofollow” tells Google the linking site does not specifically endorse the destination but acknowledges the link. Since 2019, Google treats this as a hint and may still count some value depending on context and the authority of the linking site.

rel=”sponsored” was introduced in 2019 to identify links created as part of paid placements, sponsorships, or compensation agreements. Google recognises this as a paid link and evaluates it through that frame. For real estate businesses paying for sponsored content placements, this attribute should be used by the publisher to disclose the commercial nature of the link.

rel=”ugc” was also introduced in 2019 to identify user-generated content links such as those in comments and forum posts. Google evaluates these with appropriate scepticism about whether the linking site stands behind the destination.

What This Means for Real Estate Link Building

The practical implications of the dofollow versus nofollow distinction for a real estate website are clear once the hierarchy is understood.

Dofollow links from relevant real estate publications, regional news outlets, property investment blogs, and housing finance sites are the primary objective of any link building programme. These are the links that directly build the authority needed to rank for competitive property searches. A real estate link building service that cannot place dofollow links is not building the authority signals that move rankings.

Nofollow links from high-authority sources still contribute value and should not be turned down. If a major UK property portal, a national news site, or a respected housing market publication mentions your real estate business with a nofollow link, that mention still signals credibility to Google, drives referral traffic from genuine readers, and contributes to a natural-looking backlink profile.

A backlink profile consisting exclusively of dofollow links is itself a red flag. Natural editorial link profiles contain a mix of dofollow and nofollow links because that is how the web naturally works. Websites earn some links from publications that nofollow all outbound links, some from social media, some from comment sections, and some from editorial sources that follow links as standard. Industry data consistently shows that profiles with roughly 70 to 85 percent dofollow links and the remainder nofollow tend to maintain healthier long-term ranking patterns than profiles that are entirely dofollow.

Where Real Estate Businesses Commonly Get Nofollow Links

Understanding which link sources typically produce nofollow links helps real estate businesses accurately evaluate their backlink profile and identify which types of outreach will produce dofollow versus nofollow placements.

Major news publications including the BBC, Guardian, Telegraph, and regional UK newspapers frequently add nofollow to all outbound links as editorial policy. The same is true of many US news outlets. Links from these publications are still highly valuable because their authority is exceptional and the 2019 hint model means Google still evaluates them positively, but they will not produce direct authority transfer in the same way as a dofollow guest post on a property blog.

Realtor.ca in Canada, Rightmove and Zoopla in the UK, and Zillow in the US all link to agent and brokerage websites from property listing pages. These links are typically nofollow because they are part of commercial platform structures rather than editorial endorsements. They still contribute to brand visibility and referral traffic but do not carry the same ranking authority as editorial dofollow links.

Social media platforms including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter use nofollow on all outbound links. Links shared or mentioned on social media do not pass direct authority to real estate websites but generate referral traffic and brand awareness.

Wikipedia uses nofollow on all outbound links. A Wikipedia citation of your real estate content carries significant credibility signals and traffic potential but does not directly pass PageRank.

How to Check Whether a Link is Dofollow or Nofollow

Real estate businesses evaluating their backlink profiles can check link types using several free tools.

Ahrefs free backlink checker shows the dofollow and nofollow status of linking domains alongside their domain rating and organic traffic. This is the most reliable free tool for evaluating the composition of a real estate website’s backlink profile.

Google Search Console shows links pointing to your site but does not distinguish between dofollow and nofollow status. It is useful for identifying which sites link to you but not for evaluating link type.

Browser extensions including those that highlight dofollow links in green and nofollow links in red allow you to check the link type on any page you are viewing, which is useful when evaluating a publication before pitching a guest post.

When evaluating a link building service, asking them to show you the dofollow percentage of their placements before committing tells you immediately what proportion of the work will build direct authority versus simply contributing to profile diversity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Real Estate Businesses Should Focus On

The dofollow versus nofollow distinction matters most for link building decisions, not for whether to accept or decline individual link opportunities.

When building links proactively through outreach and guest posting, target placements that will produce dofollow links from relevant property publications and regional media. These are the links that directly build the authority signals Google uses to rank real estate websites.

When editorial mentions and nofollow links appear naturally through news coverage, industry citations, or portal listings, accept them and recognise their value for brand visibility, referral traffic, and profile naturalness even without direct authority transfer.

And when evaluating a real estate link building service, always ask what percentage of their placements produce dofollow links and which specific publishers they work with. A service that cannot answer that question clearly is not giving you the information you need to evaluate what you are actually buying.

At The Core SEO, every link we build for real estate clients is a dofollow editorial placement on a relevant property publication. We build links exclusively in the real estate niche across the UK, USA, and Canada.

Talk to us about building dofollow authority for your real estate website.