How the Most Demanded Link Attributes Affect SEO
If you’re reading this article, chances are you know that links placed in page code are marked using specific attributes. But let’s explore another question – do these attributes impact a site’s SEO, and if so, how exactly do they work?
Today you’ll learn about the main link attributes and whether they affect a site’s SEO. These include sponsored, nofollow, ugc, target_blank, and noreferrer noopener. If a link has no attribute, it is immediately considered dofollow.
Rel=”nofollow”
This attribute was introduced 15 years ago to combat comment spam more actively. Initially, this link attribute indicated to Google search engines that they should not follow the links and pass weight to other resources’ web pages. Attributes can be used to mark both internal and outgoing links.
In 2019, nofollow links were reevaluated, and their accounting began to be approached differently. According to public data, nofollow attributes have become part of the array of signals or simply moved to the category of recommended.
As it was before 2019, the rel_nofollow attributes are applied for the following purposes:
- in posts with an advertising nature;
- for links among comments;
- in links to web pages located within the site and not requiring indexing;
- for links to pages with low trust value.
Rel_nofollow is often used in tandem with ugc or sponsored.
Nofollow is not always used. For example, they are not used in links on those sites that direct to pages they promote or in links for internal linking.
Rel=”sponsored”
This link attribute is quite straightforward to understand. It applies to links for which payment is received, but with PrFlare, you can buy backlinks without this tag. For website owners (webmasters), marking links with the sponsored tag when publishing them is better.
It is unknown what influence sponsored has on the ranking of web resources since no concrete data is available. However, some assumptions exist. It is believed that thanks to this attribute, search engines find necessary information to improve instructions.
Rel=”ugc”
An attribute with this name is applied to links found in comments, messages on various forums, and other content created by site visitors. In such conditions, it is very difficult to monitor link quality, hence such work is not carried out. The ugc attribute is recommended to be attached to all links among user-posted information.
Rel=”noreferrer noopener”
The function of this attribute is to prevent search engines from finding data about who provided a specific link. When the noreferrer noopener is applied with a link, the transition to the site will be recorded in direct traffic, not in referral traffic. Any link used with such an attribute will be displayed to the user in another tab.
Target=”blank”
As originally assumed, when clicking a link, pages open in the same window. If you add the word target to the tag, it becomes possible to manually control how the new link will open. That is, Target=”blank” allows the link to automatically open in a separately created window.
The most used target value is _blank, but other values are also used:
- Quite rare, but having the same function – _self.
- Not used due to loss of relevance – _parent.
- Setting the frame loading process – _top.
Let’s answer the question posed at the beginning of the article – link attributes do not influence SEO. But they do pose some risk to the site itself, which is why the most demanded attribute is noreferrer noopener.
Conclusion
The most commonly used link attributes are sponsored, dofollow, nofollow, ugc, target_blank, and noreferrer noopener. They display content for site users and advertising, provide control over the transition to web pages, and recommend link weight transfer options.
Attributes like target_blank and noreferrer noopener do not affect SEO. With others, the situation is not so clear-cut. They determine how quality the link will be, its change, and whether Google will consider links for users.
