It’s my personal responsibility to ensure you, my Blog Engage customers are safe from any negative SEO affects and in order to do this I make sure I follow the guidelines Google has set up when it comes to building backlinks for your blog articles.
I cannot however control how you build your backlinks outside of the Blog Engage community. Did you know, Do Follow backlinks may put your blog at risk for generating negative Search Engine effects. The problem with Do follow links is they will pass the page rank juice no matter if the link is good, or bad. This doesn’t mean Do Follow links are bad, we just need to diversify our portfolio to ensure we create a safe backlinking strategy.
Blog commenting is one great example. When you’re leaving blog comments on blogs that are followed and a blog gets banned from the Google index, links from this site can becomes toxic. Any links on this site also become toxic. So if this site has links back to your site it reduces the value of your listings for specific keywords within Google search engines.
Sidebar links or guest post links are another great example of when Do Follow links hurt your search engine rankings. You may spend a lot of time guest blogging but you never know what they site owner has been doing to increase their search engine rankings. If the guest blog site at hand becomes banned from Google index; your site backlinks are going to also be toxic and will start hurting your search engine rankings. Your blog can become penalized.
From my professional advice I only recommend posting links, comments on Do Follow blogs that you know for a fact will not become toxic because you either know the blogger personally or know they have a great online reputation for white hat SEO. Blog Engage is Do Follow and you can ensure we will never be banned from Google as all our services are white hat SEO methods.
Benefits of No Follow
One of the largest benefits of No Follow backlinks is when Google sees the link is targeted and related to the site it’s linking to Google will in fact pass page rank juice even if the link is No Follow. Also, when Google decides to ban a site your site will be safe seeing the backlink is No Follow. When the link is Do Follow it’s a toxic link you have to request removal of. Take note No Follow doesn’t always work, Google will make their own decision.
So in the end this brings up a good questions. Is it more beneficial to have No Follow links when working online so you can control any toxic links coming back to our sites?
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
About
Hi There my name is Brian, I'm the owner of Blog Engage. I own a personal blog about SEO and Marketing. Make sure to follow blogengage on twitter @blogengage and like us on facebook. Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017
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Kimberly, The Fur Mom
September 18th, 2012
I recently learned that do follow links on product reviews can be seen negatively by Google, because (if I remember correctly) that it’s seen as a paid link, because we received a free product. So the article said that when we do reviews, they should contain no follow links.
It’s amazing how much there is to remember. Love it!
Kimberly, The Fur Mom recently posted..How Dog Walking Will Help Me Lose 10 Pounds in 3 Months (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 18th, 2012
Hi Kim, in general paid reviews are no good anyways. If Google has any idea that the review is paid for it will negatively affect the product or service website. Adding No Follow links will definitely make this issue go away and if you do this then your in good shape. No Follow is very important in situations like yours. It’s good you are knowledgeable enough to know this.
bbrian017 recently posted..The Blog Engage $500 USD Guest Blogging Contest #6 (dofollow)
Kimberly, The Fur Mom
September 18th, 2012
I want Keep the Tail Wagging to be the No. 1 resource for dog owners and I’ve started to take care of product reviews that I take on; I now mostly review products we use regularly with our dogs and won’t take on reviews on product we won’t use. I recently returned a box of vitamins; I bet the PR person was surprised.
Kimberly, The Fur Mom recently posted..Cats vs Dogs | When the Puppy Uses the Carpet as a Litter Box (dofollow)
Larry James
September 18th, 2012
I am just starting to get some comments on my site since joining Blog Engage. My site has no follow links for comments. I am using the free version of CommentLuv. I have been considering buying the paid version of CommentLuv, so that I would have the option of offering Do Follow links to who have left comments 3 times or more. What you are saying Brian is that having Do Follow links might actually prevent someone from commenting on my blog? I guess negative SEO does exist.
Larry James recently posted..Top 5 Ecommerce Plugins For WordPress (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 18th, 2012
Hi Larry, right now, Do Follow comments on your blog will help get more comments. But let’s say you decide to use some black hat SEO methods. You start doing things Google doesn’t like such as buying sidebar text links in unrelated websites and buying links from other sources. Well; this will in return affect anyone who has links on your site linking to them. So what was once a great backlink has now become a toxic link in the eyes of Google.
bbrian017 recently posted..The 2012 $500 USD Guest Blogging Contest #5 Winners (dofollow)
Suresh Khanal
September 19th, 2012
Brian, this is something uneasy to understand and accept the fact.
Suppose, I create a website and started linking some websites. I made those outgoing links dofollow and started to apply all black hat techniques. Now, can I hurt them? Can Google algorithm be so feeble that anybody can hurt you by placing dofollow links and doing nasty things on their site without touching your site? Really frightening it is.
Suresh Khanal recently posted..A Manual – How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 19th, 2012
Yes Suresh this is the case and when it happens it’s in fact your responsibility to contact the website owner and to ask for No Follow or for the link to be removed. The link becomes toxic and you are responsible to ensure you don’t have links from this users site. It is frustrating I have friends that have spent hours and hours trying to get backlinks from some bloggers sites because it’s hurting their rankings.
bbrian017 recently posted..The Blog Engage $500 USD Guest Blogging Contest #6 (dofollow)
Ema
September 19th, 2012
I’ve been reviewing a lot of updates regarding SEO / site rankings and I can say that it’s quite risky to be misinformed. As I’ve understood, do follow links increases traffic and definitely increases the page rank factor however, if we became too lenient about ensuring the quality of our links, then this would be a disgrace.
Ema recently posted..DLinkers Refreshes SEO Agents with New Updates (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 19th, 2012
Hi Ema , yes overall Do Follow links are great, especially when they are natural links. But when the links become toxic this is where the issues is. It’s rare but it does happen and I have many toxic links coming into Blog Engage. It’s my responsibility to go out, contact the webmaster and make sure they are removed.
bbrian017 recently posted..The 2012 $500 USD Guest Blogging Contest #5 Winners (dofollow)
Radu
September 19th, 2012
If you are doing only DoFollow backlinking you can be suspicious. I recommend a mixture between dofollow and nofollow, as well as links from other niches and not only from yours.
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Chuck Jones
September 19th, 2012
I do the same thing. Have a mixture between do follow and no follow. Not only does it look more organic, whether it is no follow or not, if its relevant and you make a good comment it can attract others to click on it and see what other good knowledge you have.
anshul
September 19th, 2012
in my view nofollow links is suitable for free paid and dofollow is best for paid.but you should use both of the follow otherwise they create a problem.
anshul recently posted..Property Inventory Software (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 19th, 2012
Hi anshul Yes paid links or review links should be No Follow and most people know that. In fact I’ve recently changed the way we do our contests to make sure our sponsor links are No Follow. It’s great for driving traffic but not a good idea for trying to get a backlink.
bbrian017 recently posted..My First Encounter With Blog Engage (dofollow)
Enstine Muki
September 19th, 2012
Brian, this is scary. I think the only solution is for bloggers to stay away from blackhat SEO. Why get into some practice that will not only hurt you but your friends in the future.
Unfortunately, it will not be easy to get everyone to do whitehat SEO
Enstine Muki recently posted..3 Tips To Get Blog Posts To Go Viral On Social Media (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 19th, 2012
Hi Enstine, the sad part is we never know what the author or blog owner are doing as we comments and guest post on their site. If they are buying paid links and having link farmers create tons of backlinks this can in return hurt or own sites.
bbrian017 recently posted..Why I Decided To Join Blog Engage (dofollow)
Mason Prescott
September 19th, 2012
My suggestion is that never become dependent only on do follow links. May be no follow links don’t have the same weight as the previous one but for good SEO result a mixture of both is important.
Mason Prescott recently posted..Wrongful Termination Settlements (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 19th, 2012
Hi Mason , I actually mention this in my post, it’s so important to diversify our portfolio to ensure we create a safe backlinking strategy. If we do this then we have less and less to worry about.
bbrian017 recently posted..I’m very excited to be on the Blog Engage Team! (dofollow)
RonLeyba
September 19th, 2012
Nice analogy Brian. It makes good sense. In today’s SEO world, I think, nofollow or dofollow links doesn’t matter that much anymore. What matters the most is that, we have to build links that get clicks. Links that are passing not only link juice or something, but traffic and visitors as well. Again, building links that get clicks is the in thing today.
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bbrian017
September 20th, 2012
Hi Ron nice to see you here back and commenting I hope all is well. It’s funny I just posted an article about this discussions,. I agree and I think soon Google will not be looking at backlinks as much as we think. I’m excited to see the new update happening in a few days. I also agree ti’s all about driving traffic and getting new readers, it’s far more important then generating page rank jezzz…
bbrian017 recently posted..Is Google Preparing to Drop Page Rank All together? (dofollow)
RonLeyba
September 20th, 2012
Like you, i am waiting for the new update to happen. Thanks Brian for the reply.
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Robert
September 19th, 2012
I suggest making a mix between nofollow and dofollow. It’s more natural than having a bunch of dofollow backlinks. Google loves natural things, too
Robert recently posted..Affilotheme Review: #1 Premium WordPress Theme For Affiliate Marketers (dofollow)
bbrian017
September 20th, 2012
Yup I like to agree Robert, Google is all about being natural, to many Do Follow links can inf act hurt your rankings, everything we do online should be natural and having all Do Follow links is not natural.
bbrian017 recently posted..Is Google Preparing to Drop Page Rank All together? (dofollow)
Lennart Heleander
September 20th, 2012
Hi Brian,
This applies right from the start to check if the blog or website is good and if Google like it, before I write a comment, or similar, regardless dofollow or nofollow. I use a program from Ahrefs that showing the value or weight of a link, the higher the better. A link from Blog Engage has a very good value.
Ehsan Ullah
September 20th, 2012
That is true that No follow links works better than Dofollow when it comes to blog commenting, but in guest blogging I prefer Do Follow links.
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Andrew Calderon
September 20th, 2012
I know that Do-Follow link is best for ranking but No-Follow is very important for coming visitor’s so before the coming here I wasn’t knowledge about it so It’s OK I’ll be careful at now and thanks to all for shearing us there Opinion’s.
Rich
September 24th, 2012
This is good to know for anyone attempting SEO. I wasn’t aware that links from “bad” sites can become toxic and actually hurt you, but it makes sense.
Rich recently posted..Deadliest Catch Quest Guide! (dofollow)
erwin
September 24th, 2012
I had no idea if dofollow links could bring danger to my blog, but maybe dofollow links is still a bit more useful than nofollow links.
erwin recently posted..Top Fastest Way to Lose Weight Healthy (dofollow)
Ryan
September 24th, 2012
I would disagree on this one and would like to see some proof that do-follow links can really penalize a site. It would be hard to control who are linking to your websites and until Google provides a Disavow tool, I think they will be careful to pass penalties because of do follow links, unless they want chaos out there.
Ryan recently posted..Commentluv Enabled (dofollow)
Wedding Speeches
October 4th, 2012
This game of seo is not a easy one to play even though the rules are simple. And sometime we can’t help who is linked to us and so for this reason its best to monitor backlinks and get people to remove your link if your not comfortable with that site.
Wedding Speeches recently posted..Wedding Speeches Long (dofollow)
infowaylive
October 19th, 2012
Highly appreciate your effort to research on this topic. For me, weather its do-follow or no-follow it is still a link that benefit your website for traffics and rankings in search engines. Balance of link building will surely give benefit to one’s website as long as your doing organic and white hat SEO technique.
Alex
October 19th, 2012
I like the point about the toxicity of the doFollow link from a banned website. I must carefully select websites and blogs where we get our links from. Btw, in order to get a full profit from our link building, we must use both doFollow and noFollow links.
Alex recently posted..7 easy steps to learn brochure printing (dofollow)
Martin
November 7th, 2012
Yes, that is true. Only a good balance of both doFollow and noFollow links makes a good impact on SEO. Selecting the proper blogs is not only the way, you must follow the blogs and subscribe to be on the top of the news.
Martin recently posted..The best Social Media marketing tips (dofollow)
George
October 22nd, 2012
I get it. It has always been my policy to comment on both do follow and no follow blogs
George recently posted..40% off on Hostgator webhosting, limited time offer (dofollow)
Freya
November 30th, 2012
Very interesting and very scary. A good mix of both is probably indeed the best way to go.
Regarding links from comments, I thought Google would not put any value to those regardless whether they are NoFollow or DoFollow?
Kim Andersson
March 21st, 2013
Brian, an impressive article. Every day is a learning and if one has to carve a niche for himself in the competitive market he has to be top of the game. Brian I agree totally diversify is the key to increase the rankings and follow the rules. Nevertheless it is very difficult to make a demarcation between the choice among the two links. One only can be careful to not use blackhat SEO.
Kim Andersson recently posted..checks for quickbooks – ideas and suggestions related to checks for quickbooks (dofollow)
Winson
April 30th, 2013
this is so true, I have just updated my comment luv setting to No-Follow and only change to Do-Follow after at least 5 approved comment. This will prevent visitor to comment just because of the SEO benefit it.
Winson recently posted..How To Write A Good Newspaper Article (dofollow)
Karen Woodham
April 30th, 2013
The only issue with having the option set to “x amount of posts for a dofollow” is you will have to keep an eye out for those that post the x amount of comments in quick succession just to get a DoFollow, rather than showing an interesting in what is actually in your blog article.
So keep a close eye on the comments coming in.
Karen Woodham recently posted..Warwick Davis Amongst Stars Pulling In Fans At Wales Comic Con 2013 (dofollow)
Michael Evans
May 2nd, 2013
My head is swimming BB. There must be bad guys out there who specialize in just linking to toxic sites. To take down the competition. Toxic links are the easiest to get right? Google listen up… you have to do something about this.
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Uchenna
May 22nd, 2013
I thought it only worked the over way. If you link to a website and over time that site gets banned by Google, for example, that would constitute negative seo for you, since your linking to a bad neighbour. As far as the reverse is concerned, in essence, you wouldn’t have any control over that, since anyone can write a blog post or comment on your behalf.
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