If you run a blog WordPress or Blogspot (Blogger) blog, it is most likely NoFollow. If you’re not familiar with the term NoFollow, it basically means the comments on your blog don’t get indexed when your article page get’s indexed.
If you are unfamiliar with how search engines work, they basically scan a page, read it via SEO, and then decide where to rank it on the search engine. If you have your comments set to NoFollow, then comments on your blog won’t get indexed and ranked on search engines.
In 2005, Google wanted to cut down on the amount of spam being indexed (from blog comments) because every comment was getting indexed. So they made an HTML attribute called “rel=”nofollow”" that makes the bots skip over it while scanning the page. Most blogging systems converted to NoFollow, too.
What’s DoFollow?
You may be thinking “Oh, there is rel=”nofollow”, so there is rel=”dofollow” too, right?” Wrong…
You either have the rel=”nofollow” attribute or your don’t. If you have your blog comments set to DoFollow, instead of NoFollow, you basically tell search engines to index the comments on your blog.
Now, you may be wondering, why do you want your reader’s comments to be indexed, giving them traffic? Well, I have two reasons;
- It encourages comments.
If your comments are set to DoFollow, you basically are telling your readers that they will get traffic not only from the blog comment itself, but also the search engine traffic from the comment. The more traffic the better, right?
- You’re readers are friends, so why not make them happy?
Since your readers are your friends and the backbone of your website, why not give them what they want, thus encouraging them to keep coming back? It is pretty simple!
To Get DoFollow On Your WordPress Blog, simply install the plugin, DoFollow.
Downsides of DoFollow
Not only your real readers want that traffic from search engines. Spammers do, too, and they’ll do anything to get it, even leaving irrelevant comments on your blog.
Those spam commentators, as mentioned a quiet a few paragraphs up, are the reason Google made the NoFollow attribute. They don’t want to clutter up their search results with spam, now do they?
So, if you are using DoFollow on your blog, you will notice an increase in spam comments, but hey, that’s what spam prevention plugins are for, right? I recommend using Akismet, a plug-in that catches and allows you to delete spam comments, therefore making DoFollow a great addition to your website.
Downsides of NoFollow
NoFollow cuts down on spam majorly, all because they won’t benefit from search engines (but it won’t get rid of spam completely!).
It will also discourage your regular readers from commenting, too, for much of the same reasons. So, please choose your side – extra comments and more spam (that can be controlled with plugins), or fewer comments and fewer amounts of spam?
So, What Do You Use?
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I’ll stick with no-follow for comments but would gladly linkout to sources or frequent readers with related content int he body of posts.
The minute you announce your blog is no-follow you are the target of spammers or people who just want to leave a comment for the link juice and that in my mind defeats the purpose of having real comments as they are not genuine.
Jamaipanese´s last blog ..Japan Beat Denmark to Qualify for Last 16
Haha, I agree there. Spam comment blockers work great and will defend your site from a whole lot of spam. You can change your settings, too, to require admin approval. Thanks for the comment
Joe,
I think am using Dofollow at my blog since it was launched and have gotten almost 4 spam comments but was blocked by akismet. I think almost everybody are using DoFollow at their blog sites.
Great post
Valentine Belonwu´s last blog ..100 Wonderful Inspirational Quotes That Will Make You Think
By default, WordPress is NoFollow. You’d be surprised at how many people actually have NoFollow enabled.
Thanks for the comment! Rock on
I don’t mind having nofollow comment links, but I do mind when people exploit this by using keywords instead of their real name. I tend to delete comments made by people called “make money online” or “viagra”, even if they are on topic.
If it got to the stage where my blog was bombarded by spammers only looking for links then I may review this policy, but at the moment it works well.
Stephen TBA´s last blog ..WordPress 3.0 is here!
Yeah, I get a lot of spam, but I don’t mind because it all gets blocked. Thanks for the comment
I recently did a guest post regarding this topic. Its a much debated topic as it is and the choice has to be made carefully.
Personally, I prefer to use the ‘LinkLove’ plugin that automatically assigns a “dofollow” to a commenter who has posted a certain number of posts(this limit can be adjusted by the admin). This way, you are only proving the link juice to your trusted readers rather than every backlink hungry poster.
Shashank K.´s last blog ..The Showdown: Blogger Versus WordPress
Wow, I’ve never heard of that plug-in before! I’ll be sure to check it out later!
Thanks for the comment, rock on!
Great post Joe. Do-Follow blogs attract spammers, but they attract more commentators than spammers
Kharim´s last blog ..What To Do After Installing WordPress?
Thanks, Mr.400!
You are AWESOME!
The average reader, meaning non-bloggers, probably won’t see a reason to care whether comments are do follow or nofollow. And considering that most ppl who actually do comment have blogs themselves, the argument really should focus instead on how much dofollow encourages bloggers to comment and vice versa.
Tony´s last blog ..4 Damn, Good Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy an iPhone 4 Yet
That’s true… It really just depends on your targeted audience. If you are targeting bloggers, you need to do one thing, if not, another. Even if you are PR1 and giving very little value to their comment, it’s still better than nothing, right?
Hey Joe,
Good overview of DoFollow and NoFollow. I use dofollow. I actually haven’t noticed much difference in the amount of spam after switching but either way deleting all of the spam is annoying.
Thanks for posting about this!
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Darren L Carter´s last blog ..The Problem With Mentors: YOU
I use DoFollow, too. I don’t think there is enough spam that can be generated to take any time out of my day, just because of DoFollow. Thanks for the comment! Rock on
I use both follow and no follow on my blogs and the quantity of comments remains the same. I really wonder if it really matters right now because I see alot of no followed links in my google webmaster accounts.
Ken @ Ghillie Suit Clothing´s last blog ..Ghost Ghillie Suit
It depends on your niche. If you are in a niche with tech focused bloggers, than they are more likely to care. If not, than they won’t care if you are offering them SEO benefits or not.
Thanks for the comment! Rock on!
I’m on nofollow atm. Not really worried about switching over, though I probably would if that became the trend on the bulk of the blogs I read/post on. I wouldn’t want to be the only jerk not giving out Google juice when my friends came to visit, gotta be a good host right?
Jillian´s last blog ..“4 Hour Sleep Week” Book Review
Haha. You’re such a jerk! Get with the times, Jillian (joke
).
The higher your PR, the more “link juice” you give out, so it really doesn’t make a difference for some bloggers. Thanks for the comment.
can’t believe this post is from a 13 year old blogger.
My blog is do follow too and I use Askimet along with Conditional Captcha plugin to proteck spam comments. They work perfectly.
Tek3D´s last blog ..Facebook Open Graph Search Engine
I actually don’t recommend a captcha code for comments. Yeah, they virtually end spam, but readers sometimes miss the captcha code. What happens is I’ll fill out a huge comment, but as I’m about to submit it, I miss the captcha code, hit submit, and then have to rewrite the whole comment.
I guess it’s my own fault, but it does get annoying. Thanks for the comment!
No man, It is the Conditional Captcha, captcha code only appears for comments that are suspicious as spam. For normal people like you, Captcha will never show up, you can check it out at my blog. I am sure it will save you a lot of time for moderating comments.
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Oh, okay! I’ll be sure to check that out!
Thanks for the tip I will definitely check it out. I have been trying to decide which way to go with my blogs.
Make the right choice!
I went ahead and added the dofollow plug-in, I also added the commentluv plug-in for good measure. Thanks again for the post it was super useful.
Thanks for the nice comment! I, too, use commentluv, but it hasn’t been something that makes or breaks a website.
Thanks, again, for the comment!
Very detailed explanation of dofollow and nofollow blogs. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Interesting! Gives me lots to think about! I learn something (usually more than one) new every day here!
I pretty much follow the same policy that you do when it comes to dofollow and nofollow. I make my comments follow as a way to reward my visitors. Plus I also use the Commentluv plugin so that people can get deep links. Just like you I also use the Akismet spam filter to save time weeding out the bad spam from normal visitors. I just wish more people would adopt the same policies that you and I have. The more the merrier.
Kathy´s last blog ..Why Are You Still Using No Follow On Your Blog Comments
I’d love to see people reward their readers more. And even if you’re worried about spam, you can use a plugin called Conditional Captcha, which will STOP spam from getting through. It’s a great way to get more comments on each post.
With dofollow, you get more comments and many take the time to read your blog.
Agreed, Paul. I do get a lot more comments since using dofollow.
Thanks for the comment! Rock on!