Love My Links!
Let’s be honest here - we all love getting some link love, especially if it’s in return for something we’ve done personally, like commenting on other blogs. And am I the only one who logs into their WordPress dashboard just to see what new back-links pop up? Didn’t think so! So what if all your hard work was for nothing?
Background
NoFollow is an HTML attribute that can be attached to a hyperlink. When present this tag effectively tells search engines not to allow the link to effect the link target’s ranking in their index. It typically looks like this in use:
< a rel = “nofollow” href=”http://www.w3.org“>
Google announced in 2005 that links using this tag would also not have an influence on the link target’s PageRank - and MSN and Yahoo (as is typical) followed Google’s lead. Their intention was to reduce the appeal of comment spamming, but it doesn’t work. Spammers don’t check for the tag because they don’t care about their ranking in a search index - and generally leave the job of spamming to automated robots or real people who get paid a pittance for doing it, and neither cares about back-links.
The engine’s arguments no longer hold weight though. Since Google adopted it’s stance on NoFollow, plugins like Askimet have been enhanced to such a level that comment spam can be controlled. These days all the NoFollow tag really does is prevent link love (the life-blood of the blogging community) from being given back to your readers and commentators.
How Does This Affect Me?
By default, WordPress (and almost every other blogging platform) automatically adds the tag to all links from user-generated content - such as comments and trackbacks. But support for disabling the NoFollow tag is growing - with many highly-regarded blogs promoting the movement or implementing the change. Andy Beard has even set up a Bumpzee community for DoFollowers!
It’s worth noting that Dougal Campbell (one of the WordPress core development team) has also recently installed a DoFollow plugin on his blog, so perhaps we’ll see WP options that allow it to be done without a plugin!
What Do I Need To Do?
Wordpress. Install and activate one of these plugins: DoFollow, Dofollow (WP Plugin), or Link Love (my personal choice). That’s it - simple!
Blogger/Blogspot. Follow this guide.
Typepad. Follow this guide.
Moveable Type. Follow this guide.
If you want to put a graphic onto your blog, to show that you’re a DoFollower, then Randa Clay (one of the most significant promoters of the movement) has created a logo, and made it available in a choice of colours! Chances are that you’ve already seen her graphics popping up on blogs you read daily - and I strongly suspect that they may end up as a non-official standard!
If Randa’s buttons aren’t to your liking, then Charity at Design Adaptations has also produced some full-size buttons, and Asgeir has made some smaller ones!
Conclusion
This is something that all bloggers should seriously consider implementing! It’s not hard to do, and it means you’re doing something nice for your readers in return for their comments - which will probably end up encouraging loyalty to your blog, and give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside!
Have you already made the change, and did you notice any increase in spam (or real) comments as a result? If not, do you plan to make the change - and what else do you feel could be done to improve the situation?
Digg/astetix
Flickr/astetix
Facebook/Paul Enderson
Linkedin/paulenderson
Del.icio.us/jazzpak
Technorati/astetix
MyBlogLog/astetix
Hi Paul, thanks for the mention. Don’t know if you’re taking part in the technorati favoriting exchange or not, but I faved you all the same.
Great looking blog btw.
I disabled “no follow” about two weeks ago - and received one spam comment. (Hey, there were times I would’ve been happy about ANY comment. Possibly I would’ve even bought some stocks or some Viagra just to say ‘Thank you for commenting on my blog’)
I use Textpattern and disabling “no follow” is just one click in the ‘Advanced Preferences’ menu.
Thanks for the mention, Paul. Great article by the way - it pulls together a lot of what has been said about nofollow and presents it in one concise article - for all bloggers, not just WordPress users.
I only installed DoFollow in the last couple of weeks so it’s difficult to tell what kind of effect it’s having. But it seems positive.
Good work Paul.
Glad you decided to join the community.
Thanks for including me in your list. Do follow is one of the best things we can do to encourage growth in the blogosphere. I love all of Randa’s buttons, too.
Charity: I think that link trains only end up being good for the first x number of people on the list - much like a traditional pyramid scheme, so I decided not to take part. But I’m always pleased to get faved - so thanks! And (in an effort to make more use of Technorati Favourites in general) I’m returning the favour! Thanks for the compliment on the blog too!
Zep: LOL! I always consider editing the spam comments in some sort of amusing way - so if the spammer returns then they’ll see my edited version!
Aaron: Thanks! That’s exactly what I was aiming for - a summary of all the summaries! I’m pretty sure that DoFollowing will increase the number of comments - it’s just a question of whether that will decrease their quality and relevance!
David: Thank you! Did you notice the nice article image, the questions to close, and the the thanking of the last posters? Can’t imagine where I got those ideas from!
Char: Thanks for dropping by! Yup, I really think that Randa’s buttons (or something very, very similar) will end up being the standard… She got a head start on everyone else, and that’s all it takes sometimes - although she also succeeded in creating an instantly-recognisable and memorable design too!
Charity: Just realised I mis-typed your blog name - although perhaps you didn’t notice either?
Now corrected…
Hi Paul, I joined the link-love revolution earlier this week, the more the merrier!
Liking the look of your blog, the colours seem to work really well.
That’s really bizarre - I’m just sitting here looking at your blog! I guess you must’ve found your way here from my pic in the MBL widget, right? Nice to see a fellow Brit’s blog either way!
Thanks for the compliment! I’m not usually a fan of monochromatic designs (i.e. varying shades of a single colour) but it just felt right at the time!
Yeah, I followed the MyBlogLog trail, I find it very useful for finding blogs that I might other wise of missed.
).
Seeing as you’re in the UK, enjoy the Bank Holiday, looks like it is gonna be typical weather!
Just as well I plan to spend it here in front of the computer (if the wife lets me
Thanks! You too! It’s gonna rain for the next three days apparently - so I might actually get some work done for a change!
Paul,
Thanks for writing about this. I was reluctant to add the dofollow until I read your explanation and I think you’re exactly right.
– Scot
Scot! Glad you could drop by my (non Vista-dependent) blog mate!
I’m pleased my explanation was useful, and welcome (in advance) to the supporters club!
[…] Paul Enderson of Reflections […]
Yes I noticed a huge upsurge of spam in recent weeks - but I cannot say with certainty that it’s due to my addition of the do-follow plugin.
I can say with certainty that removing the comment moderation requirement on my blog was a positive move.
http://thepaperbull.com/throwing-comment-pre-approvals-out-the-window/
Thanks for your comment TPB! I’ve been toying with the idea of removing the comment moderation on both of mine, but to be honest I haven’t got anywhere near the amount of spam you have!
I’ve been actively blogging for a month now, and Askimet has caught all three of the spams I’ve received!
Thanks for the info about no follow. Its time to start allowing people who comment on my site to benefit from it!
I’m glad you’ve seen the light Brett! You have some interesting articles (and some great image choices) on your blog - nice work!
[…] to David, Paul, Scot, Brett, RomeoAngel, Vivienne and Tara for commenting recent posts.] Related […]
[…] [Thanks to Charity, Zep, Aaron, David, Char, StevieB, Scot, The Paper Bull and Brett for their comments on my previous post] […]
Just installed this on my WP blog today…it’s a good thing to share the link lurve.
It certainly is. Just don’t confuse link lurve with lurve in general, or you’ll end up in hot water…
*sigh* I know.. it’s what my psychiatrist keeps telling me. :p
LOL! Haven’t I heard that line somewhere before?
Heh - imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say.
Too true.
I must say the inclusion of ref=”nofollow” is going to make SEO enthusiasts/geeks more money then ever before. Since the bar has been raise so have the prices.
While the tag does stop or at least limit link spam it’s going to be hard on small web-present businesses who post genuine comments with links .
One up to you Paul,
Jesse-Lee
Thanks for dropping in Jesse! I think you may have things the wrong way round though… Your comment suggests that we’re all in favour of implementing a nofollow tag to blog links, but it’s the other way - we all want to see nofollow scrapped in favour of dofollow!
[…] to David, Paul, Scot, Brett, RomeoAngel, Vivienne and Tara for kind comments on recent posts.] Related […]
That kind of info is really valuable. I´ll change my template right now to follow comments.
Thanks a lot and feel free to visit me any day to have some fun.
Entretenimiento Online
Glad you found it useful! Welcome to the dofollow movement!
Any way of disabling no-follow on Typepad? I use typepad for one of my blogs (not movable type, unfortunately)…
Thanks for your comment Austin! There’s a link for Typepad users in the article above - perhaps you missed it?
When I first discovered “no-follow” I found it extremely undemocratic. It is kind of like taking an electoral vote away in order to protect the population from political campaigns (or in this case, SPAM). The world is full of spam - billboards are SPAM, posters are SPAM. And the solution to spam is simple; moderate your forums and bogs.
What “no-follow” is really doing is making high ranking sites alot of money by allowing them to charge huge amounts for backlinks. Additionally, for people who have made alot of legitimate blog posts in the past we risk making their page rank/votes go down when we update to blogging software with “no-follow”.
no-follow = no-good
Thanks for your comment Aaron! The world is indeed full of spam, but perhaps the level will drop once the marketing companies realise that it never works!
Good, keep up the good work …
Thanks for sharing this Paul.
I have been surfing quite a bit of blog and came across a couple of “u comment i follow” badges, never quite understood what it was, till I read this.
Brilliant idea!
You are very welcome kslye!
[…] Paul Enderson – Reflections […]
I manage a website built for the happy people of sunny San Diego - and I will join the ‘U comment, I follow’ revolution. After all, if people are taking the time and contributing something worthwhile to an organic blog or forum it should be rewarded. At least until Google comes up with something else to keep higher PR’s so elusive.
Always awesome to see people modding blogs/comments. Keep the movement alive.
tahanks