Dofollow is the default state of an HTML link. In other words, a normal link in the form of <a href="..."> with no rel attribute added is automatically “dofollow.” In fact, there is no attribute called “dofollow” in the HTML specification; this term has become common in the SEO community to mean “not nofollow.”
Dofollow link characteristics:
- Search engines follow the link and discover the target page
- PageRank/authority flow occurs
- The anchor text reinforces the topic of the target page
- It carries full value as a backlink
In SEO efforts, the goal is to acquire “dofollow backlinks” because these links pass authority and directly affect rankings.
Tip: To check whether a link is dofollow, right-click in your browser and select “View Page Source” to inspect the HTML. Any links that do not contain rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc" are dofollow.