rel Attributes

Qualifying Your Outbound Links to Google

When you link to other websites from your own, you're creating a connection that Google considers as part of its ranking algorithms. It's like vouching for the content you link to. However, there are situations where you might want to clarify your relationship with the linked page, telling Google to treat these links differently. This is where the rel attribute within your <a> tags becomes important.

For standard links that you want Google to follow and index, you don't need to add a rel attribute.

Example:

<a href="https://www.example.com/blog/interesting-article">Read this insightful blog post.</a> 

In this example, we simply want users (and Google) to follow the link to a relevant blog post. No special attributes are needed.

However, for other scenarios, use one or more of the following rel attribute values:

1. rel="sponsored"

Use this value to mark links that are advertisements, sponsored content, or paid placements. Transparency is key! By using this attribute, you're clearly indicating to Google (and your users) that this link is a result of a commercial agreement.

Example:

<a href="https://www.productsite.com/best-widgets" rel="sponsored">Find the Best Widgets on the Market!</a>

Note: While rel="nofollow" was previously used for paid links, rel="sponsored" is now the preferred method.

2. rel="ugc"

Mark links within user-generated content (UGC), like comments, forum posts, and reviews, with the ugc value. This helps Google understand that these links are not editorially endorsed by your site.

Example:

<p> This article on <a href="https://www.gardeningtips.com/roses" rel="ugc">rose pruning</a> really helped me!</p>

Rewarding Trustworthy Contributors: If you have a system for identifying trustworthy users who consistently contribute high-quality content, you might choose to remove the rel="ugc" attribute from their links.

3. rel="nofollow"

This value tells search engines not to pass any link equity to the linked page. Use it when you don't want Google to associate your site with the target website or crawl the linked page from your site.

Examples:

• Links you don't fully endorse:

  <a href="https://www.exampleforum.com/controversial-topic" rel="nofollow">This forum thread has a different perspective.</a>

• Links in comment sections:

   <p>John Doe commented: "Check out this website: <a href="https://www.example.com" rel="nofollow">www.example.com</a>"</p>

Important: For links within your own website that you want Google to ignore, use the robots.txt file with the disallow directive.

Using Multiple Values

You can use multiple rel values within a single <a> tag, separating them with a space or a comma.

Example:

<a href="https://www.affiliateproduct.com/discount-offer" rel="sponsored nofollow">Get a Discount!</a>

This tells Google that the link is both sponsored and that you don't want to pass link equity.

Key Points to Remember:

• Crawling Still Possible: Even with these rel attributes, Google might still find and index the linked pages through other means, like sitemaps or links from other websites.

• Robots Meta Tag: While most rel values only work within <a> tags, nofollow can also be used as a robots meta tag to control indexing.

• Blocking Internal Links: To prevent Google from crawling specific pages within your own website, use the robots.txt file and the disallow directive.

• Preventing Indexing: To stop Google from indexing a specific page on your site while still allowing it to be crawled, use the noindex robots meta tag.

By understanding and correctly implementing these rel attribute values, you provide valuable signals to Google about your links, enhancing transparency and contributing to a healthier web ecosystem.