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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Not followed by search 🏷️ A web tag 🔗 To block search
nofollow

nofollow

2 7.3
A web link marked so search engines do not follow it
  • adjective
  • Texting
: nofollow
  • The website added nofollow attributes to its comment section to prevent search engines from following external links.

Examples

  • Please keep in mind that all comments are subject to moderation, and all links are nofollow.

    Blog text (31)

  • Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and all links are nofollow.

    Blog text (30)

  • When creating a blog, it's important to use nofollow links to avoid passing on ranking value.

  • To protect your site's SEO, ensure that any paid advertisements have a nofollow tag.

Surface Forms

nofollow positive

Morphology

nofollow = follow (semi-transparent) = no + follow

The meaning is compositionally 'no' + 'follow', but the specific technical use as an HTML/search-engine instruction is domain-specific and may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Nofollow is simply a modern compound of no ('not') and follow ('go after'), like a small sign that says 'do not follow'. So when a link is called nofollow it means search engines should not follow that link or pass on ranking value.