Originally published: February 23, 2022 · Last updated: August 16, 2026
Not every link on a website needs a special rel attribute. In fact, ordinary editorial links usually need no qualification at all. The important part is knowing when a link represents advertising, user-generated content or a relationship you do not want search engines to treat like a normal editorial endorsement.
Normal links need no extra rel value
If you are linking to a useful source, documentation page or related website in the ordinary course of publishing, a standard link is enough.
You do not need a mythical dofollow attribute. A regular crawlable link without nofollow, sponsored or ugc is simply a normal link.
Use rel=sponsored for paid or compensated links
Google recommends rel="sponsored" for links created as part of advertising, sponsorship, affiliate relationships or other forms of compensation.
That makes it the clearest choice for affiliate links and paid placements. Existing nofollow attributes on sponsored links can still be acceptable, but sponsored communicates the relationship more precisely.
Use rel=ugc for user-generated links
rel="ugc" is intended for links placed by users in areas such as comments, community posts or forums. It helps distinguish third-party contributions from links selected by the publisher.
Sites with trusted contributors may apply different moderation policies, but the attribute is a useful default for open user-generated areas.
Use rel=nofollow when the other values do not fit
rel="nofollow" remains available when you want to link to a page but do not want to imply the same relationship as a normal editorial link and neither sponsored nor ugc is the right description.
Google treats these link attributes as hints rather than absolute crawl commands, so they should not be used as a substitute for proper indexing controls.
You can combine values
A link can carry more than one relevant value. For example, a compensated link inside user-generated content could use both ugc and sponsored.
The goal is to describe the relationship accurately, not to maximize the number of attributes.
Nofollow is not the same as noindex
This distinction matters. A link attribute describes a relationship on a link. A noindex directive tells search engines that a page should not appear in search results.
If you need to keep one of your own pages out of search, do not rely on nofollow links pointing to it. The page may still be discovered through other links, sitemaps or external references.
Do not nofollow ordinary internal links
Internal links help users and crawlers understand the site structure. Adding nofollow to normal navigation or contextual internal links usually makes the architecture less clear rather than more controlled.
If a page should not be indexed, use the appropriate indexing directive. If it should not be publicly accessible, solve that at the access-control level rather than through link attributes.
Affiliate and review sites need a consistent rule
If a site publishes reviews, deals or affiliate recommendations, define one editorial policy for compensated links and apply it consistently. That is easier to maintain than deciding link by link months after publication.
The same policy should cover buttons, text links and banners when they point to compensated destinations.
A practical link-attribute checklist
- Normal editorial link: no special rel value required.
- Affiliate, advertisement or paid placement: use
sponsored. - User-generated link: use
ugcwhere appropriate. - Other non-endorsed relationship: consider
nofollow. - Need to keep a page out of search: use an indexing control, not a link attribute.
The practical rule
Use link attributes to describe relationships, not to perform SEO tricks. Most links can remain normal. Reserve sponsored, ugc and nofollow for the situations they were designed to describe.
Official reference: Google guidance on qualifying outbound links.