For years, the standard advice was that NoFollow links carry effectively zero SEO value. That’s no longer the full picture.
What changed
In 2019, Google clarified that rel="nofollow", along with the newer sponsored and ugc attributes, are treated as hints rather than strict directives — meaning they can, in some cases, still be considered as a signal, rather than being ignored outright every time.
The value that was never in question
Even under the old rules, NoFollow links were never worthless: they can send real referral traffic, build brand visibility on platforms your audience uses, and help a link profile look naturally diverse rather than artificially engineered to maximize DoFollow links only.
The practical takeaway
Don’t chase NoFollow links as a primary strategy, but don’t avoid them either — a natural backlink profile has both. See our DoFollow Backlinks category when authority is specifically the goal, and treat everything else as a healthy supplement.