Difference between no follow and no referrer in SEO
Last Updated :
07 Apr, 2024
No follow and No referrer are the two html attribute which is often used with anchor tag. It is an important attribute in SEO which is used with Links for various purposes. Developers and SEO enthusiasts are often git confused about the difference between these two attributes. They are not clear about where to use no follow and where to use no referrer. Both has it’s own significance in search engine optimization.
Below is the difference between No Follow and No Referrer.
Difference Between No Follow and No Referrer
Feature
| rel=”nofollow”
| rel=”noreferrer”
|
|---|
Purpose
| Instructs search engines not to follow the link for crawling purposes.
| Prevents the browser from sending the HTTP referer header to the linked page.
|
|---|
SEO Impact
| Directly influences search engine optimization by not passing link equity.
| No direct SEO impact, but can affect analytics and traffic source tracking.
|
|---|
Referrer Information
| Allows the referrer information to be passed to the linked page.
| Strips away referrer information, enhancing privacy.
|
|---|
Use Cases
| Often used to link to untrusted content or to avoid endorsement of the link.
| Used for privacy reasons and to prevent the linked site from tracking visits.
|
|---|
Compatibility
| Widely supported and recognized by search engines.
| Supported by modern browsers to control referrer information.
|
|---|
Impact on Analytics
| Has no impact on analytics from the standpoint of referrer data.
| Can affect analytics by not letting the target site know where the traffic came from.
|
|---|
These attributes can be used independently or together in the rel attribute of a link tag, depending on the desired situation.
Must Read
No Follow
No Follow is a value given to rel attribute in anchor tag to tell search engine not to follow the link. It is often used for promotional or external link. When nofollow value is passed in rel attribute of an anchor tag, then it influences search engine optimization by not passing link equity.
With nofollow, the referral information is passed to the browser but the link is not followed. When you don’t trust any external link then use can use no follow. This simply instruct search engine to not pass link equity to owners. When you are using a trusted info rich link, for example: govt link or Wikipedia link, then it is advised not to use nofollow to get link equity/juice.
In WordPress, Links opening in new tab has a by default rel value nofollow. But, if you have custom coded website, it is recommended to add the rel=”nofollow” to all your external links in the source code.
Example of No Follow
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<a href="https://geeksforgeeks.org" rel="nofollow">Go to GeeksforGeeks</a>
<!--Link Juice will not be passed to geeksforgeeks.org-->
</body>
</html>
When to use No Follow
If your site includes sections where users can post content, such as comments or forums. In this case adding nofollow to user-generated links can prevent spam and ensure that search engines don’t follow links to low-quality or harmful sites.
- External Link
- Untrusted/Spammy Link
- Promotional Link
No Referrer
No Referrer value is given to rel attribute of an anchor tag to prevents the browser from sending the HTTP referrer header to the linked page. It enhances privacy and security by preventing referrer information leakage. It is used for security purposes. No Referrer has no direct SEO impact, but can affect analytics and traffic source tracking. Below is an example of using no referrer in anchor tag.
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Page Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<a href="https://geeksforgeeks.org" rel="nofollow">Go to GeeksforGeeks</a>
<!--Search engine will prevent referer information to this linked website-->
</body>
</html>
When to use no referrer
It is used for privacy reasons and to prevent the linked site from tracking visits. It can affect analytics by not letting the target site know where the traffic came from. No Referrer attribute is supported in all modern browser.
For example, with no referrer, a website owner cannot see a link traffic in Google analytics when the other website added that link as No Referrer. In simple terms, Let say website A is using link of website B with no referrer. Then, website B owner cannot track the traffic source in Google Analytics acquisition tab.
Google Analytics Acquisition Tab
Use Cases
- Enhance Privacy in Link
- Ensuring Security Concerns with url
- Preventing Referrer-based Tracking
- Cross-domain Linking Concerns
Also Read
Difference between no follow and no referrer – FAQs
What is nofollow in SEO?
No Follow is a value given to rel attribute in anchor tag to tell search engine not to follow the link. It is used to prevent credit to a link.
What is no referrer?
No Referrer is a value given to rel attribute in anchor tag to pevents the browser from sending the HTTP referer header to the linked page.
What is the difference between no follow and no referrer?
No Follow is used to instructs search engines not to follow the link for crawling purposes while no referrer is used to enhances privacy and security by preventing referrer information leakage.
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