We DoFollow And Remove NoFollow From Comment Links
NoFollow is one of the most contentious tags around. That is because Google has suggested it be applied to all paid links from web pages. It does have a more acceptable usage in attempting to remove the incentive for spammers to add comments to blogs. That is why Wordpress automatically applies the NoFollow tag to links in comments.
Matt Cutts has set out the Google position on the NoFollow tag, and it certainly does not imply that all comments should have the NoFollow tag applied. Recently John Mueller was one of the Google experts in an online chat and the NoFollow tag came up in the discussion. This is followed up in a Cre8asite Forum discussion on When To Remove Nofollow From Blog Comments. For both Elizabeth Able and Donna Fontenot, removing the NoFollow tag selectively seemed to be a preferred route. They recommended using the Lucia’s Linky Love plugin. This can be set so that the NoFollow tags are removed after a visitor has made a certain number of comments.
In researching this, the WordPress Codex provides an explanation of Nofollow. Here is some of what is mentioned:
Despite nofollow’s Google backing, there is some very strong criticism from the overall blog community.
- Prepare for more comment spam, not less
- NoNoFollow
- DoFollow No Nofollow Community has been established on Bumpzee, as a means for people to find information on Nofollow / DoFollow and find other blogs in the same niche with which to interact.
To disable nofollow, use one of the following plugins:
An excellent and more complete discussion of the issue is given by Andy Beard in his Ultimate List of DoFollow & Nofollow Plugins. After reading all this we settled for the tried-and-true DoFollow plug-in mentioned in the WordPress Codex.
SMM DoFollow Policy
Our policy is to encourage more valuable comments by offering their authors ‘linkjuice‘. This is more generous than the approach of the Lucia’s Linky Love plugin. At the same time, we accept the burden of removing spam comments. The Akismet plugin already does a good job of removing most spam comments. Other comments are deleted if it is felt that they do not merit being seen by other readers of the blogs. If it is felt that a commenter has written a comment merely to gain a link, then all his comments will be carefully scrutinised and may be deleted. It’s a kind of Tough Love policy but hopefully everyone wins.
Go To Top
BPWrap
April 6th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Thanks, Barry, for pointing out the DoFollow plugin.
We tried removing the “nofollow” tags for comments using another means, and it lasted all of 9 days until we upgraded to another version of WordPress. Not sure how it happened, but I think the upgrade erased our dofollow attempt. As soon as we upgraded we were back to no-follow on all comments again.
So maybe I will look into the plugin you mentioned at some future point.
Anita
April 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Let us know how it goes, Barry! I’ll be doing my version of the same sometime this week. I’m leaning towards using Lucy’s Link Love, along with a comment policy.
I like the idea of putting comments on a different level than advertisements. IMHO an “advert” tag would have been much less contentious and much more useful than a “nofollow.”
April 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I’m not expecting any problems, Elizabeth. I already have to spam or delete comments that Akismet is not sure about. I’m not expecting that number will change very much. What I’m hopeful is that I’ll get more comments, but again it’s difficult to pin down the effect. That depends much more on how contentious the post is.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Hi Barry, I must confess that I’m wrestling with the NoFollow/DoFollow dilemma myself as I’m about to kick off writing a new blog. The ‘Linky Love’ plugin seems a good solution and is probably worth trying for at least a while.
Aside from the consideration of an increase in spam and editing effort, I just wonder whether now that Google has persuaded the majority of large blogging platforms to go NoFollow, bloggers (mostly internet marketers) who are flouting the convention will find their sites penalised. I intend to do a fair share of linking out to the community within my posts and it would be a shame if that ended up counting for less because I am also using DoFollow commenting.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:10 am
That’s certainly a consideration, Gavin, and something to watch. The Matt Cutts item included in the post gives me hope that this would not be used in that way.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I just installed the Linky Love Plugin, and wanted to say thanks to the creator (lucia) for helping me. Unfortunately I got a weird message from her blog, saying that Askimet banned me from commenting or something.
I really love the way her plugin works and I hate dofollow. People that comment should be rewarded. However, their comments must be valuable.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:58 am
For me it never was an issue: DO FOLLOW!! I only use no follow to control the linkjuice/pagerank.
April 9th, 2008 at 6:24 am
I agree, Reynder. That does seem a legitimate use of NoFollow according to what we read from Google.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Spam is a major problem for the blogging community so I totally understand why Google supports the use of the nofollow tag. However I also think that if someone ads a comment which is beneficial to the community as a whole, is considered and interesting to read. Then I don’t see the problem with getting some ‘link juice’ as it’s referred to. Surely someone who comments intelligently on a subject is proving their authority on it and deserves to go up in the rankings… If only Google could filter out BS lol. That would be far more useful in my opinion!
April 10th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I really like this i think a good blog comment deserve some juice. After all a comment on a blogpost is a content contribution to the blog for free.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:24 am
That’s an aspect of what Chris Anderson will be mentioning in his new book, Free, when it appears. Free is never free in the sense that we pay by investing our time, which is very valuable. Thanks for your ‘free’ comments, Tom and Satu.
April 14th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
During the past year, I have noticed too many websites implementing the no-follow tag. It has become almost an instantaneous obsessive compulsive disorder with some websites and BLOG owners. This has actually hurt the PR of some sites, because they are not willing to give, as well as get. With all the latest software out there today, you can more easily find who will not allow links on their pages. When moderating the comments on my own BLOG, I will happily allow a related link back to their site, as long as it provides value and is related to my article. I do not like SPAM, and obviously delete any comments posting a sentence for someone trying to sell pharmacy medication or other unrelated items. Your article poses some good points, and I always take my cue from Matt Cutts and other Google notifications. No-follow links should be used sparingly, if at all, depending upon your SEO, pay per click, PR, and link building desires for your long-term success. Best Wishes, Adrienne DeVita
April 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I just became aware of the nofollow tag issue, and it appears that many sincere bloggers and contributors are being punished by Google due to activities of spammers.
Great to hear that there are ways to “give some juice” to the folks who contribute relevant content.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I think the nofollow tag has some legitimate uses. Blog posting shouldn’t use it in my opinion, but it really is up to the owner of the blog.
I’ve seen many blogs that just leave out the poster’s URL altogether. That’s really a more honest way to handle it, but I suppose it cuts down on comments.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I’m sure glad I found and read this post. I was under the impression ( in other words I took it for granted ) the no-follow tag had to be implemented by hand for it to take effect.
Thanks for the heads up.
Michael
April 16th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Great decision making, quality comments by your subscribers should be rewarded with a simple backlink.
I’m subscribed at 4 dofollow blogs now
April 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Thanks, Michael. I hope you’ve left ‘quality comments’ at all of them.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I had been preaching never claim a back link unless you sincerely contribute to the success of a blog through your comments. I like your policy and I have the same policy on my blog. I think I should make it obvious like you.