What Is a Dofollow Link?

A dofollow link is the default type of hyperlink, one without any attribute blocking it, which passes ranking credit from the linking page to the destination page.

Example

A standard editorial link inside a news article, pointing to a source it references, is a dofollow link by default unless the publisher specifically marks it otherwise.

Why it matters

Dofollow links are the primary mechanism through which backlinks contribute to a site’s ranking authority, which is why earning them from reputable, relevant sites is a core focus of link building efforts.