You got a backlink report. Fifteen links, supposedly all dofollow. How do you verify any of this?
rel attribute. If you see rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or rel="ugc", search engines won't pass link equity. No rel attribute means dofollow.
Manual Method: Inspect Element
Works in every browser, no tools needed.
Find the Link
Navigate to the page. Use Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) to search for your domain or anchor text. If the link isn’t there, that’s your answer.
Check the HTML
Right-click the link text, select “Inspect Element.” Look for the anchor tag:
<a href="https://yoursite.com" rel="nofollow">Your Anchor Text</a>
What the rel attribute means:
- No rel attribute = Dofollow (passes SEO value)
- rel=”nofollow” = No SEO value passed
- rel=”sponsored” = Paid/sponsored link (no SEO value)
- rel=”ugc” = User-generated content (no SEO value)
- Multiple values like rel=”nofollow sponsored” = Still nofollow
“Dofollow” isn’t an official HTML attribute. It’s what SEOs call links without nofollow.
Alternative: View Page Source
Press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on Mac), then Ctrl+F to search for your URL. Shows the original source, useful when JavaScript modifies the DOM.
Why This Matters
Google treats links as votes. Dofollow links pass PageRank. Nofollow links don’t.
Google introduced nofollow in 2005 for comment spam. Today, nofollow (plus sponsored and ugc) tells search engines not to pass link equity.
If you paid for dofollow backlinks and received nofollow, you didn’t get what you paid for.
Since 2019, Google treats these as “hints” rather than directives—they might crawl or pass some value through nofollow links. But for planning purposes, assume nofollow = no direct SEO benefit.
The Scaling Problem
Inspect Element works for one link. What about 50 links from last quarter?
At 2 minutes per link (open page, find link, inspect, record), 20 links = 40 minutes. 50 links = over 90 minutes of repetitive work.
Worse: links change. That dofollow link from last month might be nofollow now. Pages get redesigned. Links get modified or removed. One-time checks mean nothing without regular monitoring.
Issues Manual Checking Misses
- Page is noindex — Your link exists, but the page isn’t in Google’s index
- Page blocks bots — Link looks fine to you, Googlebot gets blocked
- JavaScript-rendered links — Link doesn’t exist in source code
- Link was removed — There yesterday, gone today
Verify Links in Bulk
Backlink Checker Pro validates whether links in your reports actually exist.
- Link existence — is your URL actually on the page?
- Dofollow, nofollow, sponsored, or UGC status
- Page accessibility — noindex, bot blocks, errors
Upload your CSV or paste page-link pairs. Get results in seconds.
Check Your BacklinksBrowser Extensions
Extensions that color-code dofollow (green) vs nofollow (red) are useful for quick visual scanning. Limitations:
- Still requires visiting each page individually
- Don’t work with backlink reports (CSV, PDF files)
- Can’t detect page-level issues
- No bulk processing
For one-off checks while browsing, extensions work. For verifying backlink lists, you need something that processes reports.
Red Flags in Backlink Reports
Suspiciously high DA sites — A DA 90 link for $50? Verify it.
Generic anchor text everywhere — All click here and visit website suggests low-quality placements.
All links from the same date — Natural profiles grow over time.
Unrelated niches — Fitness blog with backlinks from crypto forums?
No rel attribute mentioned — Provider might be hiding nofollow status.
Google Sheets Method
You can try IMPORTXML to pull HTML and check for your link:
=IMPORTXML(A2, "//a[@href='https://yoursite.com']/@rel")
Reality: many sites block these requests, dynamic content breaks it, Google Sheets has rate limits. Works maybe 30% of the time.
Best Practices
Verify before final payment — Don’t pay for backlinks you haven’t checked.
Document everything — Keep original reports, verification results, dates, screenshots.
Recheck quarterly — Links change. Important backlinks need periodic verification.
Prioritize what matters — Focus on paid links, high-authority sites, target anchor text, important pages. Random blog comment links aren’t worth tracking.
Quick Reference
Attribute SEO Value When Used None (dofollow) Passes equity Natural editorial links rel=”nofollow” No equity Untrusted content rel=”sponsored” No equity Ads, sponsorships rel=”ugc” No equity Comments, forumsWhen Nofollow Links Still Matter
Nofollow links can still drive traffic, build brand awareness, and lead to business opportunities. A natural backlink profile has a mix of both—100% dofollow actually looks suspicious.
Don’t dismiss nofollow links. Just don’t pay dofollow prices for them.
Can I change a nofollow link to dofollow?
Only the website owner can modify their site's rel attributes. You can ask, but success depends on their policies.
Does Google completely ignore nofollow links?
Since March 2020, Google treats nofollow as a "hint" rather than directive. They may crawl or pass some value through these links. For practical purposes, assume significantly less direct ranking benefit than dofollow.
How many backlinks should be dofollow?
Natural profiles typically have 60-80% dofollow. 100% dofollow looks unnatural and could raise red flags.
What's the difference between nofollow and sponsored?
Both prevent PageRank from passing. The difference is semantic: "sponsored" explicitly marks paid links. Google introduced it in 2019 for specificity, but many sites still use nofollow for everything.