Do No Follow give any backlink juice or value ?

[JimFranco]

Getting in a news paper article with a link but no follow does that give any value or backlink juice ?

A newspaper with a 90 DA ?

 

[pbarnhart]

No.

In general, we don't follow them. This means that Google does not transfer PageRank or anchor text across these links. Essentially, using nofollow causes us to drop the target links from our overall graph of the web. However, the target pages may still appear in our index if other sites link to them without using nofollow, or if the URLs are submitted to Google in a Sitemap. Also, it's important to note that other search engines may handle nofollow in slightly different ways. - https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/96569?hl=en

Bing has made multiple statements that indicate this is the way they handle rel=nofollow as well.

It is assumed that Google does evaluate nofollow links to identify pagerank sculpting, evaluate site trustworthiness, etc. Having a good balance of nofollow links may make your site's inbound link profile appear more natural (the SEO equivelant of "eat all your vegetables" - seems like a good idea even if there is no direct proof).

And of course, if a human being is reading the article and then clicks on the link, it has value! It would make a value difference in terms of referral traffic.

But no juice.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

No juice is passed as Jim said. But that doesn't mean that the link can't provide value. If the link is driving quality traffic, for example, then I would consider that a valuable link.

 

[JimFranco]

my next question then is. Is it worth pursuing newspapers to be featured for pure seo reasons or no ?

I know it would drive traffic from a pr standpoint , but I am curious if Google would see it as a citation ?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hey Jim, it all depends on the source of the link and the business objectives you are trying to accomplish with your efforts.

If the businesses NAP is listed in the article than it would be considered a citation.

 

[pbarnhart]

I've been reading multiple examples that tertiary citations provide very little value for map pack movement. Technically, Google might possibly see it as a citation, but.... You may want to consider the points made in Local citations are dead; long live local citations!

Local press coverage benefits you on a lot of levels. But if those links are no-follow, SERP movement may not be one of them

 

[JimFranco]

I've been reading multiple examples that tertiary citations provide very little value for map pack movement. Technically, Google might possibly see it as a citation, but.... You may want to consider the points made in Local citations are dead; long live local citations!

Local press coverage benefits you on a lot of levels. But if those links are no-follow, SERP movement may not be one of them

Its curious that something that could be highly sighted by high authority local news papers and sites could get no ranking benefit if they are no follow, even in context.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Just because the link is no-follow, doesn't mean it's not passing Trust. Like PageRank, Google does have a metric based on website trust. Majestic tries to recreate this by using TustFlow (TF) as a main metric to evaluate links.

You could see a benefit (even better ranking) from no-follow links depending on the context of the link. If it's a well respected, established newspaper, then I would definitely try to get a link there. All links from quality sources have value.

 

[JimFranco]

Thank you so much.

 

[pbarnhart]

I agree with you Eric - Google and Bing do seem to use nofollow links in a natural vs. unnatural link profile. And ANY link humans can see and click is a good link. However, JimFranco was asking specifically about the ranking value of a specific nofollow link.

When you test TrustFlow and CitationFlow for individual news articles on local news sites, you find it is usually weak. Many local news stations syndicate the heck out of stories and are constantly linking to other local news outlets in other cities. That's a lot of duplicate content, for starters. If you have a links in multiple news stories -- and a news story or two was syndicated out to other outlets, the aggregate may have some impact. As part of an overall link building and branding campaign, these kinds of links definitely benefit - but it takes a lot of them to move the SERP needle.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

I'll pull this oldie out of the archives... Google Trust Rank Patent Granted - SEO by the Sea

I'm not sure whether this is being applied today, but I don't see why they wouldn't use this or something similar. If you're able to get into a real news site - and no i'm not talking about press releases that everyone has spammed, which get syndicated to every news site in the network - then you have an opportunity to build trust, especially if you're able to comment on the article & join the discussion. If you're in the news of a local paper, being quoted as a local business, then you'll have a higher level of trust from Google than someone who's just starting up with no credibility.

At the very least, throwing PageRank aside, you are able to create solid press and trust for your business. Now... if you're doing this for the sole purpose of link building and the newspaper has absolutely no relevance whatsoever to your vertical, city, or interests then you might be in trouble of wasting your time.

Its kind of like how a business with no real backlinks, except for no-follow citations, can outrank competitors. They've built trust with Google to show they're a real business in the area. Really broad-stroke example, but hopefully you can see where i'm coming from.

Do you think the TrustRank element makes sense as a reason for this scenario?

 

[pbarnhart]

Here is as good a list as exists - Google's 200 Ranking Factors: The Complete List although Google already says its not accurate - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-says-outbound-links-are-not-a-ranking-factor-21545.html

I think a lot of SEO people reflect the belief:

"With this being said, Google says a lot of things that aren’t always true. Many people in the SEO industry believe they do have value and pass some link juice, us included, but there are also a great deal of people who don’t share our beliefs, which is why this is such a controversial topic" - https://blog.teknicks.com/link-building-case-study-why-nofollow-links-do-matter-in-seo#.V9cFxJgrI2x

Personally, I don't consider SEO to be a belief system. I think that when a publically-traded company repeatedly says something about its core product, and regulators in the EU and the US (see http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/federal-trade-commission-google-search-questions-223078) are watching very closely, I tend to think the company is being factual.

A link in the local news is great. Its a core step in influencer marketing. It can be a great source of local referral traffic. But it doesn't move the SERP needle, and a single link by definition cannot affect Trust Rank.