Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Ben Baligad on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 03/14/2015).

Since Google Webmaster Tools are supposed to help in SEO, why would they include nofollow links

Lots of Backlinks from Google Plus II

This is a follow up to the last session of SEO Dumb Questions.

http://goo.gl/kBAICF

My Google Plus Webmaster Tools, under "Links to My Site", says there are over a thousand links from Google Plus. The panel was in agreement that it is a misunderstanding that this list only show dofollow links.

Since Google Webmaster Tools are supposed to help in SEO, why would they include nofollow links when they have no SEO value??
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Ben Baligad: Lots of Backlinks from Google Plus II

    This is a follow up to the last session of SEO Dumb Questions.

    http://goo.gl/kBAICF

    My Google Plus Webmaster Tools, under "Links to My Site", says there are over a thousand links from Google Plus. The panel was in agreement that it is a misunderstanding that this list only show dofollow links.

    Since Google Webmaster Tools are supposed to help in SEO, why would they include nofollow links when they have no SEO value?
  • PromozSEO: Why not? Google follows any type of links, nofollow or dofollow. So if Google follows the link, they should put that on the webmaster tool. PR flow only happens with a dofollow link but nofollow links are also important for ranking, they can get you target audience from good authority sites. And how the visitors are using your site is a strong signal to Google to decide to rank that site or not. Dwelling time, bounce rate, page views everything are important metrics.
  • Ben Baligad: +PromozSEO ; Is there a way to distinguish nofollow links and dofollow links from Google Webmaster Tools? It seems to me that they should be separated, since PR flow happens in one and not in the other.
  • Tim Capper: +Ben Baligad ;you cant separate in WMT.

    I think you have a misguided sense of SEO and links.

    Example :
    I get an article published in the NYT which is "nofollow" this generates 30,000 vists to my site.

    Those 30,000 generate £10,000 in sales and in turn share it socially and on other site generating another 200 "dofollow" links and 18,000 social shares.

    Which again generates another £20,000 in sales.

    All from a "nofollow" link that did not pass PR ;
  • PromozSEO: Yes, that's what is SEO. You can't expect direct advantages every time. Both type of link are important. The most important thing is where you are getting those links from. That will make the differences, in your sales and ranking both.
    And as +Tim Capper ;said, you can't separate nofollow dofollow from WMT. You have to open the page to check, you can use Moz toolbar or nodofollow plugin etc.
  • Tim Capper: Quite a few seo "tools" seperate out "dofollow" and "nofollow": ahrefs, webmeup, semrush. Shop around and see what you like
  • Ben Baligad: +Tim Capper ;+PromozSEO ;Thanks for your answers. Misguided or not, I am just trying to define the value of my actions.
  • Tim Capper: The value of your actions should be traffic. Then after that traffic that converts 
    So when looking at a potential link I try and judge it by the traffic it could bring / does bring rather then pr , Dr or any other on page metric. 
  • K Neeraj Kayastha: +Ben Baligad​​ +Tim Capper​​ +PromozSEO​​ this is the most confusing part when we plan a website. As an SEO perspective we are so stuck that we forget about users and user interactions. Human losses and robots win.

    If we are spreading knowledge, we are giving to human. If we are selling, we are selling to human. Not to Google anything. Or bing or....

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 03/14/2015).