DISQUS

Yu Yu · 2 years ago

That's really cool that this thing is gaining momentum. Besides, a couple of comments won't spoil your page rank.

Char · 2 years ago

Ben - thanks for helping spread the word! I love the logos Randa made.

Editor of TopLawStudent.com · 2 years ago

Great idea. I followed your advice and removed the no-follow tag. It will be interesting to see if no-follow sites become bigger targets for comment spam, but I'm willing to try, because it makes sense to reward visitors with useful comments.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

I really wouldn't worry about more comment spam, just not going to happen. And even if it does Akismet or Spam Karma can handle it fairly well. Enough that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Susan · 2 years ago

I agree that DoFollow helps increase comments and I am all for rewarding commenters regardless if they comment once or twenty times in a month. I am actually running a challenge to help promote blogs that use DoFollow over at the DoFollow Pingback Challenge so if you have a minute and can pop over I would appreciate it.

Everyday Weekender · 2 years ago

i'd have to agree.. i don't think there are too many cons with this dofollow.

Math Worksheets · 2 years ago

You might get more people leaving comments with their desired anchor text as their name, but as long as they contribute to the discussion then there shouldn't be a problem.

I'm using the DoFollow plugin on my blog Nice4Rice.com, and also use one of Randa's icons to let people know. This DoFollow movement is really picking up pace.

Fruit Engine · 2 years ago

I agree, the pros of disabling the nofollow plug (gives people more reasons to comment properly, improves pagerank, eternally-grateful readers and comment-posters) definitely outweighs the cons.

Hope more bloggers follow your example.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Fruit Engine - I think the movement for DoFollow will grow over time. I wouldn't be surprised if future versions of blogging software did away with the automatic NoFollow or even created a toggle. That'd make perfect sense, just build the functionality right into something like WordPress.

Community Building Blog · 2 years ago

I couldn't agree more; my blog has been 'link love enabled' from the outset. I have consequently reaped the rewards of rewarding contributors to my blog. Everyone is happy :)

- Martin Reed

gautam · 2 years ago

thanks for posting this information. I have seem many people taking away nofollow from there blogs.

i am using wp in my blogs and i will try to remove the no follow from my blogs too. probably will have to edit the php files .. :(

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Gautam,

If you're using WordPress on your own servers then install one of the plugins. It's easy and doesn't require any hacking around in PHP code.

If you're using the WordPress.com hosted service then you can't hack around with PHP code anyway...

gautam · 2 years ago

yay..no editing of php. i just installed a plugin and everything is working fine :)

cheers !

Roger Anderson · 2 years ago

Ben,
I came here after reading Wendy's blog - followed the link - and I was wondering if you still feel as you did when you said:

"I really wouldn’t worry about more comment spam, just not going to happen."

Clearly it does but maybe not that much. I am new to this so I don't get any spam.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Roger,

I don't think I've been getting more comment spam because I removed NoFollow. As a blog grows in popularity it's going to get more spam or questionable comments no matter what.

And even if there's a small increase that could be attributed to removing NoFollow, the links and positivity you get back from others more than makes up for it.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Cade @ Write To Right · 2 years ago

I have to say that this is such a great plugin. I have to say that this gives so much power for bloggers to communicate so well. I think we can learn faster and create so much more thanks to the need to communicate more.

Web Presence · 2 years ago

I agree that do follow should be the way to go! Not only it gives a little morale boost to the blog poster but every now and then people post some great comments which in return they get some link love. :)

Steven Snell · 2 years ago

I agree. I've done the same to my blog.

Beetlejuice · 2 years ago

I agree. If someone is good enough to leave a relevant comment on my blog, they deserve a link back. The whole point of the dofollow movement is to allow relevant comments and weed out spammers.

Bape · 2 years ago

Its ironic that many bloggers talk about this but then they actually use no follow.

Tim · 2 years ago

A "nofollow" Internet makes for a cold, lifeless Internet. Let's hope others follow suit.

bLuefRogX · 2 years ago

Its a nice concept, but it also leads to increased 'spam' with comments like 'Good Job' or 'Nice blog' that are not actually relevant to the post, but are just there because the poster saw a 'DoFollow' badge on the blog and wanted a backlink.

I suppose you could call this a double edged sword, it'd definitely get your more comments, but also increase your moderation work.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

I'm not getting too many more "good job" comments, but I am getting people using the Name field for something SEO specific, which is OK in some cases, but I'm getting more and more frustrated with.

Ceredigion · 2 years ago

Don't you think its kind of fair enough though? Maybe someone should mod wordpress to allow a name and anchor text, still only accepting valid comments but at least then the commenter gets something in return?

Aaron · 1 year ago

If you have the Firefox SEO plugin installed all no-follow links on page will show up bright red. Having this installed and accessing your page shows me that you have no-follow links.

"I’m not getting too many more “good job” comments, but I am getting people using the Name field for something SEO specific, which is OK in some cases, but I’m getting more and more frustrated with."

If you stop trying to control everything and just moderate you will have better blogging experiences.

This is logical and in my opinion, perfectly acceptable. I have even done it here. The reason for this is that we are giving away benefit for useful contributions. If a person's anchor text is always their name, it will create a spammy looking linking profile according to Google. I also try to alternate these titles to be appropriate to the post, as the fact that my name might be 'John' is alot less relevant than if I'm 'Web Blog Developer'.

Aaron · 1 year ago

See, that FireFox SEO plugin link was a legitimate link, but it is glowing red on my screen. This is no good.

Ben Yoskovitz · 1 year ago

Aaron - since my redesign I haven't fully tested out the Link Love plugin I'm using. It may not be setup correctly.

Having said that, I also set it (way back when) to only remove no-follow after you left 3 comments, which also might be why it's still no-follow.

As for the anchor text you use for your name - I've asked people to use their name. I still haven't put up a proper Comment Policy (but I will at some point.) This is a choice I've made with my blog - it might not suit everyone, and that's OK. I don't think it should stop people from leaving legitimate comments and joining the discussion.

For me, comments are about the conversation and the people, not trying to gain a bit of Google Juice with good anchor text. But again, that's me, and my blog. Anyone else can have different policies for difference reasons.

jeff · 1 year ago

hey cool i have been wondering what those u comment i follow buttons are about but now i know. I am going to install that on my blog as well

Commenter · 1 year ago

Great post, I've been noticing a lot of blogs that have disabled the nofollow function, I think this is great. Of course you gotta worry about spam and irrelevant comments but for the most part you'll receive legit comments from readers who truly want to voice their opinion on your post.

BTW, my blog has dofollow...hit me up anytime!

David Lano · 1 year ago

Ben, great post! I have been seeing more and more bloggers joining in on the dofollow movement. I think it is a great idea. I am definitely installing the plugin on my blog! Thanks for leading the way! :)

Commenter · 1 year ago

Nice one. I agree, nofollow sucks and does nothing to encouraging commenting.

fucc · 1 year ago

absolutely agree. i've removed my nofollow some months ago and people now comments often on my posts

Rick Zepeda · 1 year ago

I have seen this everywhere and I hope it's not taking away rather than adding to. I'm going to give it a try on my blog and see what happens. Thanks for the post.

blu3man · 1 year ago

I just installed the dofollow plugin to my wordpress today. It seems like a great idea. The default no-follow seems to ruin the idea of xfn.

Rafael · 1 year ago

I use dofollow to make google find out the links of the blogs of my readers. If all bloggers make this we can have a much better web.

Descartes · 1 year ago

I've been using the DoFollo search engine off and on and it seems to be a pretty good idea. I'm not sure how it adds blogs to it's index though. I seem to run across the same blogs a lot in my searches.

malcolmcoles · 1 year ago

There's a large number of blogs on the No NoFollow I Follow DoFollow BUMPzee Community that are not nofollow. Many of them seem to be about search engine optimisation!

Mike @ Do-Follow Directory · 1 year ago

I have been going Do-Follow for a few months now with good results. My main concern was getting spam comments. I've found that the Spam Karma plugin flags most of the spam comments and it just takes me a few minutes a day to monitor comments.

I think dofollow will become more popular since social media is becoming so big. Encouraging comments enhances community building and relationship building.

Matt Hefner · 1 year ago

Wow, This sounds pretty cool. I am going to follow suit and hopefully it will help some of the starters out.

Michelle · 1 year ago

I hadn't really thought about the Dofollow issue until I read some pieces last week but will definitely be following suit and show some blog love....

Mountain View SEO · 1 year ago

We have created a comprehensive "Do Follow List" that includes over 300 blogs and forums at
http://www.tucsonseosolutions.com/dofollowlisto...
Thanks

hdrkid · 1 year ago

I am testing the plugin out in my blogger blog. Plan to add dofollow to me regular blog. This is the way forward. BTW, I joined BUMPzee yesterday!

Ruben Ruiz · 1 year ago

i think google can't deny the web nature, it's because it, we call the web... doesn't it??

the world wide WEB, i didn't know how to call the internet after all links become nofollow links, may be we must change all the web adressess as: WW.nofollowedaddress.com

just the World Wide... no more WEB any more

seeya

Johnny · 1 year ago

I'm following suit too. I like the phrase "spread the love". Let's make the web a lot nicer with DoFollows.

Jeremy Chone · 1 year ago

Late to the party, but I am here now. I just installed the dofollow wordpress plugin. I also did a logo, not very proud of it, but did not find better.

Murph · 1 year ago

Dofollow over at my blog all day long! :)

Keiros · 1 year ago

I use DoFollow in all my blogs but I'm forced to review comments before publication as I get tons of spam by Chinese or Russian spammers all days long.

I just started a Digg-like social bookmarking called....dofollownet and it allows DoFollow links from within the articles. I welcome all submissions as long as they are well written, related to the category in which they are posted and not too spammy ;-)

Robert & Cynthia Sweeley · 1 year ago

I have been going Do-Follow for a few months now with good results. My main concern was getting spam comments. I’ve found that the Spam Karma plugin flags most of the spam comments and it just takes me a few minutes a day to monitor comments.

I think dofollow will become more popular since social media is becoming so big. Encouraging comments enhances community building and relationship building.

Moving away from our prior business of making menus for restaurants, we're looking to add more income by using social networking sites. Dofollow is definitely the way to go!

Randy · 11 months ago

I just posted some new Free U Comment I Follow Buttons & Badges on my blog for anyone who wants a dofollow badge that's a little more Web 2.0

Matt McGuire · 11 months ago

I understand the need for the nofollow in the past, but with today's spam filters I don't have much of an issue removing the nofollow from comments. I wish more wikis removed the nofollow from links as well.

Per Lustig · 10 months ago

We know blog commenting can turn into spamming, but if done right and respectfully, commenting can be a good addition to a link building strategy as you know. So we have tweaked a custom google search to search for specific keywords and only return blog posts and web pages built on a popular open source CMS that all allow dofollow links in comments. You can find the search tool at http://commentlinkbuilding.info