Forum signature links: nofollow or dofollow? How to check takes ten seconds: right-click your signature link, choose "Inspect", and read the rel attribute on the link tag. If it says nofollow, ugc or sponsored, the link is not a normal followed link; if there is no rel value at all, it is what SEOs call dofollow, and on most forums today you will find the first case.

Forum signatures were one of the first link building tactics I ever used, back when every webmaster board was full of shiny banners under each post. They still have a use, just a different one. This guide shows you exactly how to check a link, what each label means, and when a forum is worth your time even if the link is nofollow.

Dofollow, nofollow, ugc and sponsored in plain words

A link is written in HTML with an a tag. The optional rel attribute tells search engines what kind of link it is:

  • Dofollow: not a real attribute, just SEO slang for a link with no rel restriction. It can pass ranking signals.
  • nofollow: "Don't associate my site with this link." Google says to use it when the other values don't apply.
  • ugc: short for user-generated content. Google recommends it for links in "comments and forum posts", so this is the one you will see most on forums.
  • sponsored: for ads and paid placements.

Here is what they look like in the page code:

Code you seeWhat it means
<a href="https://yoursite.com">Followed (dofollow) link
<a href="https://yoursite.com" rel="nofollow">Nofollow link
<a href="https://yoursite.com" rel="ugc nofollow">User-generated, also nofollow
<a href="https://yoursite.com" rel="noopener">Still followed: noopener is a security setting, not an SEO one
<a href="/redirect.php?url=yoursite.com">Goes through the forum's redirect, so it is not a direct link to you

You do not need any special tool. Any desktop browser will do.

  1. Log out of the forum, or open the thread in a private window. Many forums hide signatures from guests or treat links from new members differently, and Google sees the guest version.
  2. Find one of your posts and scroll to the signature.
  3. Right-click the link and choose "Inspect" (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) or "Inspect Element" (Safari, after enabling developer tools).
  4. Read the highlighted a tag. Look for rel="..." and check whether the href points straight to your site.
  5. Double-check with the source. Press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) to view the page source, then search for your domain with Ctrl+F. This shows the HTML the server sent, before any scripts change it.

If the Inspect view and the page source disagree, a script is adding or removing rel values after the page loads. Trust the version with the restriction, to be safe. Browser extensions that highlight nofollow links are handy for checking many pages, and you can find a few in our SEO tools list, but always confirm one link by hand.

Three points from Google's own documentation matter here:

  • Forum posts should carry ugc. Google's guidance on qualifying outbound links recommends the ugc value for comments and forum posts, and suggests forums may remove it for trusted, long-standing contributors.
  • Nofollow is a hint, not a wall. Since September 2019, Google treats nofollow as a hint for ranking, and from March 2020 also for crawling and indexing, as Search Engine Land reported at the time. Google may or may not use such a link.
  • Optimised signatures are named as spam. Google's spam policies list "forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature" as an example of link spam, showing a short "thanks, great info" post followed by three keyword-rich anchors.

Put simply, a keyword-stuffed signature on a hundred throwaway posts is exactly what Google describes as spam, whether the links are dofollow or not.

More often than people think. In my experience the value of forum signatures has shifted from rankings to people:

  • Referral traffic. A helpful answer in an active thread keeps getting read for years. Readers who like your answer click your signature.
  • Reputation. Regular, useful posting in a niche forum makes your name known to the exact people who might link to you later from their own sites.
  • Discovery. Google may still crawl a linked page it finds through a hint-based link, which can help a new page get found.
  • A natural link profile. A mix of followed and nofollow links is normal for any real site.

If you are deciding where to post, pick forums where your audience already hangs out over forums that merely advertise "dofollow signatures". For more on how different link types fit together, see our backlinks guide for beginners.

Forum etiquette that keeps your account alive

Moderators ban signature spammers quickly. These habits keep you on the right side of them:

  1. Read the rules first. Many forums only allow signatures after a set number of posts or days.
  2. Answer before you advertise. Spend your first weeks helping. No signature link fixes a reputation as a drive-by poster.
  3. Use your brand or name as anchor text. "Jane at Example Bakery" is fine; "best cheap cupcakes NYC" is not.
  4. One link is enough. A single clean link looks like a person. Three keyword links look like Google's spam example.
  5. Never post just to show the signature. "Great post, thanks!" replies are the fastest route to a ban.

The same manners apply on blogs, which is why our blog commenting guide follows almost the same rules.

Forum signature links, nofollow or dofollow, and how to check them all come down to one attribute, and once you know it, the label matters less than whether the forum's readers are your readers. Check the rel attribute, post where you can genuinely help, and count clicks and contacts rather than link labels.

Frequently asked questions

Are any forums still dofollow for signatures?

Some smaller or older forums still output signature links without a rel value, especially for members with a long posting history. They change settings without notice, though, so check again every few months. Do not choose a forum only because it is dofollow today.

Not exactly. Both tell Google the link should not be treated as a normal editorial endorsement, but ugc adds the detail that a user, not the site owner, added it. Google treats both as hints, so neither guarantees zero value or full value.

A few signature links from real participation will not hurt you. Problems start with mass posting, keyword-rich anchors and throwaway accounts, which Google lists as link spam. If you post like a genuine member, you are fine.