Two New Link Attributes: Sponsored and UGC
The topic of whether or not affiliate links should have the "nofollow" attribute has come up before. I have made it a habit of adding the nofollow attribute on my affiliate links in the form of: rel="nofollow".
Recently, the official Google Webmaster Central Blog posted an article which has introduced two new link attributes to include:
- sponsored
- UGC
According to the post, the sponsored attribute identifies links that are created as part of advertisements, sponsorships, or other compensation agreements.
The UGC attribute stands for "user generated content" and is recommended for links within user generated content such as comments or forum posts.
If you have already been using the nofollow attribute, you do not have to go back and change them. You can read the post below. It includes a helpful FAQ section:
https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/09/evolving-nofollow-new-ways-to-identify.html
What are your thoughts on these new link attributes? Will you be implementing them?
Recent Comments
9
Is there a plug-in I can use to make it easier to change all my affiliate links to nofollow, without having to go through each post to edit every single one?
And, to clarify:
Add rel="nofollow" to link
ADD THIS TO AFFILIATE LINKS
Add rel="sponsored" to link
For links that are created as part of advertisements, sponsorships, or other compensation agreements. BUT DOES THIS INCLUDE AFFILIATE LINKS AS WELL? SO WE MUST ADD BOTH NOFOLLOW + SPONSORED? :S
Add rel="UGC" to link
"User-generated content" and is recommended for links within user-generated content such as comments or forum posts. MUST WE USE THIS FOR ALL INTERNAL LINKS SUCH AS "RELATED POST:....."?
Thanks. Susan
devotedtoanimals.com
There are always plugins Susan,
Go to search for plugins in WordPress
Type in :
External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window
I think it has a bulk apply function
R.
Hi Susan,
Personally, I do add "nofollow" to my affiliate links. You don't have to use both "nofollow" and "sponsored" on affiliate links. Either or will do. According to the Google blog post FAQ, they prefer "sponsored" but will treat them the same.
I don't think you need to add UGC for your internal links. As it stated, it is for content such as comments and forum posts.
As for the plugin option, Rami's comment is on point. You can search for those types of plugins within your WordPress admin area.
Thanks Eartha. So re UGC, if I write a link pointing to an external link within a comments reply, I just add this attribute then, yes? But if they are internal links to my own blog posts within the comments, I don't have to use it. And if I use an affiliate link within a comments reply, I must use nofollow.
Thanks for further clarification.
Susan
Hi RamiSociable, ref this External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window plug-in, can you please clarify which options are to be selected/unselected/ticked/unticked/changed etc? see attached. Thanks. Susan
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I think I will go back through and add the sponsored tag. At the very least it gives me a chance to review my links.