LinkedIn links are nofollow. Every outbound link on LinkedIn, whether placed in a post, article, comment, or profile section, carries a rel="nofollow" attribute that tells search engines not to pass PageRank to the linked page. LinkedIn made this change in 2014 and has maintained it ever since. That said, nofollow does not mean worthless. Understanding the distinction between dofollow vs nofollow links on LinkedIn helps you use the platform strategically rather than dismissing it from your SEO toolkit entirely.
When did LinkedIn switch its links to nofollow?
LinkedIn switched all outbound links from dofollow to nofollow on June 6, 2014. The change was a direct response to widespread abuse of the platform’s link equity. Spammers had been exploiting LinkedIn’s high domain authority to push PageRank toward low-quality sites, and the nofollow implementation closed that loophole. LinkedIn has maintained this policy consistently since then.
For context, the nofollow attribute itself was introduced by Google in January 2005 as a way to signal that a link should not influence PageRank. It was originally designed for blog comments and forum posts, where site owners could not vouch for every link that appeared. LinkedIn applied the same logic at scale: because the platform cannot editorially vet every URL its users share, it treats all outbound links as unendorsed by default.
Some older sources, including a 2022 article from GlobeRunner, claimed that posting a raw URL without a preview card could produce a dofollow link through LinkedIn’s lnkd.in redirect shortener. That claim has not been independently verified with current testing, and the authoritative consensus from more recent sources is that all LinkedIn outbound links are nofollow, regardless of placement or format.
What does nofollow actually mean for link equity?
A nofollow link contains a rel="nofollow" attribute in the HTML, which signals to search engines that the linking page does not endorse the destination and that PageRank should not flow through the link. In traditional SEO terms, nofollow links do not transfer link equity, or “link juice,” to the linked site. This is the core distinction in the dofollow vs nofollow links debate.
The picture became more nuanced in September 2019, when Google officially reclassified nofollow as a “hint” rather than a hard directive. Google’s statement confirmed that all link attributes, including nofollow, sponsored, and ugc, are treated as hints that inform how Google analyzes links within its systems. This means Google reserves the right to consider a nofollow link for ranking purposes in some cases, rather than ignoring it entirely.
In practice, however, the change is subtle. Search Engine Land noted that in most cases the hint model does not materially change how nofollow links are treated. The practical consensus among SEO professionals remains that nofollow links should not be relied upon for direct PageRank transfer. Treat them as contributing to a broader signal, not as a substitute for editorial dofollow links from authoritative sources.
Do LinkedIn links help SEO at all?
LinkedIn links do help SEO, just not through direct PageRank transfer. The value comes through several indirect channels: referral traffic, backlink profile diversity, content indexation, and relationship-building that leads to dofollow links from other sites. Nofollow does not make a LinkedIn link useless. It changes where the value comes from.
Referral traffic and backlink profile diversity
When users click a LinkedIn link and visit your site, that traffic is real and measurable. Strong referral traffic from LinkedIn can improve engagement metrics, increase conversions, and signal to Google that your content attracts visitors from authoritative platforms. A diverse backlink profile that includes nofollow links from high-authority domains like LinkedIn is generally viewed more favorably than a profile consisting entirely of dofollow links from a narrow set of sources.
Content indexation through LinkedIn Articles
LinkedIn Articles, published under the platform’s /pulse/ slug, are indexed by Google and can appear in search results as standalone content. LinkedIn’s /pulse/ subdomain ranks for millions of keywords in Google, which means a well-optimized LinkedIn Article targeting a low-competition keyword can rank on its own merit. LinkedIn has also introduced SEO tools that allow authors to set custom SEO titles and meta descriptions for articles, improving their indexability further. One important caveat: LinkedIn does not support canonical tags, so reposting content that already exists on your website can create duplicate content issues.
Relationship-building that generates dofollow links
Engaging with professionals on LinkedIn can lead to guest posting invitations, co-authored content, and editorial mentions on third-party websites. These secondary outcomes produce the dofollow backlinks that directly influence rankings. LinkedIn’s value in this context is as a networking and outreach channel, not purely as a link source.
What’s the difference between nofollow, ugc, and sponsored links?
Nofollow, ugc, and sponsored are three distinct link attributes that Google introduced to give webmasters more precise ways to describe the nature of their outbound links. All three are treated as hints by Google rather than absolute directives, but each signals something different about the relationship between the linking page and the destination.
- rel=”nofollow” is a general-purpose attribute used when a site links to content it does not want to endorse or pass PageRank to. It is the broadest of the three and the oldest, dating back to 2005.
- rel=”sponsored” is specifically for paid links, advertisements, and sponsorships. Google introduced it in September 2019 to help distinguish commercial link arrangements from general non-endorsement. Paid links that are not marked with sponsored or nofollow risk a manual penalty from Google’s spam team.
- rel=”ugc” stands for user-generated content. It is used for links appearing in blog comments, forum posts, and other open content areas where the site owner cannot vouch for what users submit. It helps Google distinguish between natural editorial links and potential spam.
Multiple attributes can be combined on a single link. A link in a paid comment, for example, could carry rel="nofollow ugc" or rel="ugc sponsored". LinkedIn’s links use the nofollow attribute because the platform cannot editorially endorse every URL its users share. The ugc attribute would arguably be equally appropriate for user-generated posts, but LinkedIn’s implementation has consistently used nofollow as the primary signal.
Which LinkedIn link placements carry the most weight?
LinkedIn Articles published via LinkedIn Pulse carry the most SEO weight because they are indexed by Google and can rank in search results independently. Regular LinkedIn feed posts are generally not indexed by Google, which limits their SEO value to on-platform engagement and referral traffic only. Placement matters significantly when deciding how to use LinkedIn for SEO purposes.
Placements with Google indexation potential
LinkedIn Articles and LinkedIn Newsletters are both indexed by Google, making them the highest-value placements for SEO. An article published on LinkedIn’s /pulse/ subdomain can rank for niche or low-competition keywords in Google search results, a tactic sometimes called on-SERP SEO. LinkedIn Profile sections, including the headline, About section, and experience entries, are also indexed by Google. The first 40 words of the About section carry particular weight for profile-level keyword visibility.
Placements with limited SEO reach
Standard LinkedIn feed posts that include external links are not indexed by Google and also face algorithmic suppression on LinkedIn itself. According to analyses of LinkedIn’s 2026 algorithm behavior, posts with external links receive significantly less on-platform reach than native formats such as document posts, images, or video. If your goal is SEO value from LinkedIn, feed posts with links are the weakest placement. The Featured section on a LinkedIn profile is not directly crawled for keywords but can increase the time visitors spend on your profile, which is a positive engagement signal.
Should you include LinkedIn in your link building strategy?
LinkedIn belongs in a link building strategy, but not as a direct source of PageRank. Its value is indirect: it drives referral traffic, contributes to backlink profile diversity, helps content get indexed through LinkedIn Articles, and creates networking opportunities that generate dofollow links from third-party websites. Treating LinkedIn purely as a link source misses where the real return is.
A nofollow mention from a high-authority platform like LinkedIn is still more valuable than a dofollow link from a low-traffic or low-quality site. The reasons are practical: referral traffic from LinkedIn is real, brand visibility on a platform with hundreds of millions of professional users is meaningful, and Google may use the link as a hint even if it does not pass full PageRank. The hint model introduced in 2019 means the line between dofollow and nofollow is less absolute than it once was.
The most effective use of LinkedIn in link building is as an outreach and relationship channel. Social media platforms including LinkedIn are used by a significant proportion of link builders for outreach campaigns, and the results show measurably more links per month for those who use social outreach consistently. The links those campaigns generate come not from LinkedIn itself but from the relationships formed there, which then produce editorial dofollow links on blogs, news sites, and industry publications.
For SEO professionals managing link building campaigns, the practical approach is to use LinkedIn for three distinct purposes: publishing optimized LinkedIn Articles that can rank in Google independently, driving referral traffic to target pages through strategic link placement in articles and newsletters, and building the professional relationships that lead to genuine editorial coverage elsewhere. If you want a more systematic way to track which off-page activities are moving the needle, a unified SEO workflow that connects off-page signals with on-page performance data makes that analysis considerably faster.
The bottom line on dofollow vs nofollow links from LinkedIn is straightforward. LinkedIn links are nofollow and will not directly boost your rankings. But a platform with LinkedIn’s authority, audience size, and Google indexation potential for its article content is not one to ignore. Use it deliberately, measure the referral and content outcomes, and treat it as one component of a diversified link building strategy rather than a shortcut to PageRank.
