Percentage of NoFollow External Links is the share of all recognized anchors on a page that point to a different host through an absolute URL and carry nofollow in their rel attribute. It describes how a page marks its outbound links relative to every link it contains — it does not judge whether any individual marker is warranted.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-022 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Percentage |
| Measured zone | Anchor links in the rendered page body |
What it measures
This factor reports the share of all recognized anchors that both point to a different host through an absolute URL and contain nofollow. It expresses external nofollow links as a proportion of every link on the page rather than as a raw count, letting you compare how heavily different pages mark their outbound destinations. The value describes markup behavior only; it says nothing about the quality of the sites being linked to.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear identifies absolute HTTP or HTTPS links, compares each destination host against the page’s own host to classify external links, checks the rel attribute for nofollow, and divides the matching links by the total anchor count. Both conditions — an absolute external URL and a nofollow relationship — must hold for a link to enter the numerator. When no anchors are parsed, the calculation has no denominator and produces an undefined numeric result.
What RankGear looks for
<a href="https://other-site.com/" rel="nofollow">counts (external + nofollow)</a>
<a href="https://other-site.com/">external, but not nofollow — excluded</a>
<a href="/internal/" rel="nofollow">nofollow, but internal — excluded</a>| Component | Rule |
|---|---|
| Numerator | Absolute external links whose rel contains nofollow |
| Denominator | Total recognized anchors, including internal links |
| Undefined | No parsed anchors (empty denominator) |
percentage = external nofollow links / total anchors × 100How to optimize it
Treat this percentage as an observation, not a target. Review external links for provenance and purpose, then apply the relationship value that fits each one: paid, untrusted, or user-generated destinations often warrant nofollow or a more specific marker, while legitimate editorial citations are generally governed by the policy that suits them. Do not set directives simply to reproduce a competitor’s proportion — the right treatment follows from why a link exists, not from matching a ratio.
Important considerations
- The denominator includes internal links, so the percentage reflects external nofollow links against every anchor on the page, not against external links alone.
- The percentage does not assess the external site’s quality — only how the link is marked.
- Relative URLs cannot enter the numerator; only absolute HTTP or HTTPS external links qualify.
- Do not set relationship directives simply to reproduce a competitor’s proportions.
- A page with no parsed anchors yields an undefined result rather than zero.
- This is a descriptive signal that relates to patterns within a measured result set; it does not by itself cause or guarantee any ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.