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Link Attributes - Functional specification

This documentation provides technical information about Yoast SEO manages link attributes.

We provide tools which allow users to declare special properties of links within editable content areas, in order to help them adhere to search engine guidelines.

Search engine guidelines​

Search engines typically require that links which are sponsored (or otherwise incentivised) - i.e., those bought/sold, placed in exchange for goods or services, or which are otherwise 'non-organic' - to be disclosed. To do this, a rel (relational) attribute with a value of nofollow, sponsored or ugc must be added to the anchor (<a>) tag in question.

Our article, "What are sponsored, nofollow and ugc links, and why use them?", describes the difference between these attributes.

Controls​

Yoast SEO provides a UI control for users when placing links, which allows users to select how a link should be treated.

Our help article, "Which link settings should I use?" describes these options and their behaviors.