A user recently asked if he could add nofollow tags only to some links. And that answer is no as IndexU cannot selectively do this on it’s own. However, I’m all about customization and there is a way to add nofollow tags if you want to add a bit of code to a particular type of links (basic, sponsored or premium)
I’m sure many of you directory owners out there are familiar with the post by Google’s Matt Cutts on reporting paid links.
At this time, no directory script that I know of has the ability to add nofollow tags. And in fact I read a post today in regards to PHPLD that says it can’t be done right now.
Now think about this. The concern with paid links is that the links are being purchased not just to be placed on the site, but being purchased to help to increase Page Rank.
And that’s the issue! Of course users want to increase page rank, but they also want exposure too.
So here’s what I suggest doing with your directory if you are concerned. For all of your free links, do not add the nofollow code. For the paid links, so you don’t penalize yourself or your customer, you add the nofollow code.
Google understands the nofollow rule and knows that the nofollow tag will not pass page rank. This keeps everyone safe and offers the customer exposure.
There may be a better explanation by Google in the future (there already is, but it still doesn’t answer all questions) but for now the nofollow is your best bet to keeping yourself safe.
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My previous post on this topic was done in some haste after a brainstorm and it didn’t really work, even though I thought it would. Perhaps I’ll take a further look into this issue and figure out how to do it a better way.
