Is Noreferrer Bad For SEO? Here is A Detailed Answer
Editor / December 23, 2024
Noreferrer is an HTML attribute written as rel=”noreferrer” and used in external links. But Is a noreferrer bad for SEO?
This attribute is primarily used to hide the details of the websites that redirect their users to other sites through external links.
But why?
In this FastLinky blog Post I’ll discuss this important HTML attribute to answer this question that vexes many budding SEO executives.
What is a Noreferrer Attribute
A rel=”noreferrer” is an attribute in an outbound link’s HTML code. This attribute stops the destination page from knowing details of the referral page.
If you add this tag in an external link on your site, the destination site will not know where the referral traffic, visiting it through that link, is originating from.
Some Important Technical Terms and Their Meaning
| rel=”noreferrer” | A tag in an external link’s HTML code that prevents the destination page from knowing the details of the referral page. |
| HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) | A basic code used to build websites. |
| External Links (also known as outbound links) | A link inserted on your page that redirects users to another website for additional information. |
| Destination Page | The page where you send your users through an external link is called the destination page of that link. |
| Referral Page | And your page is called the referral page of that link as it refers to the other site. |
| SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) | A technique to enhance a site’s SERP ranking. |
| SERP (Search Engine Results Page) | Pages that search engines return against search queries are called SERPs. |
| Crawling | The process through which search engine algorithms find, categorise and index a webpage. |
| Link Juice (also known as link equity) | The value an authoritative website attaches to your pages when it gives you a backlink. |
Before we start discussing whether noreferrer bad for SEO or not, let’s clarify a few points first.
Why Use Noreferrer?
Webmasters use a rel=”noreferrer” attribute in the external links’ HTML code primarily to safeguard their sites’ vital information from people with malicious intentions.
This attribute serves the following key purposes.
Reduces Security Vulnerabilities
A noreferrer attribute in external links will hide sensitive site data of the referral page from the destination page.
This masking of the details of the referral site improves the security cover of the site by reducing the chances of malicious exploitation of its security vulnerabilities.
Hackers and phishers collect site data of the referral site by analysing external links it gives. Analysing these data they find out the security loopholes in the referral site and exploit them.
By hiding these information, the noreferrer will save the referral site from these cybercriminals.
It Prevents Monitoring
An external link is given usually to pages that deal with the same topic as the referral site.
Simply put, you’ll give external links to sites that are in your industry and whose contents may help your users with additional information on the product or service you deal in.
It means, the destination sites are usually your competitors’ sites.
You may not want your competitors to know that you have linked your page to theirs, especially if they monitor analytics closely.
A noreferrer attribute will help you hide your site’s identity from the destination sites and won’t let your competitors know that you are referring traffic to their sites.
Helps Maintain Unanimity
You may need once in a while to link your pages to sites that are controversial in nature or of low quality.
In this case, you may want to hide the fact that you are linking your pages to them.
A noreferrer will help you maintain this distance and hide your association with those sites by masking the referral page’s details.
Is Noreferrer Bad for SEO?
To understand the answer to this question clearly, you need to understand how external links impact SEO campaigns. Here is a quick take on this crucial topic.
External Links and SEO
External Links have a significant impact on the SEO of both the referral and destination sites.
- It helps the referral site to provide their users with valuable additional information.
- It lends authority and credibility to the destination site.
- It allows the referral site to appreciate and endorse outstanding content that the destination page contains through link equity that his outbound links carry.
- It helps the destination site to rank higher in the SERP as Google considers legit backlinks as a crucial ranking metric.
- It helps the referral site to forge a beneficial relationship with a competent peer.
Many newcomers in SEO business think this noreferrer tag in their outbound links will harm SEO campaigns and they are hesitant to use this in their outbound links.
This is, unfortunately, a baseless fear.
A noreferrer, though hides the referral page’s site details and data, doesn’t hamper the flow of link juice or crawling.
On the contrary, a noreferrer attribute may help an SEO campaign. We will now see how.
It Doesn’t Interfere with Crawling
An answer to this question, is noreferrer bad for SEO, can be that it offers an added security cover without affecting crawling by search engine spiders or the flow of link juice.
A search engine crawler will find, analyse, categorise and index webpages irrespective of presence or absence of noreferrer attributes.
In short, the SERP status of both referral page and the destination page will remain unaffected by a rel=”noreferrer” attribute.
It Aligns Well With Google’s Security Policy
Top search engines like Google prioritise users’ safety and security. Google is especially very strict about it and constantly tweaks its algorithms to make it more security efficient.
As a result, sites that put an emphasis on security and take extra precautionary measures, like adding noreferrer to outbound links, to ensure site security automatically get into Google’s good book.
This may indirectly enhance the SERP status of a site that gives links with noreferrer attributes in the HTML for extra security cover.
It Engages Users
In our discussion, is noreferrer bad for SEO, we will now look into another positive impact of this noreferrer on SEO, namely user engagement.
You know, a noreferrer attribute not only makes your site safe and keeps cybercriminals out, it also encourages your users to spend more time with you, read more, go deeper and come back to you again confidently due to your site’s strict privacy policy.
This user engagement will yield positive outcomes like reduced bounce rate and improved session time, which are crucial SERP ranking metrics.
Thus, a noreferrer may indirectly improve your SEO.
Should You Use rel=”noreferrer” Attribute?
As we’ve seen, a noreferrer attribute in the outbound link’s HTML improves security and indirectly impacts SERP ranking positively.
Adding this attribute to external links is generally recommended.
However, there are a few cases where you may not want to use this attribute. Here are two major negative impacts of a noreferrer attribute on SEO.
- Noreferrer bad for SEO if you use it on your own pages. It may create problems as search engine crawlers may find it difficult to scan, understand and index your pages. This may negatively impact your SEO.
- The destination site will not know you are referring as the noreferrer will hide your identity. This may prevent your site from getting some valuable reciprocal backlinks.
Conclusion
We have proven that no referrer bad for SEO is not a correct conception. On the contrary, a noreferrer attribute can improve a site’s security level and indirectly improve its SERP status.
Barring a few cases, the use of a no-referrer is generally recommended in external links as it saves sensitive site data from wrong hands.
A noreferrer attribute aligns well with the security policies of major search engines and using it in outbound links may endear the referral page to search engines. which may indirectly enhance its SEO.
FAQs.
Q. What is a noreferrer attribute?
A. A noreferrer, written as rel=”noreferrer” is an attribute added to an external link’s HTML tag.
Q. Why Use a noreferrer?
A. A noreferrer attribute hides the referral site’s identity and data and improves security.
Q. Is noreferrer bad for SEO?
A. No, on the contrary, it indirectly helps SEO.
Q. What is an external link?
A. Links that you insert in your page to connect your content with other websites, are called your external or outbound link.
no-opener or rel=”noopener” tag is an attribute webmasters add to their external links’ HTML to hide sensitive data from linked pages.