No Follow is a link attribute.  In 2005, Google decided that any link with the tag “rel=”nofollow” would not receive any credit when the website was ranked by Google.  It was originally intended to reduce spam comments.   This does not mean that you can not click on the link and be taken to the website.  The link is still “live.”

Some bloggers found that having nofollow automatically added to post comments, reduced the amount of comments the post received.  To encourage comments, many bloggers implemented a plugin called “DoFollow” which removed the “rel=nofollow” tag from links in comments.

To decrease spam comments, bloggers should install a spam filter (such as Akismet, which comes with WordPress) and/or moderate their comments.  I have found that the spam filter does not always catch all the spam, so I choose to moderate my comments.

Recently, Google has decided that paid links will also not be given ranking credit.  Unfortunately for all of us bloggers, there is no REAL way that Google can determine a paid link versus an unpaid link.  I have four other blogs.  Only one blog retained its full page rank.  The other three blogs dipped down in rank.  One of the blogs has very little paid links and yet it saw a dip in page rank.

It seems, as a blogger, you will have to make a decision if page rank matters or not.  If it does, remove all your paid links and do not participate in paid linking programs.  If it doesn’t – business as usual!