1.1 Robots & directives (HTTP + HTML)HighVerified
Meta robots nofollow suppressing internal links
A page-level nofollow stops link equity and crawl paths flowing from that page to the ones it links to. On a hub or category page that can starve everything downstream.
What it is
A page-level nofollow stops link signals flowing to linked pages.
Why it matters
Internal link equity and discovery are blunted, weakening the crawl path and topical signals.
How to fix it
Remove page-level nofollow unless deliberate; use it surgically if at all.
How to find it on your site
- View source and look for <meta name="robots" content="...nofollow...">.
- Identify whether the affected page links to important internal destinations.
- Crawl the site and check whether those destinations are under-linked as a result.
- Remove page-level nofollow unless you have a deliberate reason for it.
Cross-reference to ranking and citation factors
Internal links are a primary way authority and discovery flow through a site. Suppressing them weakens the linked pages, which can show up as lower rankings.
Impact
Medium-high depending on placement. Direct mechanism, magnitude varies.
Evidence
nofollow instructs Google not to follow links from the page. Google Search Central, Robots Meta Tags Specifications