Tool Alert: Persistent rel=”nofollow” Attribute on Internal Links

#1119703
  • Dear Rank Math Support Team,I am contacting you regarding a persistent issue where internal links on my website are being flagged with the rel=”nofollow” attribute, according to my SEO audit tool (SEMrush / Ahrefs / Other).Context and Settings:Main SEO Plugin: I am using Rank Math (version [Insert version, e.g., 1.0.215]) on my WordPress site.Rank Math Configuration: I have verified the Rank Math SEO $\rightarrow$ General Settings $\rightarrow$ Links section and confirmed that the option to apply nofollow to Internal Links is disabled (or does not exist, as per Rank Math’s default behavior).Manual Check: I have also manually inspected the HTML code of the reported internal links and removed the rel=”nofollow” attribute. However, the issue either persists or the attribute reappears.Problem Symptoms:My SEO audit tool is flagging [State the number of links/pages affected, e.g., 50 links] with the nofollow tag. This is negatively impacting the internal flow of link equity.Examples of Affected Links:Source Page (Where the link is located): [Your Example URL 1]Target Page (The nofollow internal link): [Your Target URL 1]Source Page (Where the link is located): [Your Example URL 2]Target Page (The nofollow internal link): [Your Target URL 2]Diagnostic Steps Taken:Suspecting a plugin conflict, I have performed the following checks:Plugin Conflict Check: I temporarily disabled other linking, optimization, and page builder plugins. [State if the issue stopped or persisted after deactivation].Theme Check: I switched to a default WordPress theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty-Four) to rule out the theme as the cause. [State if the issue stopped or persisted with the default theme].Cache Clearing: I have cleared all site cache (server cache and [Name of your cache plugin] cache) before running the audit again.My Request:I kindly request your assistance in identifying whether Rank Math might be injecting this attribute under certain conditions, or if you can help pinpoint which other plugin or theme component might be responsible for this behavior so that I can resolve it permanently.Please let me know what access or additional information (e.g., WP Admin access, FTP credentials, Site Health report) you require.Thank you for your time and support.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Hello,

    We apologize for the issue you are facing with the persistent rel="nofollow" attribute on your internal links. Thank you for providing detailed context regarding your Rank Math configuration and the steps you’ve already taken to troubleshoot the problem.

    It’s important to note that Rank Math does not apply the nofollow attribute to internal links by default unless specifically configured to do so. Since you have confirmed that the option to apply nofollow to internal links is disabled, it seems there may be another factor at play.

    Here are a few additional steps you can take:

    1. Check Global Settings: Ensure that there are no global settings in Rank Math that might be affecting your internal links. You can find these under Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Links.
    2. Inspect Other Plugins: Sometimes, other SEO or optimization plugins can interfere with link attributes. Since you’ve already disabled other plugins, consider checking if any custom code or functions in your theme might be affecting this.
    3. Review Theme Functions: If you have custom functions in your theme’s functions.php file or any custom scripts, review them to ensure they are not adding the nofollow attribute to internal links.
    4. Check for Caching Issues: Since you’ve cleared your cache, ensure that there are no server-side caching mechanisms that might be serving outdated content.
    5. Use Developer Tools: Utilize browser developer tools (F12) to inspect the affected links directly on your site to see if the nofollow attribute is being added dynamically by JavaScript or other scripts.

    If the issue persists after these checks, please reply to this ticket with your site URL and any additional details about the affected links. A human agent from our support team will then be able to assist you further.

    Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to resolving this issue for you!

    This is an automated reply from Rank Math Support Bot. Your ticket has been assigned to a human agent and we will get back to you shortly.

    All my internal links have Nofollow attributes

    https://vendasdiplomas.com/

    All my internal links have Nofollow attributes

    Okay, verified
    functions.php
    HTML
    Plugins
    Rankmant

    Some pages with errors:
    Status: N/A
    Keyword: Not defined
    Schema: Disabled

    Hello,

    Please note that Rank Math has the option to set your external links to nofollow only automatically via this option:
    https://rankmath.com/kb/should-you-nofollow-external-links/

    If your internal links are automatically getting nofollowed, then one of your plugins or your active theme is doing that.

    To determine that, please follow this troubleshooting guide:
    https://rankmath.com/kb/check-plugin-conflicts/

    Here is a video you can follow as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcIWRhcUP2c

    Only the site admin would know and your users won’t be affected by this troubleshooting.

    Looking forward to helping you.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this ticket.