Internal link has nofollow attribute — the fix
An internal link on this page uses the rel="nofollow" attribute, which tells search engines not to pass link equity (PageRank) to the destination page.
Where this fits: internal linking in SEO
Internal links are how authority and discoverability flow through your site. They tell crawlers which pages exist, tell ranking systems which pages you consider important, and give users paths deeper into your content. Orphan pages (no internal links pointing to them) are nearly invisible to search engines regardless of quality. A deliberate internal-linking structure is one of the highest-leverage, fully-in-your-control SEO instruments.
Why internal link has nofollow attribute hurts your rankings
Using nofollow on internal links wastes PageRank. The equity that would have flowed through that link is effectively lost (Google does not redistribute it to other links on the page). Internal nofollow was historically used for "PageRank sculpting," but Google has confirmed this technique no longer works and the equity is simply evaporated. Internal links should almost always be followed.
This is a low-severity issue: a polish item. Fix it in batches during scheduled maintenance; the win is cumulative quality, not a step change.
How to fix it
Remove the rel="nofollow" attribute from internal links. If you want to prevent a page from being indexed, use a noindex meta tag on the destination page instead. Reserve nofollow for external links to untrusted or user-generated content.
<!-- Before -->
<a href="/our-page/" rel="nofollow">Our Page</a>
<!-- After -->
<a href="/our-page/">Our Page</a>Internal linking best practices
- Link every new page from at least two existing relevant pages the day it ships.
- Use descriptive anchor text — 'pricing for agencies', never 'click here'.
- Fix broken internal links weekly; every 404 wastes both crawl budget and user trust.
- Build hub pages for your main topics and spoke out to detail pages.
- Keep orphan-page count at zero — if nothing links to it, neither will Google.
The full library: SEO best practices, by category.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Internal link has nofollow attribute" mean?
An internal link on this page uses the rel="nofollow" attribute, which tells search engines not to pass link equity (PageRank) to the destination page.
Why does internal link has nofollow attribute matter for SEO?
Using nofollow on internal links wastes PageRank. The equity that would have flowed through that link is effectively lost (Google does not redistribute it to other links on the page). Internal nofollow was historically used for "PageRank sculpting," but Google has confirmed this technique no longer works and the equity is simply evaporated. Internal links should almost always be followed.
How do I fix internal link has nofollow attribute?
Remove the rel="nofollow" attribute from internal links. If you want to prevent a page from being indexed, use a noindex meta tag on the destination page instead. Reserve nofollow for external links to untrusted or user-generated content.
How serious is this issue?
This is a low-severity issue: a polish item. Fix it in batches during scheduled maintenance; the win is cumulative quality, not a step change. It belongs to the internal linking family of checks.
How do I find every page affected by this on my site?
Run a free Dr Urls audit: it crawls your site, detects internal link has nofollow attribute on every affected page, shows example URLs, and generates a ready-to-use fix task. Re-scan after fixing to verify the issue is gone.
Does your site have this issue?
A free Dr Urls audit crawls your site, finds every page affected by internal link has nofollow attribute, and hands you a ready-made fix task.
Check my site free