I was trawling the 'blogosphere' wondering what I could stumble across that would interest the visitors to this site when I came across this little beauty!
There is a simple instuction in HTML that advises search engines NOT to follow certain links from your site, for example the Admin page, or other pages that are critical to the security of your site, and it is simply the 'nofollow' attribute. By default Blogger sets the 'nofollow' attribute for ALL links, and that includes user generated content like 'comments', 'linkbacks' and 'trackbacks'. Removing this tag will provide 'link juice' for your visitors although there is a small danger that you might find an increase in SPAM. This last should not trouble you too much if you take the precaution of setting up your 'Comments' section to use the built-in CAPTCHA capability.
As always, when you are fiddling with the HTML of your template, please take the precaution of backing up the existing template in case things go awry.
BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!
- Go to >> Layout >> Edit HTML
- Check the Expand Widget Templates
- Search and find 'nofollow' in the edit window.
- Delete rel='nofollow' in to-to!
- Repeat the last two steps. There are at least two of these entries, sometimes 3.
- Save your template. You won't see any obvious changes; the advantage gained is in your search engine ranking and the ability you've just given your visitors and commenters to link to your Blog and to a specific post!
- You're done!
Enjoy your increased exposure ...
