Why Nofollow Tag On WordPress Navigation Menu Is Important

The primary reason why we add nofollow tag to link is just to tell search engine spider Not to crawl a link with with the intent of passing link juice or link vote to it. Most of the time, these links are external and they are created within WordPress post editor.

There are instances where we might want to create external links within the navigation menu either at the header or footer. It could even be internal links you don’t want search spider to crawl.

I’ll highlight below why you might want to consider nofollow tag on menu link and how to implement it.

Reasons for nofollow attribution on menu

1. Sometimes you might want to blend your affiliate links to look natural with your site navigation. Hence, putting it among your menu could be a good idea. But if you don’t know how to add nofollow to it, you might be penalized by Google because in a way it is a paid advert.

2. Internal links that do not have direct relevancy, but important for conversion purposes e.g log in page or simple sign up link. However, this depend on website conversion target. So, it’s not a general rule.

3. A sister website we do not desire to rank above the main site for a particular keyword.

4. A custom link we want to create on menu header without passing link vote to it.

Now that we know why it might be necessary to implement nofollow attribution on navigation menu, lets discuss how to add it on WordPress menu.

How to add nofollow tag on WordPress navigation menu

Adding nofollow tag on WordPress menu is the most simplest, but it is hidden within the menu function. WordPress actually provides this feature and it’s available within each menu when created, but you won’t see it until you enable certain features on the screen option. I’ll reveal this features to you, so no worries.

– The first thing to do is go to your admin dashboard. Mouse over Appearance and click on menu.

– On the menu page, specify where you want the link you want to create to appear by selecting from the menu options you’ve created, e.g. primary, secondary or footer.

– To create a custom link, click on ‘Link’ on the left side just below the pages and categories you’ve created.

– Enter the URL of the site or page you want to link in the box provided.

– In the next box, enter the link text. This text will appear on the menu on the front-end.

– Click on ‘Add to menu’.

– You’ll see the custom menu you’ve just created on the right side.

Click on the small arrow by the top right of the menu box created to expand it. You won’t see the box where you can input nofollow tag.

– To enable nofollow on menu, you have to click on ‘screen option’ at the top right of the menu page just below your site gravatar where you log out.– Check these boxes; Link Relationship and Link target.

– Scroll down to the expanded menu, you’ll discover that new boxes have been added automatically. These are the features you need to set the link to nofollow and probably make the link open in new tab or window.– Type nofollow in the ‘Link Relationship (XFN) box to set the link to nofollow.

– If you want the link to open in new tab, check the box called ‘open link in a new window/tab.

– Click on ‘Save Menu’ and that’s all.

Watch the video on how to add nofollow to WordPress menu

You have successfully set the menu you created to nofollow. To confirm this, you can inspect the HTML of the menu link you created by placing your cursor on the link on the front-end website menu, right click on it and click on ‘Inspect element’ from the option.

The page will split into two. Look at the bottom, you’ll see the HTML of that particular link. Check the link formation, you’ll see that it carries nofollow.

Conclusion: It is important to ensure we position our site rightly for search engine spider and maintain professional integrity while implementing salient tactics that would aid site conversion from business angle.

Finding ways to add nofollow on menu would in no small measure contribute to this and the overall efficiency of the site.
Image Credit: bridgetownmillhouse