Source: http://searchengineland.com/bloggers-guide-no-follow-links-240373
Are you getting nofollow links? Search engines may not count nofollow links but they can still be really beneficial to your site for the following reasons:
The link is an open endorsement.
- Your site gets exposure.
- Regardless of the type of link, mentions about your brand increase your authority.
- Viewers of the site would know that your link is worth clicking.
Your site gets referral traffic.
- Nofollow links help you with the word-of-mouth marketing online.
- People will talk about your content, share them, and search engines will notice your web presence.
- This drives more targeted traffic that converts.
It pushes you to improve your site.
- A link not boosting your SEO will prompt you to check rooms for improvement on your site.
- Optimize your design, content, mapping, etc.
Your featured links (nofollow link or not) will get more links.
- Site visitors will go their way to feature your link too.
- This results to more natural links to your site.
This type of links can actually have a positive impact on your rankings.
- Nofollow links can signal Google that you are building links naturally.
- This improves trust flow and eventually improves your rankings.