How to Fix Internal Nofollow Links WordPress

Internal Nofollow Links can quietly waste your SEO power in WordPress by blocking link equity from reaching important pages. When internal links are set to rel="nofollow", search engines may ignore them and your content can struggle to rank.

In this guide you will learn how to audit Internal Nofollow Links, decide which ones to keep, and safely remove unnecessary nofollow attributes in the WordPress editor, plugins, and templates. By the end, you will know exactly how to fix Internal Nofollow Links WordPress users often overlook so your internal linking works the way search engines expect.

If your SEO plugin is warning you that the keyphrase “Internal Nofollow Links WordPress” does not appear often enough, this tutorial will show you practical fixes you can apply step by step until those issues – and the warning – are gone.

What You Need to Start

• Administrator access to your WordPress dashboard.
• Basic understanding of internal links and the rel="nofollow" attribute.
• Access to an SEO crawling tool or plugin that reports internal nofollow links.
• Permission to install or configure plugins and edit menus, widgets, or templates.
• A recent full backup of your WordPress site and database.

These basics will make it much easier to fix Internal Nofollow Links WordPress reports in audits and SEO crawls.

Step 1: Audit Internal Nofollow Links

Before you change anything, you need a clear list of Internal Nofollow Links so you fix real problems instead of guessing. A structured audit shows which URLs are adding nofollow and where they point.

1. Open your preferred SEO crawler or auditing tool and run a crawl of your entire site.
2. Filter the link report to show only internal links with the rel value containing nofollow.
3. Export the results to a spreadsheet with at least these columns: Source URL, Anchor Text, Target URL, and Link Location.
4. Group the list by link type such as navigation, content links, widgets, and comment sections.

Verification: Confirm that you have at least a small sample of Internal Nofollow Links including where they appear and which pages they block.

Step 2: Decide Which Nofollow Links Should Change

Not every nofollow is wrong. External sponsored and affiliate links often need nofollow, but Internal Nofollow Links usually do not. This step helps you decide what to keep and what to fix.

1. In your spreadsheet, highlight internal links that point to important pages such as key posts, service pages, or category archives.
2. Mark links that live in global elements like headers, footers, menus, or sidebar widgets.
3. Identify any Internal Nofollow Links used only for admin pages, login pages, or low value content that you intentionally keep out of search.
4. Create three groups in an extra column: Fix Now, Review, and Keep Nofollow.

Verification: You are ready to edit once every Internal Nofollow Link on your list has a clear action label.

Step 3: Remove Nofollow From Links in the WordPress Editor

Many Internal Nofollow Links come from posts or pages where the attribute was added in the block or classic editor. Fixing these directly inside WordPress is often the fastest win and the easiest way for beginners to fix Internal Nofollow Links WordPress wide without touching code.

1. In your WordPress dashboard go to Posts » All Posts or Pages » All Pages.
2. Open a URL from your Fix Now list in the editor.
3. In the block editor, click the link inside the text, then click the Link settings icon and choose Edit.
4. Toggle to the Advanced or Link settings panel and check if a Rel field contains nofollow. Remove nofollow if the link is internal and should pass value.
5. In the classic editor, switch to the Text tab, locate the link, and manually delete rel="nofollow" from the <a> tag.
6. Click Update to save your changes.

<a href="https://example.com/post" rel="nofollow">Read more</a>

After fixing an Internal Nofollow Link in content, it should look like this:

<a href="https://example.com/post">Read more</a>

Verification: View the updated page on the front end, inspect the link in your browser, and confirm the rel="nofollow" attribute is gone. Re-crawl that URL to check that the Internal Nofollow Links count is lower.

Step 4: Fix Internal Nofollow Links Added by Plugins

Some plugins add Internal Nofollow Links automatically to menus, related posts, or affiliate links. Once you know which plugin is responsible, you can usually change a single setting instead of editing dozens of posts.

1. From your audit, note patterns where Internal Nofollow Links share the same HTML structure or appear in similar blocks like related posts or product grids.
2. In your dashboard, go to Plugins » Installed Plugins and identify link, SEO, or affiliate plugins involved in those areas.
3. Click Settings on the suspected plugin and look for options mentioning nofollow, sponsored, or UGC on internal links.
4. Disable any options that apply nofollow to internal links, leaving external sponsored links protected where needed.
5. Save your settings and clear any caching plugin so changes appear on the live site.

Verification: Reload an affected page, inspect a link that previously had rel="nofollow", and confirm the attribute is no longer applied to internal URLs.

Step 5: Remove Hard Coded Nofollow From Menus and Templates

Occasionally Internal Nofollow Links are baked into theme files, menus, or widget templates. Removing these requires a little more care but can restore link equity to many pages at once.

1. In your dashboard go to Appearance » Menus and edit the menu that contains Internal Nofollow Links.
2. Expand an individual menu item and check if there is a Link Relationship or Attributes field containing nofollow. Clear this value and save the menu.
3. If your audit points to templates, open Appearance » Theme File Editor or use a child theme with an FTP or file manager.
4. Locate the relevant template file such as header.php, footer.php, or sidebar.php and search for rel="nofollow" on internal links.
5. Remove the rel="nofollow" attribute only from internal navigation or widget links that should pass value.
6. Save the file and reload your site to confirm it loads correctly.

Verification: Visit several pages that use the updated menu or widget, inspect the links, and confirm there are no remaining Internal Nofollow Links in those elements.

Methods to Fix Internal Nofollow Links

This table compares the main ways to fix Internal Nofollow Links in WordPress so you can choose the method that matches your skills and site size. If you are specifically looking for Internal Nofollow Links WordPress solutions, this overview shows which route to take first.

Step 6: Prevent Future Internal Nofollow Link Problems

Once you repair existing Internal Nofollow Links, the final step is prevention. A few habits and checks can stop them from sneaking back into your WordPress site.

1. Document a simple internal linking policy that says internal links should normally be follow, not nofollow.
2. Train authors and editors to avoid ticking any internal nofollow options in link dialogs unless there is a clear reason.
3. Schedule a quarterly crawl that specifically reports internal links with rel=”nofollow” so you catch new issues early.
4. Review new plugins and themes for link related settings during installation.
5. Use an internal linking guide such as Beginner Guide to Internal Linking in WordPress to design a stronger site structure.

Verification: Your next scheduled crawl should show only intentional Internal Nofollow Links, and important pages should receive follow links from navigation and relevant content. When you keep an eye on Internal Nofollow Links WordPress cannot accidentally introduce new nofollow attributes that undermine your SEO.

Step 7: Double Check Crawl and Index Health

After large Internal Nofollow Links changes, it is smart to confirm that search engines can now see and value your internal structure correctly.

1. Run a fresh crawl of your site and compare the count of Internal Nofollow Links before and after your changes.
2. Log in to your search console account and review coverage or crawling reports for spikes in errors or warnings.
3. Check the internal link report for a few key pages and verify that their internal link counts have increased or at least stayed stable.
4. Monitor rankings and organic traffic to important pages over the next few weeks for gradual improvements.

Verification: If tools now show fewer Internal Nofollow Links and your key pages receive more follow links, your cleanup has worked as intended.

Conclusion You Are Ready to Fix Internal Nofollow Links

By now you have learned how to audit Internal Nofollow Links, clean them up in the WordPress editor, stop plugins and themes from adding them automatically, and prevent new issues in the future.

Once your Internal Nofollow Links are under control, your internal linking can finally support the pages that matter most. This is the practical answer to the question of how to fix Internal Nofollow Links WordPress without breaking your site or confusing authors. Combine this cleanup with a solid internal linking strategy and regular technical audits to keep your WordPress site healthy and search friendly.

Further Reading

• Beginner Guide to Internal Linking in WordPress
• How to Edit Robots.txt in WordPress
• Beginner Guide to WordPress Security Basics

Frequently Asked Questions