Nofollow External/Outbound Link (SEO)
by Sumit Malviya · SEO
Also makes 3 other plugins · 910+ installs across the portfolio →
Automatically add rel="nofollow" to external and outbound links to improve SEO, protect link equity, and control outbound link behavior.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 80/100
Few reviews
Active installs
10+
≈20 estimated
Momentum
-26%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “external links”, “noindex” and “seo” for “outbound”, “link equity” and “equity”. “external links” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “outbound” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “noindex” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “link equity” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “equity” sits at #20 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
80 health vs 65 average across 2,230 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 10 of 1.4K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,195 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 153 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
23
Momentum
Losing ground
-2.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-2.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| outbound | #5 | #21 | down 2 |
| outbound links your tag | #12 | #20 | down 4 |
| link equity | #11 | #15 | down 1 |
| nofollow your tag | #15 | #24 | down 3 |
| rel nofollow | #14 | #21 | down 4 |
| equity | #20 | #21 | down 2 |
| nofollow external link | #14 | #23 | down 3 |
| nofollow external links | #14 | #22 | down 1 |
| rel nofollow link | #14 | #23 | down 3 |
| nofollow link | #21 | #23 | 0 |
| nofollow links | #23 | #23 | — |
| external links your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| noindex your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
11 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “external links”, “noindex” and “seo” for “outbound”, “link equity” and “equity”. “external links” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “outbound” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “noindex” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “link equity” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “equity” sits at #20 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “nofollow”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- One page off on “outbound links”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 24 Mar 2024 · 954 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 155 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #30,400 to #44,800, alongside the other plugins at 10+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “10+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 20.
At the current install trend, crossing 20+ in roughly 405 days.
Install history since 23 Mar 2024
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Praveen M2.6y ago
That works really amazing, no need to do anything, just installed and add the nofollow. Very helpful for SEO This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Praveen M.
Read on wp.org ↗
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
6 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Automatically add rel="nofollow" to external and outbound links to improve SEO, protect link equity, and co..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("perfect for"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 3 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,292 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "noindex" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-29 20+ → 10+ down after 59 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 10+ → 20+ up after 75 days in tier
- 2026-06-17 20+ → 10+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-06-15 10+ → 20+ up after 29 days in tier
- 2026-05-17 20+ → 10+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2026-05-10 10+ → 20+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-05-08 20+ → 10+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2026-05-05 10+ → 20+ up after 120 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
noindex SEO 3K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B -
External Links Overview 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags C -
External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 80K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Nofollow for external link 9K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D - E External Links 8K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Nofollow External/Outbound Link (SEO) into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/nofollow-external-outbound-link" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Nofollow External/Outbound Link (SEO) — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Nofollow External/Outbound Link (SEO): 10+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/nofollow-external-outbound-link
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