---
title: "Resolve Conflicting follow and nofollow Directives | bseoa"
description: "Your robots meta tag is giving search engines contradictory instructions: it's telling them to both 'follow' and 'nofollow' the links on the page. When search …"
image: "https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/static/images/black-seo-analyzer-og-image.png"
canonical: "https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/conflicting-follow-and-nofollow"
language: "en"
---

# Resolve Conflicting follow and nofollow Directives

Metadata Analyzer

## What is this warning?

Your robots meta tag is giving search engines contradictory instructions: it's telling them to both 'follow' and 'nofollow' the links on the page. When search engines see conflicting rules, they will typically follow the more restrictive one (`nofollow`), meaning they will not pass any SEO value through the links on this page. You should provide a single, clear directive.

## How to Fix This Issue

### How to Fix It

#### The Problem

```
<meta name="robots" content="follow, nofollow">
```

#### The Solution

Decide whether you want search engines to crawl the links on the page or not, and remove the conflicting directive.

```
<!-- To allow link crawling -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">

<!-- To prevent link crawling -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, nofollow">
```

#### Why This Works

Providing a clear, unambiguous instruction ensures that search engines handle the links on your page as you intend, either passing SEO value or not.

### SEO Impact

This issue can affect your site's search engine rankings and user experience. Addressing it promptly helps ensure optimal performance and visibility in search results.

### Automatic Detection

bseoa automatically checks for this warning during site analysis, along with hundreds of other technical SEO issues.

## Other Metadata Analyzer issues

- [Add @type to Your Schema.org Data to Define Its Meaning](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/schema-org-data-missing-type)
- [Add Missing Content to Meta Tags for Better SEO](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/missing-content-in-meta-tag)
- [Add Missing Meta Tags to Improve SEO and Mobile Experience](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/missing-essential-meta-tag)
- [Add Open Graph Tags to Control How Your Content Appears on Social Media](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/no-open-graph-data)
- [Add Twitter Card Markup for Richer Sharing on Twitter](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/no-twitter-card-data)
- [Canonical URL With a Query String: When It's Fine and When to Fix It](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/canonical-url-has-query-string)
- [Complete Your Open Graph Data by Adding Required Properties](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/missing-required-open-graph-property)
- [Complete Your Twitter Card Data by Adding Required Fields](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/missing-required-twitter-card-field)
- [Consider Using JSON-LD for Schema.org Implementation](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/schema-org-implemented-with-microdata)
- [Declare a Canonical URL for Every Page](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/missing-canonical-url)
- [Declare Only One Canonical URL per Page](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/multiple-canonical-urls)
- [Expand Short Meta Tag Content for More Impact](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/meta-tag-content-too-short)
- [Expand Your Meta Description to Improve Click-Through Rate](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/meta-description-too-short)
- [Fill in Empty Meta Tags to Improve SEO](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/empty-essential-meta-tag)
- [Fix Empty Canonical URL to Avoid SEO Issues](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/empty-canonical-url)
- [Fix Invalid Canonical URL Format](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/canonical-url-invalid-format)
- [Fix Invalid JSON-LD to Enable Rich Snippets in Search Results](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/invalid-schema-org-json-ld)
- [Fix Your Viewport Tag by Adding the initial-scale Property](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/viewport-missing-initial-scale)
- [Fix Your Viewport Tag by Adding the width Property](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/viewport-missing-width)
- [Improve Accessibility by Allowing Users to Zoom](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/viewport-disables-zoom)
- [Remove Fragment from Canonical URL for Better SEO](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/canonical-url-has-fragment)
- [Resolve Conflicting index and noindex Directives](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/conflicting-index-and-noindex)
- [Review noindex, follow Robots Directive](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/noindex-without-nofollow)
- [Secure Your Canonical URL by Using HTTPS](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/canonical-url-not-https)
- [Shorten Your Meta Description to Avoid Truncation in Search Results](https://www.blackseoanalyzer.com/en/technical-seo/metadata-analyzer/meta-description-too-long)

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