# PageRank sculpting

Category: [On-Page & Content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/) › [Internal linking, structure & UX](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/internal-linking-structure-ux/) · Also known as: link sculpting · Historical

**PageRank sculpting** is a historical SEO tactic. Site owners added `rel="nofollow"` to internal links to steer PageRank toward important pages. Since a change at Google around 2008 it no longer works as intended.

## What was the idea?

The assumption was that a nofollowed link passes no PageRank, so the remaining links on the page receive more. Guides from that time advised marking pages such as legal notices or order status with nofollow to concentrate value on category and product pages.

## What applies today?

Matt Cutts wrote on June 15, 2009, that Google had changed how PageRank flows. A page with five followed links and some nofollowed links no longer gives the followed links a larger share. The nofollowed links still use up their part, and it is lost. He advised against sculpting and pointed to site architecture and good content.

Since September 2019, Google treats `nofollow` as a hint, not a directive. The attributes `rel="sponsored"` and `rel="ugc"` were added alongside it.

How Google weighs nofollowed links in the distribution of PageRank today is not publicly documented. Google's help page on rel attributes only says that such links will generally not be followed.

## Example

```html
<!-- formerly: nofollow on the imprint to leave more PageRank for the category link -->
<a href="/imprint/" rel="nofollow">Imprint</a>
```

Today this markup does not shift value to other links.

*Diagram: How links pass on weight (simplified).* Simplified PageRank model: a page passes on its value in equal parts through its outgoing links, and many or strong incoming links lead to a high value. Circle sizes are illustrative, calculated with the 1998 formula. Google uses PageRank in an evolved form; its current weighting is not public.

## Related terms

- [PageRank](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/pagerank/index.md)
- [nofollow](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/nofollow/index.md)
- [Link equity (link juice)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/link-equity/index.md)
- [Internal linking](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/internal-linking/index.md)

## Sources

- [PageRank sculpting – Matt Cutts, 15 June 2009](https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/pagerank-sculpting/)
- [Evolving nofollow – new ways to identify the nature of links – Google Search Central Blog, September 2019](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/09/evolving-nofollow-new-ways-to-identify)
- [Outbound-Links qualifizieren (nofollow, sponsored, ugc) – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/qualify-outbound-links)

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Last updated: October 8, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/pagerank-sculpting/