Should event write-ups be nofollow?

[JAR897]

Hi guys,

tl:dr - Should articles discussing a company's event (offline content) be nofollow?

My company hosts a number of events across the year, during which we invite a selection of bloggers, journalists and interested parties from across the UK. During these events we show them the "behind the scenes" of our company as well as the manufacturing process and give them an amazing experience surrounded by our products.

We never (ever) ask for write-ups or links, and leave the day entirely open every time. If people ask about articles or links, we always say it's entirely up to them if they wish to talk about their experiences.

So, my question is: should any follow-up articles (for example reviews of the day, which bloggers will want to talk about) be nofollow? They're not reviewing any products, nor have they been paid or incentivised to talk about their experience.

One could argue the event itself is incentive, however if this is the case then surely providing content is equally incentivising... The only difference is that the content we're providing is offline?

Would be good to get people's thoughts on this!

[GlobeRunner]

During these events we show them the "behind the scenes" of our company as well as the manufacturing process and give them an amazing experience surrounded by our products.

I believe that that qualifies as promotional--you are giving them a perk that others don't normally get. So, those links should probably be tagged as nofollow links. The post or article that is written should include an explanation that the writer was invited to the event--which would be clear when reading what they posted.

Keep in mind nofollow links aren't always a bad thing--it's logical that your site have both links that have nofollow them and links that don't have nofollow on them. It's ultimately up to the individual blogger or author/site to decide, though, and I wouldn't obsess over these links.

[netzkern_AG]

In my opinion, people have been way too quick to slap nofollow on just about everything - out of envy ("do not give them juice!"), out of fear ("I cannot influence that great content on that page - it might change and even be illegal!") or various other reasons.

Would you say you have to nofollow a link given from a football fan who was invited to a VIP lounge for one game (after some raffle or whatever)? Would you say, you have to nofollow links from fair visitors who were given some goodie, enjoyed it and mentioned you with link?

I feel rather strongly about the - pardon my directness - idiocy to slap nofollow on just about anything. In my opinion they belong on exactly two links: those you directly paid for; and those you want to actively distance yourself from.

Then again, the real question might be how google sees those links, their context etc.. If you get punished for those links, I'd think that was a misjudgement - which does not help you in that moment; so if those links look very much paid for ... But as I said: you did not pay or ask for them, they are freely given. Stated generally, I see no problem from those links being just normal links. Let us not forget that there used to be just "links" - and that few people overall have ever heard of "nofollow" and "follow".

Regards

Nico