SEO follow backlinks and the rel attributes a food blogger must know
Review a restaurant, accept a free night, sell a link: each one changes how you must mark up and disclose. Run through this list before you publish.
Before you hit publish on a review
- Did you pay for the meal or stay, or was it free? If free, say so near the top, in plain words.
- Is the link to the venue a gift, an affiliate link or an advert? Use rel="sponsored" on anything paid or traded.
- Are user comments allowed? Mark their links rel="ugc" so you are not vouching for them.
- Does the post contain a link you simply would not have placed unprompted? Remove it or nofollow it.
- Have you saved the email that agreed the terms? Keep it with the post URL.
- Are the prices and opening hours dated? Add "checked in October 2026" or similar.
Which rel value for which link
| Situation | Attribute | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial link you chose freely | none (follow) | A normal vote of confidence |
| Paid, sponsored or traded | sponsored | Google asked for this in September 2019 |
| Commenter or forum link | ugc | You do not control it |
| Link you do not want to vouch for | nofollow | Neutral signal |
The free-stay problem, in three sentences
A free night is a payment. If a hotel gave you a room, a restaurant picked up the bill or a tour operator lent you a bike, tell your reader before the first recommendation and tag the link to the venue rel="sponsored". Readers forgive disclosure far more readily than they forgive discovering it later, and the same habit protects your blog if Google or a regulator ever reads it closely. If you also want links to your guide from other places, see our tourism partnership page.
A short note on affiliate links
Affiliate is paid.
Booking.com, GetYourGuide and Amazon links earn you a commission when readers buy, so they belong in the rel="sponsored" camp too, and your disclosure should say that you earn from them. Keep them out of the first paragraph where possible. Readers who came for a walking route do not want a sales pitch before the map. Tell them what you earn once, clearly, near the top, and then let the content do its job without repeating a disclaimer on every line. Be brief. If you use a link shortener, check that it does not strip the sponsored attribute, which some plugins do silently, and test one affiliate link in a private browser window.
Dates and prices: a small habit that helps
Stamp every review. Write "checked in October 2026" near the price or opening hours, and change it only when you have actually checked again. Search engines and readers both notice stale pages, and a visible check date makes your review stronger than one that quietly rots. When you update, note it in a short line at the bottom. A tidy seasonal calendar tells you which reviews to refresh first.
Where this meets the links you buy
Your own outgoing links follow one rulebook. The links you buy pointing at you follow another.
A placement bought on the marketplace is a permanent dofollow link on someone else's site, with an article written for you automatically or from your own brief. Whether the publisher discloses it on their side is their call and their legal duty. In the United Kingdom the ASA and CMA expect advertising to be labelled, and in the United States the FTC does, so read local rules rather than lean on a blog post. Read yours.
We are a marketplace, not a law firm. Check the rules in your country and keep your emails.