diff --git a/cmd/deadlinks/main.go b/cmd/deadlinks/main.go
index ecd8e68..e3914b6 100644
--- a/cmd/deadlinks/main.go
+++ b/cmd/deadlinks/main.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ func main() {
 		maxAge        = flag.Duration("max-age", 0, "Maximum duration since last check of a resource, before it must be checked again. Must be used with -store-path")
 		urls          = flagStrings("url", "URL which is always checked. Must be given at least once")
 		follows       = flagStrings("follow", "URLs matching this regex will have their links checked as well. Can be specified multiple times")
+		ignores       = flagStrings("ignore", "URLs matching this regex will not be checked at all")
 		concurrency   = flag.Int("concurrency", runtime.NumCPU()/2, "Number simultaneous requests to make at a time")
 		httpUserAgent = flag.String("http-user-agent", "", "User-agent to use for http requests")
 	)
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ func main() {
 				})}
 			},
 			FollowRegexps: *follows.strs,
+			IgnoreRegexps: *ignores.strs,
 			Concurrency:   *concurrency,
 			OnError: func(err error) {
 				log.Printf("runtime error: %v", err)
diff --git a/deadlinks.go b/deadlinks.go
index 281ad3f..880ea6e 100644
--- a/deadlinks.go
+++ b/deadlinks.go
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ type Opts struct {
 	// be followed and checked for liveness themselves.
 	FollowRegexps []string
 
+	// If a URL matches any of these regexps then it will not be checked at all.
+	IgnoreRegexps []string
+
 	// Concurrency determines the maximum number of URLs which can be checked
 	// simultaneously.
 	//
@@ -137,10 +140,23 @@ func (o *Opts) withDefaults() *Opts {
 // out-of-the-box, and will traverse between them as necessary based on URL
 // schemas. See the `NewClient` and `NewParser` functions for more details.
 type DeadLinks struct {
-	opts    Opts
-	store   Store
-	follows []*regexp.Regexp
-	clients []Client
+	opts             Opts
+	store            Store
+	follows, ignores []*regexp.Regexp
+	clients          []Client
+}
+
+func compileRegexps(strs []string) ([]*regexp.Regexp, error) {
+	var (
+		rr  = make([]*regexp.Regexp, len(strs))
+		err error
+	)
+	for i, str := range strs {
+		if rr[i], err = regexp.Compile(str); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("compiling regexp %q: %w", str, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return rr, nil
 }
 
 // New initializes and returns a DeadLinks instance which will track the
@@ -162,7 +178,6 @@ func New(
 	var (
 		err        error
 		pinnedURLs = make([]URL, len(pinnedURLStrs))
-		follows    = make([]*regexp.Regexp, len(opts.FollowRegexps))
 	)
 
 	for i, u := range pinnedURLStrs {
@@ -171,16 +186,21 @@ func New(
 		}
 	}
 
-	for i, p := range opts.FollowRegexps {
-		if follows[i], err = regexp.Compile(p); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("compiling regexp %q: %w", p, err)
-		}
+	follows, err := compileRegexps(opts.FollowRegexps)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("compiling follows: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	ignores, err := compileRegexps(opts.IgnoreRegexps)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("compiling ignores: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	d := &DeadLinks{
 		opts:    *opts,
 		store:   store,
 		follows: follows,
+		ignores: ignores,
 	}
 
 	d.clients = make([]Client, d.opts.Concurrency)
@@ -204,10 +224,10 @@ func (d *DeadLinks) onError(ctx context.Context, err error) {
 	d.opts.OnError(err)
 }
 
-func (d *DeadLinks) shouldFollowURL(url URL) bool {
+func matchesAnyRegexp(url URL, rr []*regexp.Regexp) bool {
 	urlStr := string(url)
-	for _, follow := range d.follows {
-		if follow.MatchString(urlStr) {
+	for _, r := range rr {
+		if r.MatchString(urlStr) {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
@@ -219,6 +239,10 @@ func (d *DeadLinks) getURL(
 ) (
 	[]URL, error,
 ) {
+	if matchesAnyRegexp(url, d.ignores) {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, d.opts.RequestTimeout)
 	defer cancel()
 
@@ -233,7 +257,7 @@ func (d *DeadLinks) getURL(
 		mimeType = mimeType[:i]
 	}
 
-	if !d.shouldFollowURL(url) {
+	if !matchesAnyRegexp(url, d.follows) {
 		return nil, nil
 	}