{"id":2323,"date":"2024-01-19T19:19:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T19:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/?p=2323"},"modified":"2024-01-19T19:22:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T19:22:32","slug":"noindex-tags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/noindex-tags\/","title":{"rendered":"Noindex Tags for SEO: What They Are &#038; How to Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"    <div class=\"quote-box\">\r\n        <div><p>Feel frustrated that irrelevant pages dilute your site&#8217;s search performance? Or wish you could keep helpful internal pages private while showcasing your best content? Employing the noindex tag gives you granular control to cherry-pick what <a href=\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/best-search-engines\/\">search engines<\/a> see.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Is the NoIndex Tag?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The noindex meta tag gives a directive to search engines not to include the tagged page in their search indexes. When a crawler encounters the noindex tag, it will drop that page from the indexing process without crawling any links or content on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pages marked with noindex will not appear in <a href=\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/organic-vs-paid-search\/\">search engine results pages<\/a> (SERPs). The page becomes essentially invisible to search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few key reasons webmasters implement noindex tags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>To avoid duplicate content issues by noindexing alternate versions of pages;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To hide low-quality or thin-content pages;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For pages not intended for search visitors, like login pages;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Temporarily, while working on a new site section.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever the reason, the mechanics of implementing a noindex tag are straightforward once you understand the methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Different Aspects of NoIndex Tags<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before diving into how to noindex a page, you should understand nuances of the noindex tag and how it differs from related indexing directives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Meta Robots Tags<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The most common application of the noindex directive is through HTML meta robots tags. The robots meta tag goes inside the head section of a webpage and looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>&lt;meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex\"&gt;<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>This tag tells all crawlers encountering it not to add the page to their search indexes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also a few variations of the meta tag structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>&lt;meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex,follow\"&gt;\n\n&lt;meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"noindex\"&gt;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The first example adds a follow value, telling search engines they may follow links on the page. The second targets Googlebot specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Response Header Option<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to meta tags, web servers can also communicate noindexing directives via response headers, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>X-Robots-Tag: noindex<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>When a crawler requests a page, the server can include X-Robots response headers detailing indexing (as well as following) instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Comparison to Other Meta Tags<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The noindex robots meta tag is often confused with similar directives like nofollow, noarchive, and nosnippet. Here is a comparison:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>nofollow<\/strong> &#8211; This value makes search engines stop following any links found on a particular page. Link equity will not pass.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>noarchive<\/strong> &#8211; Prevents caching of web pages by sites like Google and the Internet Archive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>nosnippet<\/strong> &#8211; Blocks displaying descriptive snippets for the page in SERP listings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So, noindex blocks the indexing of page content and serves it in the results. The other tags serve different purposes related to links, caching, and snippet creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to Implement NoIndex Tags<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Noindexing a page seems simple in theory &#8211; just stick a meta tag in the header or a response header from the server!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in practice, you need to apply noindex instructions in specific ways to avoid issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>HTML Implementation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First, the standard noindex HTML meta tag structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>&lt;meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex\"&gt;<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key rules for implementation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Place the HTML noindex tag in the head section within the first 1024 bytes of the page code;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the &#8220;robots&#8221; meta name &#8211; not all crawlers recognize other names;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Watch character case &#8211; &#8220;noindex&#8221; not &#8220;Noindex&#8221;;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use the content attribute, not the http-equiv attribute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>&lt;!DOCTYPE html&gt;&nbsp;\n\n&lt;html&gt;\n\n&lt;head&gt;\n\n&lt;title&gt;Page Title&lt;\/title&gt;\n\n&lt;meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex\"&gt;\n\n&lt;\/head&gt;\n\n&lt;body&gt;\n\n(page content)\n\n&lt;\/body&gt;\n\n&lt;\/html&gt;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Following those best practices ensures you the broadest crawler compatibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we noted previously, you can chain directives like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>&lt;meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex,follow\"&gt;<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Which noindexes but allows following page links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>HTTP Response Header Option<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For server-side solutions, configure noindexing via HTTP response headers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are examples for major server platforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Apache<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within a .htaccess file or Apache config:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>Header set X-Robots-Tag \"noindex\"<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nginx<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the site or page config file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>add_header X-Robots-Tag \"noindex\";<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IIS (Internet Information Services)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In web.config:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>&lt;system.webServer&gt;\n\n&lt;httpProtocol&gt;\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;customHeaders&gt;\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;add name=\"X-Robots-Tag\" value=\"noindex\" \/&gt;\n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;\/customHeaders&gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n\n&lt;\/httpProtocol&gt;\n\n&lt;\/system.webServer&gt;<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Express.js (Node.js framework)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>res.set('X-Robots-Tag', 'noindex');<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Those cover the major web server platforms. Defining an X-Robots header works across all search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note some recommend removing them after launch for performance. But for a permanent noindex approach, response headers are more foolproof than meta tags alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Noindex Best Practices<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding noindex tags seems simple, but you need to incorporate them judiciously following <a href=\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/on-page-off-page-seo\/\">SEO best practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>SEO Implications<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Noindexing pages significantly alters their treatment by search engines with downstream impacts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Pages will not appear in SERPs or drive any traffic;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Internal rankings may shift as relative page strength changes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Indexing useless pages wastes crawler resources later deployed to useful pages;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid losing reputation from indexing problematic pages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So, noindexing improves the efficiency of crawling resources. But it also modifies the search footprint of a website.<\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"callout-box\">\n        <div> <p>You should monitor index coverage reports in search consoles to get visibility into changes after noindexing content.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When to Employ NoIndex Tags<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t blindly noindex pages without reason! Here are smart use cases for applying noindex directives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Duplicate Content Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most commonly, noindex gets used to remove duplicate content from SERPs. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Printer-friendly versions of articles;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Different language editions with the same content;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Domains serving identical content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Choose a canonical version and noindex the other duplicative pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thin-Content Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you have location pages with just basic business info and no unique content. Or sparse category pages stretched out by extra navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider noindexing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Pages with less than ~250 words of substantive, unique text<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Category archives with automatically generated text like &#8220;Category: Shoes&#8221; repetitively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Temporary Development Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Launching a site redesign or beta section? During early construction, adding a temporary noindex avoids search engines crawling missing pages and dead links. Remove once development completes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Irrelevant Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every site contains pages with no value to search visitors. Common examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>User login and account management pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shopping cart and checkout process pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Auto-generated calendars or schedules<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These solely serve site users but not prospective customers from SEO traffic. So, noindexing prevents waste crawl prioritization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Problematic Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does a page display improperly? Does the content seem spammy or violate guidelines? Rather than editing or removing, implement a noindex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That preserves access for existing site users without exposing the page to search spiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get in the habit of routinely evaluating low-value pages that offer no unique informational or commercial value to be considered for noindexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Common NoIndex Mistakes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes someone gets overzealous noindexing everything in sight without realizing they nuked a chunk of key pages sending traffic into freefall. As Google warns <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/docs\/crawling-indexing\/block-indexing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>, you have to be thoughtful about what and how much you noindex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Accidental Indexing Removal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Review access logs after applying noindex tags at scale to confirm public traffic levels remain consistent with session and visitor counts as expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If unexplained drops occur, you may have unintentionally noindexed high-traffic pages. Double-check for noindex and remove it for key content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Forgetting Site Structure Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you recently reorganize your category structure or move popular content to new URLs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s easy to overlook outdated noindex directives lingering on redirected pages. Audit previously indexed sites after migrations to prevent the removal of currently relevant pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Improperly Implemented Tags<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We covered the specifics earlier about careful meta tag structure and placement &#8211; small syntax issues prevent proper parsing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Always test sampled pages after adding noindex tags to confirm they register as intended when crawled. Fix any implementation bugs revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Advanced NoIndex Techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, this is typical noindex usage. But how about a few more complex tactics for specific deindexing challenges?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mixing NoIndex and Disallow<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The robots.txt Disallow directive prevents the crawling of pages but does not provide a noindex instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some cases call for layering both for optimal protection, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robots.txt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>User-Agents: *\u00a0\n\nDisallow: \/private-page\/\n\nDisallow: \/temporary-content\/<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Robots Meta Tag <\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>&lt;meta name= \"robots\" content= \"noindex\"> <em>(on all \/private-page\/ and \/temporary-content\/ URLs)<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>So, robots.txt blocks search spiders from crawling those sections, while noindex provides additional assurance they will not get indexed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Strategic De-Indexing with Robots.txt<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can leverage Disallow to deindex parts of sites strategically. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><em>Disallow: \/content\/articles\/<\/em><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Disallows crawling of all article content while permitting crawling of other site sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, search engines still discover pages, links, and site features used for ranking without diluting those signals across low-value article pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It presents almost &#8220;phantom&#8221; content to bots, concentrating signals on key pages for more focused crawling and indexing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar selective deindexing works well for blogs, news sites, merchandising catalogs, and other <a href=\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/web-content-writing-tips\/\">content-heavy<\/a> sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wrap-up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While noindexing is not a cure-all, it can profoundly shape a site&#8217;s search visibility. Rather than just blocking entire sections, you can perform <a href=\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/technical-seo\/\">search engine appearance surgery<\/a> with precision now &#8211; highlighting your best assets while downplaying less relevant pages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take control of how search engines index your site pages. This guide explores what noindex tag is and when to leverage it for better SEO.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2329,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions\/2329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}