A noindex tag is an HTML meta tag that instructs search engines not to include a specific web page in their search results, even if the page is accessible and crawlable.
What is a Noindex Tag?
A noindex tag is a directive placed in the HTML head of a webpage. It tells search engines like Google not to show that page in their search results. This tag is part of the broader robots.txt protocol, which governs how search engines interact with your site.
The noindex tag looks like this in HTML:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">You can also specify a particular search engine:
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">How Do Noindex Tags Work?
When a search engine crawler encounters a noindex tag, it processes the page but doesn’t add it to its index. This means:
- The page can be crawled and its links followed
- The page won’t appear in search results
- Link equity can still flow through the page to other linked pages
It’s important to note that while noindex prevents indexing, it doesn’t prevent crawling. For complete blocking, you’d need to use the “nofollow” directive as well.
Why are Noindex Tags Important?
- Content Control: They allow you to keep certain pages out of search results while still having them accessible on your site.
- Crawl Budget Management: By preventing indexing of less important pages, you can help search engines focus on your key content.
- Duplicate Content Prevention: Noindex tags can help manage duplicate content issues by keeping similar pages out of search results.
- Privacy: They’re useful for pages containing sensitive information that shouldn’t be publicly searchable.
Best Practices For Noindex Tags
1 – Use Noindex Tags Strategically
Only apply noindex tags to pages that genuinely shouldn’t appear in search results. Common examples include:
- Thank you pages
- Admin pages
- Duplicate product pages in e-commerce sites
- Printer-friendly versions of pages
2 – Monitor Your Noindex Usage
Regularly check your Google Search Console to ensure you’re not accidentally noindexing important pages. The “Coverage” report can help identify issues.
3 – Combine with Robots.txt When Necessary
If you want to completely prevent a page from being crawled and indexed, use both robots.txt disallow directives and noindex tags. This provides a fail-safe if one method is overlooked.
Expert Tip
When using noindex tags, remember that they need to be crawled to be respected. If you have a large site with deep pages, ensure these pages are still linked internally or included in your XML sitemap so search engines can discover and respect the noindex directive.
Key Takeaways
Noindex tags are a powerful tool in your SEO toolkit, allowing fine-grained control over which pages appear in search results. They help manage your site’s crawl budget, prevent duplicate content issues, and keep sensitive information private.
However, use them judiciously. Accidentally noindexing important pages can severely impact your site’s search visibility. Regular audits and careful implementation are key to effectively using noindex tags in your SEO strategy.
Related Terms
- Robots.txt: A file that provides instructions to web crawlers about which pages to crawl.
- Indexing: The process of adding webpages to Google’s index of discovered URLs.
- Crawling: The process by which search engines discover your web pages.