The noindex tag in WordPress is an HTML meta tag or HTTP header directive used to instruct search engines not to include a specific page in their search index. This means search engines will not display the page in their results, even if they have indexed other pages on your site.
When to Use noindex metatag in heade
- Duplicate Content: To prevent duplicate content issues that can harm your SEO rankings.
- Low-Value Content: For pages that don’t offer much value to search engine users, such as thank you pages, login pages, or certain category or tag pages.
- Under Development: Pages that are still under development or not yet ready for public viewing.
- Private Content: Content that you want to keep private or restricted, such as members-only content or gated content.
How to Implement noindex tag in WordPress?
Using HTML Meta Tag
You can add the following meta tag within the <head> section of your HTML:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">Using HTTP Header
To implement noindex via HTTP headers, you can add the following header to the server response:
X-Robots-Tag: noindexThis can be useful for non-HTML files, such as PDFs
Using WordPress Plugins
If you are using WordPress, you can easily implement noindex tag in WordPress using SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO Pack. Here’s how you can do it with Yoast SEO:
- Install and Activate Yoast SEO: If you haven’t already, install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin.
- Edit the Page or Post: Go to the page or post you want to noindex.
- Yoast SEO Meta Box: Scroll down to the Yoast SEO meta box below the content editor.
- Advanced Settings: Click on the “Advanced” tab.
- Allow search engines to show this Page in search results?: Select “No” for this option.
Considerations
- Robots.txt vs. Noindex: While the
robots.txtfile can be used to block search engines from crawling certain pages, it does not prevent indexing if the pages are linked from elsewhere. Usingnoindexis a more definitive way to ensure that a page is not included in the index. - Follow vs. Nofollow: The
noindexdirective does not necessarily meannofollow. If you still want search engines to follow the links on a noindexed page, you can specify this by usingnoindex, follow.
Example:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">This instructs search engines to avoid indexing the page but to follow the links on the page. By correctly implementing noindex, you can manage your site’s SEO more effectively, ensuring that search engines index only the most valuable and relevant pages.
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