A “noindex tag” is an on-page directive that tells search engines not to index a specific page, preventing it from appearing in search results. This is one way to block search engines from indexing content on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term “tag” typically refers to the meta tag placed within the Here\u2019s an example of the common method, using the \u201cnoindex\u201d meta tag<\/a> within the Alternatively, you can apply the X-Robots-Tag in the HTTP header, which is particularly useful for non-HTML files like PDFs, videos, or images:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This allows you to control indexing for various resources beyond standard web pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The “noindex” tag is important for keeping certain pages and resources out of search engine results. This can be helpful for pages like \u201cthank you\u201d pages, ad landing pages, thin or low-quality content, blog archives, author and tag pages, and login pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, incorrectly using the \u201cnoindex\u201d tag can negatively impact your website\u2019s visibility. For example, accidentally applying it to important pages you want to rank could prevent them from appearing in search results, harming your site’s performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve decided that certain pages on your site should be “noindexed,” here are some best practices to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Search engines can still index pages blocked in the robots.txt file. While the content won\u2019t be crawled, search engines may still include the page in their index. For the “noindex” directive to work, Google must be able to crawl the page, so make sure it\u2019s accessible to crawlers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over time, Google will treat pages with the “noindex” tag as “nofollow,”<\/a> meaning they will no longer pass link equity<\/a> to other pages. As John Mueller from Google has explained, when a page remains “noindexed” for an extended period, it is removed entirely from the index, and any links on that page are no longer crawled. This effectively makes “noindex, follow” behave the same as “noindex, nofollow” over time. The exact duration for this change is unclear and can vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using “noindex” to handle duplicate content isn\u2019t ideal. Instead, use canonical tags<\/a> to consolidate duplicate pages<\/a>. Canonicalisation tells search engines to index only the main version of a page while consolidating link signals from other versions, boosting the authority of the canonical page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to regularly audit your website for SEO issues to avoid accidental “noindex” tags that could lead to traffic losses. You can use tools like Ahrefs\u2019 Site Audit or SEMrush\u2019s Site Audit to keep track of your site’s SEO health and quickly address any indexing issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"content-type":""},"class_list":["post-25769","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/25769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalnomadshq.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<head><\/code> section of an HTML page. However, you can also use the HTTP response header with the X-Robots-Tag to achieve the same result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<head><\/code> section:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex\" \/> <\/head> <\/html><\/code><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHTTP\/1.1 200 OK X-Robots-Tag: noindex<\/code><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nImportance of The Noindex Tag<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Best Practices for Using “Noindex”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ensure the Page is Not Blocked in Robots.txt<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Long-Term \u201cNoindex\u201d Converts to \u201cNofollow\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Avoid Using \u201cNoindex\u201d for Duplicate Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Regularly Monitor Your Website for SEO Issues<\/h3>\n\n\n\n