Good SEO practices include some of the things you do and are a means to appear further up in the search engines. However, this is not always the case, some of the pages on your site may not even show up in search results. In such cases, using a Noindex meta tag is the perfect solution. This blog will guide you on how to effectively noindex a page in WordPress and understand key concepts like disallow vs noindex.
What Is Noindex?
It is an HTML tag telling search engines that the particular page should not be crawled (and hence will not feature in the results list). If you do not wish a page to be indexed by a search engine, set that page with the Noindex meta tag.
But why would you need this? Some pages, such as “Thank You” pages or login pages, are not helpful for users coming from a search engine. Thus, noindexing them can be a smart move for effective SEO.
Disallow vs Noindex
Many people get confused between disallow vs noindex, but these are not the same:
- In the robots.txt file, there is a field called disallow that forbids an engine to crawl a page. However page if this “disallowed” page is linked to another page it can still be indexed in search engines.
- Noindex is used directly in the HTML code or by a plugin, directing search engines not to index a page even if it is.
For controlling visibility, the Noindex meta tag is often more reliable than the disallow directive. In short, the choice between disallow vs noindex depends on whether you want to prevent crawling or prevent indexing altogether.
Read More : A Complete Guide to Local SEO Rapid URL Indexer
How to Noindex a Page in WordPress?
Here are four simple methods to add a Noindex meta tag to your WordPress pages or posts.
1. Using the Yoast SEO Plugin
The most common way to noindex a page in WordPress is by using the Yoast SEO plug in. And it’s extremely beginner friendly, yet highly effective. Here’s how:
- Go to install plugins and activate them by clicking on Yoast SEO.
- Open the page or post you want to noindex.
- Click on the “Advanced” tab sitting under the Yoast SEO box, then scroll down.
- Look for the “Allow search engines to show this Page” option and select No.
With this in mind, Yoast SEO will add a Noindex meta tag to your page and will indicate your page is a page you do not want to appear in search results.
2. Using the Robots.txt File
Another way to manage indexing is by using the robots.txt file in your WordPress root directory. Add the following line:
Disallow: /your-page-url/
However, remember that disallow vs noindex is not the same: the disallow command only stops crawling, not indexing, so it’s not as foolproof as adding a Noindex meta tag.
3. Adding Noindex Manually with an HTML Meta Tag
If you prefer not to use a plugin, you can manually add the Noindex meta tag to your page’s HTML. To do this:
- Edit the HTML file for the page you want to noindex.
Add the following line within the <head> tag:
html
2. <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>
This ensures that search engines do not index the page. Using this tag, you can fully control which specific pages should be kept out of search results.
4. Using HTTP Headers for Noindex
Another method involves adding a “noindex” directive using HTTP headers. You can add this line to the header.php file:
header(“X-Robots-Tag: noindex”, true);
Why Use a Noindex Meta Tag?
Using a Noindex meta tag helps manage which content appears in search results. Here are some cases when you might want to use it:
- Thank You Pages: Prevent users from landing on these pages through search results.
- Login or Admin Pages: Keep secure content hidden from the public.
- Duplicate Content: Avoid being penalized for having similar content indexed multiple times.
Ensuring these pages are noindexed can help your website’s SEO strategy by keeping non-essential or duplicate pages out of the search engines.
Conclusion
Adding a Noindex meta tag to certain pages in WordPress can improve your website’s SEO strategy by hiding unnecessary pages from search engines. Whether you use the Yoast SEO plugin, manually edit HTML, or use HTTP headers, each method has its specific advantages.
Remember, understanding disallow vs noindex will help you choose the right tool for the job. If your goal is to make sure search engines ignore certain content completely, Noindex meta tags are the way to go. Also, don’t forget to use a Noindex checker to confirm that the implementation is correct and effective.
With these tools and methods, you can have better control over what content gets indexed, allowing you to keep your SEO strategy optimised and focused.
