How to Fix Excluded by noindex Tag
A ‘Noindex’ tag, formally known as a robots meta tag, tells a search engine that a given page should not be shown in search results. In other words, it is excluded from the search and will never show up in search results.
It is placed within the <head> element of a websites page and explicitly tells search engines not to include the tagged page in their indices.
For example, you have decided that the current version of www.your-domain.com/blog-post-2020 is outdated and you do not want to show it anymore. You place the noindex tag in the header section of that page. The page will not show up in the search results anymore.
How to Remove ‘Noindex’ Tags
It is likely that the noindex tag was placed by you on a certain page some time ago. Now you discovered that the page is not showing up in google search results because of the noindex tag.
To remove ‘noindex’ tags from website pages, you must edit the page’s HTML or utilize a content management system (CMS) like WordPress with an SEO plugin. Within WordPress, SEO plugins such as Yoast or Rank Math provide an interface where one can uncheck the ‘noindex’ option. Here are the steps:
- WordPress: Access the page or post editor, locate the SEO plugin section, usually below the main content area, and uncheck the ‘noindex’ box.
- HTML: Find the
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">tag in the page’s head section and remove it or replacenoindexwithindex.
By ensuring the ‘noindex’ meta tag is removed from valuable pages, you make them accessible for indexing by search bots.
Please note that it takes time for google to realise that a change has been made. It can take up to 2 weeks for the page to start to show up in the search results. You will see that it will gradually climb up in positions.
To speed up the process, you can either manually submit the url to google search console or you can use SEO Copilot to automatically check all your pages and index them.
Ensuring Proper Indexing After Removing the noindex tag
Once the ‘noindex’ tags are removed, you should take measures to ensure that these pages are re-evaluated by search bots. They should:
- Update Sitemaps: Submit updated XML sitemaps to Google Search Console and other search engines to alert them of the changes.
- Use Fetch as Google: In Google Search Console, ‘Fetch as Google’ (or the URL Inspection tool) can be used to request indexing of the updated pages.
By thoroughly checking the indexing status and submitting requests when necessary, webmasters can confirm that their valuable pages are recognized and indexed, enhancing their site’s SEO potential.
Save crawl budget when you have many pages with a noindex tag
If you have a large chunk of your website pages with a noindex tag, you should consider to prevent googlebot from accessing the pages (otherwise crawlbudget will be wasted). When googlebot crawls through your page and you tag every link with a “nofollow” tag, googelbot will not follow the link. Hence, you saved crawl budget that would otherwise be spent crawling a no-index page.
What is a noindex tag and why do people use it?
The reasons for using ‘Noindex’ tags are different. They are placed on purpose. Common scenarios include:
- Preventing Duplication: To avoid content duplication issues, which can affect a site’s SEO performance, people may use ‘Noindex’ to exclude pages with similar or identical content.
- If you have two blog articles about pretty much the same topic and both are ranking for your target keyword, you have a keyword cannibalization issue. You can consider either noindex one of the blog posts or simply 301 redirecting one blog post to the other.
- Hiding Non-Public Pages: Pages that are not meant for public viewing, such as staging areas or temporary content, are often tagged with a ‘Noindex’.
- Some services prefer their pricing to be private. In this case, a noindex tag can prevent the pricing page from showing up in the search results.
- Content Quality: If your blog post is outdated, has very poor quality, does not match the overall topic of your website or simply doesn’t get any clicks, you can use noindex’ tags to remove the content from search engines.
- If you have a blog post that is not really fully developed (500 words only) and only shows up on page 8-10, it is not of very high quality. You can consider to either drastically improve the blog post or noindex the article so that you can ensure a high quality of content throughout your website.
When pages are inadvertently blocked from indexing, the Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag report in Google Search Console can signal the need for fixes.
Identifying and Diagnosing Indexing Issues
When web pages are not appearing in search results as expected, the first step is to identify and diagnose potential indexing issues.
Bulk inspection: Using Google Search Console for Troubleshooting
Google Search Console is a formidable tool for webmasters and SEO professionals seeking to maintain the visibility of their websites in search results. To begin the diagnostic process, one should navigate to the Coverage report. This section offers a comprehensive view of the pages indexed by Google, along with details on any issues detected. Look for errors related to ‘Excluded by noindex tag’ — this indicates pages that are intentionally or mistakenly prevented from being indexed.
To check noindex tag issues for your whole website (instead of single pages), you can access the indexing report.
The indexing report covers all indexing issues including the “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”. It will show you all pages that have been excluded from the search.
If you have made changes to your website and you want google to reconsider indexing some of the previously noindexed pages, you can request a reconsideration. Clicking on “Validate Fix” will trigger an inspection by google which can take up to 3-4 weeks and you will be notified of the results.
Inspecting individual pages for noindex tag issues
For an in-depth analysis of specific pages, one can utilize the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console. This tool provides detailed information on the URL’s indexing status as well as the robots.txt file’s impact on the page. Here’s a simplified process of using the tool for examining a single URL:
- Enter the URL of the page into the tool.
- Review the output; it will state whether the page is indexed, and if not, why it isn’t.
- If a noindex tag is found, it will be listed under ‘Coverage’ as the reason the page cannot be indexed.
A vital aspect to address is ensuring there are no unintentional noindex directives which might be a result of template settings or incorrect configurations. Additionally, the report may highlight the impact of duplicate content issues on the indexing of the page, thus guiding webmasters to make informed decisions to optimize their site’s SEO strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
In addressing the ‘Excluded by noindex tag’ issue, specific actions must be taken depending on the platform in use. The following questions provide tailored solutions for different scenarios and platforms.
Q: What does it mean to be “Excluded by noindex tag”?
A: Being excluded by a noindex tag means that a specific webpage on your website is instructing search engines not to index that page in search results.
Q: How can I fix excluded by a noindex tag status in google search console?
A: To fix being excluded by a noindex tag, you need to remove the tag error in the meta tag of the page. This will allow search engines to index the page again.
Q: Why is it important to fix pages excluded by a noindex tag for SEO?
A: Fixing pages excluded by a noindex tag is crucial for SEO as it ensures that your desired pages are shown in search results, improving visibility and potential traffic to your website.
Q: How can I check pages marked excluded by a noindex tag in Google Search Console?
A: You can check excluded by a noindex tag status in Google Search Console under the “Coverage” or “Index” section. Look for the status related to noindex meta tag to identify and fix any issues.
Q: What should I do if I want certain pages to be indexed but they are marked as excluded by a noindex tag?
A: If you want specific pages to be indexed but they are marked as excluded by a noindex tag, you need to remove the noindex meta tag from those pages to allow search engines to index them.
Q: How can I learn how to fix the noindex tag error on my website?
A: You can learn how to fix the excluded by noindex tag error by checking the Search Console Page Indexing report in Google Search Console. The report provides insights into pages that need attention to be properly indexed.
Q: What are some common terms related to fixing pages excluded by noindex tag?
A: Some common terms related to fixing pages excluded by noindex tag include noindex meta tag, search console issues, fixing the excluded, Google Search Console status, and technical SEO.
