When to use it
Use noindex for pages that are useful to visitors but shouldn't show up in search, like thank-you pages, internal search results, login pages, thin tag archives or test pages.
How to add it
Add a robots meta tag with the value noindex to the page's head, or set it in your CMS or SEO plugin. For files like PDFs, the server can send an X-Robots-Tag header instead.
Don't block it in robots.txt
Search engines have to crawl a page to see its noindex rule. If robots.txt blocks the page, Google can't read the tag, and the URL may still appear in results if other sites link to it.
Why Noindex matters
Keeping low-value pages out of search helps searchers land on your best pages. A misplaced noindex on an important page, though, can quietly remove it from Google.
The redesign that hid the site
A company launched a new website copied from its staging version, which had noindex on every page. Traffic dropped over the next weeks until someone checked Search Console and removed the tag.
Common mistakes
Leaving staging settings on
Staging sites often use noindex. Check that it is removed when the site goes live.
Combining noindex with a robots.txt block
If crawlers can't reach the page, they never see the noindex. Allow crawling until the page drops out.
Noindexing pages that earn traffic
Check Search Console before adding noindex, so you don't remove a page that brings in visitors.
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