NoIndex is a meta tag used in the HTML code of a website. It is used to instruct search engine robots not to index a page or the website in its entirety. This means the page or website will not appear in the search engine results nor does the page influence the rankings of other pages. This can be a useful tool for website owners and webmasters who want to prevent specific pages from being indexed, such as confidential content, pages intended for testing, or pages which contain duplicate information.
To use the NoIndex tag, it must be included in the HTML code of the page being targeted. This can be done by editing the page's source code, or by using a Content Management System (CMS) to insert the tag into the appropriate section.
NoIndex applies equally to both pages and websites, however the formats of the meta tags are slightly different. If the NoIndex tag is applied to an entire website then the structure of the meta tag needs to be slightly modified.
Become a Sales & Marketing Rainmaker
Learn valuable skills to win more customers, grow your business, and increase your profits.
By using the NoIndex tag in tandem with the NOFOLLOW tag, you can ensure that search engine robots do not follow the links within a page or website either. This means that no part of the page or website should be indexed, and none of the page's content and links will be followed by the search engine.
It is important to remember that, although NoIndex tags can help to reduce the visibility of a page or website, it does not necessarily mean that the content will be completely removed from the search engine. Indexing does not always occur immediately, so it is possible for the page to still appear in the search engine after the tag was applied. It will usually be removed if repeat searches do not bring up the page or website.
Additionally, when a large number of pages on a website are set to NoIndex, the credibility of the website itself can be negatively impacted with search engine algorithms leading to a decrease in the overall ranking of the website.