A no-index tag prevents a page from being included in the search results of Google or other search engines. The page still exists and remains accessible to visitors, but it is not considered in the SEO evaluation of your website.
The no-index tag is part of technical SEO and helps guide search engines to focus on your most important pages. In this article, you’ll learn exactly what a no-index tag is, when to use it, and why it can be a smart choice in certain situations.
What does no-index mean?
No-index means that a page is not included in the index of search engines like Google. The page still exists on your website and remains accessible to visitors, but it will not appear in search results and is not taken into account in how search engines evaluate your site.
When should you set a page to no-index?
You should set a page to no-index if the page has no organic value, contains little or no content, or if the website is still under development. In these cases, you don’t want search engines to index the page or display it in search results.
Google uses bots to crawl websites and assess pages for content and relevance. Each site has a crawl budget—the maximum number of pages Google visits during each crawl. If this budget is spent on irrelevant or incomplete pages, important content might be missed. By using a no-index tag, you help Google focus on the pages that matter most.
Below are three common situations where applying a no-index tag is a smart choice:
1. The page has no organic value
If a page has no organic value (a page you don’t want to rank), you don’t need it to appear in Google. It’s a waste if Google’s bots crawl this page instead of a page that could generate valuable traffic. Think of author pages, tag archives, etc.
2. The page contains little or no content
Without content, Google cannot understand what your page is about. A page with little or no content won’t rank. You have two options:
- Check whether the page could attract relevant traffic if more content were added. If so, consider expanding the page.
- If the page is unlikely to ever attract relevant traffic, set it to no-index.
3. The site is not yet finished
If you’re building a new site and it’s not ready yet, make sure the entire site is set to no-index. This is especially important if the old site is still live. You can check this in the site’s source code.
When should you not use a no-index tag?
Only use the no-index tag when you’re certain that a page holds no value for your SEO goals. It’s more risky to mistakenly apply no-index to an important page than to let a less relevant one be indexed. Key pages that contribute to your site’s visibility or conversions should never be excluded from search engine results.
Larger websites need to assess carefully which pages to exclude from indexation. For smaller websites, it’s often better to avoid using no-index unless there’s a clear reason. When in doubt, it’s best to consult an SEO specialist. In general: keep the use of no-index tags to an absolute minimum.
