Definition Noindex

What is Noindex?

NoIndex is an SEO instruction that instructs search engine spiders not to index the web page containing it. Some pages have no interest in being indexed. This instruction is implemented directly in the HTML code of the page, and more precisely in the “robots” meta tag.

Webmasters use Noindex to prevent pages from being indexed

There are many reasons why web pages should not appear in search results pages (SERPs) and therefore not be indexed. This may be because they are PDF pages, because they are affected by duplicate content, or because they lack content and need to avoid engine sanctions. The NoIndex directive was created so that webmasters can tell search engine spiders not to index certain URLs.

It is placed in the part of the source code and is added to the other metadata. It takes the form in the robots meta tag in the page header, where X=”index” or “noindex” and Y=”follow” or “nofollow”. The noindex attribute first tells the robot not to index, but then tells it whether or not to follow any links on the page in question. The follow attribute sends robots to follow links, while the nofollow attribute stops them on the page itself.

Also useful against duplicate content!

The Noindex directive was created not only to guide search engine robots, but also to avoid penalizing actions by them. Take duplicate content, for example. When a search engine discovers pages or parts of pages present on different URLs in its index, it proceeds to penalize some of them in the spirit of discouraging content plagiarism. However, there are cases where content duplication is necessary, for example when advertising a product on several pages or sites.

The webmaster in charge can then indicate to the robots that such and such pages are duplicate contents and therefore not to be indexed, and he can also indicate the original page whose address is what we call the canonical URL. Noindex is also used to prevent the indexing of internal search results pages, pagination pages, copyrighted content and double-category pages. It is also used to prevent indexing during the phase when the webmaster puts a page online just to test its functionality. It’s important to distinguish between NoIndex and Disallow. The latter is indicated in the robots.txt file and is a real prohibition instruction. Unlike NoIndex, which lets robots consult the page content, Disallow completely blocks access to the page. It is mainly used to protect sensitive parts of the site or content that should not be consulted.