The noindex tag is a simple but powerful instruction you can give to search engines: “Don’t include this page in your search results.”
It’s part of the meta tags that sit in your website’s code—specifically inside the <head> of a page. Users won’t see it, but search engines will. And when they do, they know not to index that page in Google, Bing, or any other search engine.
In short, if you add a noindex tag to a page, it tells search engines: This page exists, but please keep it out of public search listings.
When should you use a noindex tag?
You shouldn’t noindex everything—just the pages that shouldn’t be found through Google. Common examples include:
- Thank-you pages (after a form is submitted)
- Login or client portal pages
- Staging or test environments
- Duplicate content pages (like printer-friendly versions)
- Search results or filtered category views
- Admin or utility pages
- Thin content pages (that don’t offer real value to searchers)
The idea is to keep your site’s public-facing content clean, relevant, and focused. If a page isn’t useful for search traffic, or could even dilute your SEO, it’s a good candidate for noindexing.
Why noindex tags matter
From an SEO standpoint, not everything needs to be indexed. In fact, indexing the wrong pages can:
- Dilute your domain’s authority
Search engines might split ranking signals across duplicate or low-quality pages. - Cause keyword cannibalization
Multiple pages competing for the same keyword can confuse search engines. - Expose private or irrelevant pages
Imagine someone landing on your order confirmation page via Google. Not ideal. - Waste crawl budget
Search engines don’t have unlimited time to crawl your site. Focusing their attention on the right pages helps your important content get indexed and ranked faster.
How to implement a noindex tag
To add a noindex tag, you insert the following line in your page’s <head> section:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">If you’re using WordPress, SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math let you toggle this setting easily—no coding required.
You can also combine it with other instructions:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">This tells search engines to neither index the page nor follow any links on it.
Important note: Robots.txt ≠ Noindex
You might think, “Why not just block the page with robots.txt?” But here’s the thing: if a search engine is blocked from crawling a page via robots.txt, it can’t see the noindex tag inside it. So the page might still get indexed based on external links—even if you didn’t want it to.
If you really want a page kept out of search results, the noindex tag is the proper, direct method.
Bottom line
The noindex tag helps you keep your search presence clean and intentional. It’s not about hiding your site—it’s about controlling what gets found. When used strategically, it strengthens your SEO by keeping the spotlight on the content that truly matters.
