Global Noindex Settings

Control which sections of your site appear in search results with granular noindex settings

Understanding Noindex

The noindex directive tells search engines not to include specific pages in their search results. Unlike robots.txt which blocks crawling, noindex allows search engines to crawl the page but prevents it from appearing in search results.

ProRank SEO's Global Noindex settings allow you to apply noindex rules to entire sections of your site without editing individual pages.

Important: Pages with noindex will not appear in search results. Use these settings carefully and only for content you don't want indexed.

Configuration Location

Access Global Noindex settings at:

WordPress Admin → ProRank SEO → Technical SEO → Robots & Indexing → Global Noindex tab

Post Types Settings

Control indexing for entire post types. These settings affect all posts of the selected type.

Post Type	Setting Name	Default	Affects
Posts	noindex_posts	Off	All blog posts
Pages	noindex_pages	Off	All static pages
Media Attachments	noindex_attachments	On	Attachment pages

Recommended: Keep "Media Attachments" noindexed to prevent thin content pages from appearing in search results.

Archive Pages Settings

Control indexing for WordPress archive pages. These can create duplicate content if not managed properly.

Archive Type	Setting Name	Default	URL Pattern
Author Archives	noindex_author	Off	/author/username pages
Date Archives	noindex_date	On	Year/month/day archives
Category Archives	noindex_category	Off	Category listing pages
Tag Archives	noindex_tag	Off	Tag listing pages

Why Noindex Archives?

• Date Archives: Often create thin, duplicate content
• Author Archives: May duplicate your main blog if single-author site
• Category/Tag Archives: Keep indexed if they provide value, noindex if thin

Special Pages Settings

Control indexing for special WordPress pages that typically shouldn't appear in search results.

Page Type	Setting Name	Default	Affects
Search Results	noindex_search	On	/?s=query pages
404 Pages	noindex_404	On	Not found pages
Paginated Pages	noindex_paginated	Off	Page 2, 3, etc.

Best Practices

✓ Always noindex search results to prevent spam
✓ Always noindex 404 pages
✓ Consider noindexing paginated pages to avoid duplicate content

How Noindex Works

Implementation Methods

Meta Robots Tag

ProRank adds this to the HTML head section:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow" />

X-Robots-Tag Header

For non-HTML files, ProRank sends HTTP headers:

X-Robots-Tag: noindex, follow

WordPress Filter

Uses the wp_robots filter for compatibility:

add_filter(&apos;wp_robots&apos;, function($robots) {
    $robots[&apos;noindex&apos;] = true;
    return $robots;
});

Advanced Directives

ProRank SEO also supports advanced robots meta directives for fine-tuning how your content appears in search results:

Directive	Type	Description	Example
max-snippet	Integer	Maximum text snippet length (-1 for unlimited)	max-snippet:160
max-image-preview	String	Image preview size: none, standard, large	max-image-preview:large
max-video-preview	Integer	Video preview duration in seconds	max-video-preview:30
notranslate	Boolean	Prevent translation offers	notranslate
noimageindex	Boolean	Prevent image indexing	noimageindex
nositelinkssearchbox	Boolean	Hide sitelinks search box	nositelinkssearchbox

Configuration Examples

Limit Snippet Length

Control how much text Google shows in search results:

• -1 = No limit (default)
• 0 = No snippet
• 160 = Maximum 160 characters

Control Image Preview

Set how images appear in search results:

• none = No image preview
• standard = Default preview size
• large = Large preview (recommended)

Common Use Cases

E-commerce Sites

✓ Noindex cart and checkout pages
✓ Noindex customer account pages
✓ Noindex order confirmation pages
✓ Keep product categories indexed

Blog Sites

✓ Noindex date archives
✓ Noindex author pages (if single author)
✓ Keep categories and tags indexed
✓ Noindex paginated pages

Corporate Sites

✓ Noindex thank you pages
✓ Noindex internal search results
✓ Noindex member-only content
✓ Keep main pages indexed

News Sites

✓ Keep all archives indexed
✓ Noindex print versions
✓ Noindex internal search
✓ Use max-snippet for control

Noindex vs Robots.txt

Key Differences

Noindex (This Feature)

✓ Allows crawling
✓ Prevents indexing
✓ Page-level control
✓ Can follow links
✓ Good for thin content
✓ Preserves crawl budget

Robots.txt Disallow

✗ Blocks crawling entirely
✗ May still get indexed
✗ Directory-level control
✗ Cannot follow links
✗ Good for private content
✗ Saves crawl budget

Best Practice: Use noindex for public content you don't want in search results. Use robots.txt for content that should never be accessed by bots.

Testing & Verification

How to Verify Noindex

View Page Source:Look for <meta name="robots" content="noindex">
Google Search Console:Use URL Inspection tool - will show "Excluded by noindex tag"
Browser Extensions:Use SEO extensions to quickly check robots meta tags
Check HTTP Headers:For PDFs and images, check X-Robots-Tag in response headers

Caution: After applying noindex, pages will gradually disappear from search results. This process can take days or weeks depending on crawl frequency.