Meta Robots Tag - What's it really mean?
-
I used on a handful of pages recently and noticed that they're still popping up in the Google search index. I'd like to keep these from appearing, so I figured I needed a directive statement with stronger semantic meaning.
From what I understand, is what I'm looking for. Using this will keep Google from not only crawling the page, but indexing the page, as well.
I decided to see what the official robotstxt.org website said about it, so I checked (link here):
the NOFOLLOW directive only applies to links on this page. It's entirely likely that a robot might find the same links on some other page without a NOFOLLOW (perhaps on some other site), and so still arrives at your undesired page.
So, is their explanation saying that the page itself will be indexed, but the content / links on it won't be followed / indexed? Let me hear your thoughts, mozzers.
-
You can find out your desired meta robots setting by asking yourself two questions:
noindex or index: do you want this particular page to show up as a listing in the Google results for a query? Yes: index, No: noindex.
nofollow or follow: do you want the links on this page to be crawled (followed) by the search engine robots, thereby allowing them access to the deeper pages it links to (even though that particular page might even be noindexed). Yes: follow, No: nofollow
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Tool to check page size for multiple url's at once
In Google Analytics under Site Speed > Page Timings, you can see all pages and their loading time compared to the average. This is very handy to check which pages maybe need some optimization. I would also like to check the size for these pages in a similar way. There are multiple tools out there like GTmetix and Pingdom that give specific information and performance insights. The problem is that they are limited to check one url at a time. Does someone know about a tool to check the page size of multiple url’s at once (and if possible to easily export to Excel)? That way I can check which pages are big in size and research/optimize them. Thanks in advance
Reporting & Analytics | | Mark.0 -
Why isn't my google analytics working on a subdomain?
I have a website with Google Analytics which works fine. I tried adding the code to a subdomain using http://www.verticalrail.com/kb/filter-in-google-analytics-to-track-subdomains/ as a guide. There is no data showing up though. Any ideas?
Reporting & Analytics | | EcommerceSite0 -
What does 'Safari (in-app)' mean in Google Analytics browser traffic?
Hi, can anyone explain what 'Safari (in-app)' refers to in my browser sources? Also, it has a very high bounce rate - any ideas why?
Reporting & Analytics | | b4cab1 -
Google Tag Assistant showing Error
Hello, I am using google tag assistant extension in chrome and it is giving me one error for google tag manager at my checkout step 1 and error is -
Reporting & Analytics | | devdan0 -
Backlink Tool Finding Links That Aren't Visible
I'm using a variety of backlink toolsl; OSE, SEM Rush, Link Research Tools and Google Webmaster Tools. On some occasions the tools are telling me there is a link to my site on a certain page, however when I open that page I can't see any mention of my company. I have run all these reports today, so I think it is unlikely that Google is using old data. Does anyone know why this happens and if I should still be concerned about links that I cannot see but backlink tools are telling me are there? Thanks guys.
Reporting & Analytics | | AAttias0 -
Is the meta description available on the On Page Optimization Report even if its currently being optimized?
Currently, description is only available if the element is not being optimized (i.e. character count is off/keyword isn't included in the description)
Reporting & Analytics | | Jerome670 -
Tracking an onpage 'event'
Hi all Wondering if anyone could help out with this one please. My client is a government backed free internet safety website and in the next few days they will be launching an update on all of their pages which will let people know if their browser is out of date. For example, when you go to their site you will get a message advising you to upgrade your browser for security reasons. They have employed the following code to check the browser The client are keen to know how many times in a period this message is shown to users. Any idea how one would go about tracking this please. Would it involve some custom GA work, would I be able to track the hits on https://wxxxx.org/javascript/update.js in GA? I'm a little stumped. Obviously I can tell how many people loaded the page but not sure how to work out what % of them see the javascript Many thanks for your help Carl
Reporting & Analytics | | GrumpyCarl0 -
'Search Queries Report' in Webmaster Tools Question
Hi, How much do you use the search queries report in webmaster tools to research current rankings/movements? It does look like a great tool but the data doesn't seem to be spot on. For example a keyword over a week might have flux in position so lets say 6.0 then 9.2 for 3 days then back to 6.0. But I check the serp's for this keyword everyday and didn't see any movement?!?! Is this a good tool for you?
Reporting & Analytics | | activitysuper0