What Is a Noindex Tag? (And When to Use It for SEO)
The noindex tag is a directive that you add to a web page’s code to instruct search engines to exclude that page from their indexed search listings. In simple terms, it tells Google and other search engines: 'This page exists, but I don’t want it to show up in search results.'There are two main ways to implement a noindex directive:1. in the page’s HTML2. An HTTP header: X-Robots-Tag: noindexGoogle respects this tag most of the time, especially if the page is not blocked by a robots.txt file. It’s a powerful tool to prevent duplicate content issues, hide landing pages you’re A/B testing, clean up cluttered archives, or protect private/internal content from being indexed.According to Google, pages with “noindex” will be dropped from the index once crawled. This won’t prevent crawling (unless combined with disallow), but it will prevent ranking. Use it strategically—it can improve your site’s overall SEO health by keeping only valuable, index-worthy pages in Google’s eyes.
Traffic dropped? Find the 'why' in 5 minutes, not 5 hours.
Spotrise is your AI analyst that monitors all your sites 24/7. It instantly finds anomalies, explains their causes, and provides a ready-to-use action plan. Stop losing money while you're searching for the problem.
Use Cases
Use noindex on tag or author pages to avoid thin or duplicate content from bloating your index footprint. This helps focus Google’s attention on your high-value pages.
Keep internal dashboards, client portals, staging environments, and test pages out of search. Noindex ensures your private content stays private.
Noindex can de-clutter old or irrelevant pagination, archive, or filter pages. It signals that these pages don’t offer unique value for searchers.
Control A/B Testing Visibility
Frequently Asked Questions
Does noindex stop a page from being crawled?
No. The noindex tag prevents indexing, not crawling. To block crawling, use robots.txt or combine noindex with a disallow directive.
Can I use noindex on pages with backlinks?
Yes—but be careful. If a page has valuable backlinks but is noindexed, it won't pass link equity to your site. Consider using rel=canonical instead.
Should thank-you pages have a noindex tag?
Yes. Thank-you pages don’t provide unique search value. Noindex them to avoid thin content and protect conversion funnels.
How long does it take for Google to remove noindexed pages?
Absolutely. Noindex doesn’t affect linking or user access—it only prevents the page from appearing in search results.
Can I still link to a noindexed page?
Use an SEO tool like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog, or inspect the page’s meta tags. You can also use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection Tool for confirmation.
Related Terms
Tired of the routine for 50+ clients?
Your new AI assistant will handle monitoring, audits, and reports. Free up your team for strategy, not for manually digging through GA4 and GSC. Let us show you how to give your specialists 10+ hours back every week.