Noindex follow

« Back to Glossary Index

Understanding the "Noindex Follow" tag

The "Noindex Follow"tag is an instruction to search engines about how to handle specific pages on your website. By using the tag, you can tell search engines not to display a page in search results, but still follow the links on that page to index other pages on your site. This can be useful for avoiding duplicate content, controlling web crawlers, and handling transition pages or thank you pages.

Definition of "Noindex Follow

"Noindex Follow" is a meta tag used to instruct search engines not to display a particular web page in search results. This means that the page is not indexed and does not appear in the search engine rankings. However, the links on this page will still be followed by the search engines and indexed. The "Follow" in the tag means that search engines should follow and index the links on this page.

How "Noindex Follow" works

The "Noindex Follow" tag is a statement for search engines that a page is not indexed should be followed, but the links on the page should be followed. This means that search engines will not display the page in search results, but will follow and index all outbound links on the page.

Why and when to use "Noindex Follow"?

"Noindex Follow" is a meta tag used to tell search engines that a particular page should not be displayed in search results, but that the links on that page should be followed by the search engines. There are several reasons why "Noindex Follow" should use:

  1. Avoid duplicate content: If a particular page on your website contains duplicate content, using "Noindex Follow" will help to remove these duplicates from the search results. This prevents search engines from indexing the same information multiple times and excluding your website from possible Ranking-problems is affected.
  2. "Noindex Follow" to control the web crawlers: By using "Noindex Follow", web crawlers can be made to focus on certain pages of your website and ignore less important or irrelevant pages. This improves the efficiency of indexing your website.
  3. Use for transition pages or thank you pages: "Noindex Follow" can also be used for temporary pages such as transition pages or thank you pages. This prevents these pages from appearing in search results, while at the same time the links on these pages can be followed by search engines.

The use of "Noindex Follow" should be done with caution, however. It is important to ensure that the pages marked with this meta tag are actually not intended to be visible to the public and that no important content is inadvertently excluded from the search results. Careful review and regular updating of the meta tags is therefore advisable.

Avoid duplicate content

Duplicate content is a problem that plagues many website owners. They can cause search engines to devalue your page or even remove it completely from the Index remove. The "Noindex Follow" tag is one way to avoid this problem.

Duplicate content occurs when the same content is available at different URLs. This can happen, for example, if you make a page accessible under both a www and a non-www address. Search engines see these URLs as separate pages and treat them accordingly. This can cause confusion and affect your rankings.

With the "Noindex Follow" tag give search engines a clear instruction: Do not index this page, but follow the links. This means that search engines will not index the page in the Index but still be able to crawl and index the linked pages on it. This way you avoid duplicate content and still allow your page to be crawlable.

It is important to note that the "Noindex Follow"tag should be used only on the pages that actually cause duplicate content. For example, if you have a page that you want to be accessible under different URLs on purpose, you should not use the tag. Otherwise, you risk that this page will not appear in the search results.

"Noindex Follow" to control the web crawlers

The "Noindex Follow"tag is a useful way to tell search engines that a page, although not indexedbut still the links on this page should be searched. This enables targeted control of the web crawlers and ensures that important pages and content are found.

With the "Noindex Follow"tag, you can exclude pages from indexing without affecting the link juice or the Ranking of the linked pages. This is especially handy if you want to exclude temporary pages, test pages, or certain category pages from indexing, for example.

Another use case for the "Noindex Follow"tag is, for example, the control of crawl budgets. By tagging unimportant pages, you give search engines a clear instruction not to use their resources for the Crawl of these pages. At the same time, you ensure that important pages are still crawled and indexed be

Use for transition pages or thank you pages

After the completion of a transaction or the submission of a form users often land on transition pages or thank-you pages. These pages confirm the successful completion of an action and may offer additional information or calls to action. However, such pages are less relevant for search engines because they do not offer unique content and exist only temporarily.

This is exactly where the use of the "Noindex Follow" tags can be helpful. By using the tag you signal to search engines that these pages are not indexed are to be created in order to avoid duplicate content. But at the same time you give the instructions for the Crawling of the linked pages. This way you can make sure that your transition pages or thank you pages do not appear in the search results, while the link authority is passed to the relevant content pages.

By using "Noindex Follow" for these types of pages, you can increase your organic visibility and ensure that your target audience sees only relevant content in search results. It's important to emphasize that this is not a universal approach and depends on the individual structure and objectives of your website.

Use for transition pages or thank you pages

After the completion of a transaction or the submission of a form users often land on transition pages or thank-you pages. These pages confirm the successful completion of an action and may offer additional information or calls to action. However, such pages are less relevant for search engines because they do not offer unique content and exist only temporarily.

This is exactly where the use of the "Noindex Follow" tags can be helpful. By using the tag you signal to search engines that these pages are not indexed are to be created in order to avoid duplicate content. But at the same time you give the instructions for the Crawling of the linked pages. This way you can make sure that your transition pages or thank you pages do not appear in the search results, while the link authority is passed to the relevant content pages.

By using "Noindex Follow" for these types of pages, you can increase your organic visibility and ensure that your target audience sees only relevant content in search results. It's important to emphasize that this is not a universal approach and depends on the individual structure and objectives of your website.

Implementation of the "Noindex Follow" on your website

The implementation of the "Noindex Follow" tags on your website is an important step to control the indexing and crawling behavior of search engines. By tagging specific pages with the "Noindex Follow"tag, you can prevent these pages from appearing in the search engine results, while at the same time using the Crawling of the linked pages is enabled. This will allow you to increase the visibility of your most important pages in the search engines and at the same time Duplicate Content avoid

In order to meet the "Noindex Follow" tag correctly on your website, I recommend you to follow these steps:

  1. Identify the pages you want to exclude from indexing. For example, these can be pages with little added value or pages with identical content.
  2. Add the "Noindex Follow"tag in the HTML code of the relevant pages. This can be done either directly in the <meta>-day or in the <head>-area of the page.
  3. Check regularly whether the "Noindex Follow"tag was implemented correctlyby selecting the relevant pages in the Source code or tools such as the Google Search Console use

In implementing the "Noindex Follow" tags on your website, however, you should also be aware of the possible errors that can occur:

  • Accidentally adding the "Noindex Follow" Tags on important pageswhich can lead to a loss of visibility. Therefore, make sure to use the tag only on unimportant or redundant pages.
  • Lack of verification of the correct implementation of the tag, which can lead to the desired indexing and crawling behavior not being achieved.

To improve your SEO performance despite using the "Noindex Follow" tags, you should consider the following strategies:

  • Optimize the content on your most important pages to ensure they rank well for relevant keywords.
  • Create high quality Backlinks from other trusted websites to improve your authority in search engines.
  • Make sure that the internal links on your website are structured sensibly and point to the most relevant pages.

Overall, the correct implementation of the "Noindex Follow" tags on your website to help improve the visibility and effectiveness of your SEO efforts. However, be sure to use the tag wisely and only on the right pages.

Step by step guide

A step-by-step guide is a useful way to break down complex tasks into easy-to-implement steps. When implementing the "Noindex Follow" tags on your website, it is important to follow the steps below:

  1. Identify the pages that search engines don't indexed are to be used, but are to receive links from other pages. This may be the case, for example, for pages with low-value content or for transition pages.
  2. Open the HTML file of the respective page in the Editor of your choice.
  3. Add to the <head> area of the page the meta tag <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow"> tag. This tag indicates to search engines that the page is not indexed should be followed, but links from this page should be followed.
  4. Save the HTML file and upload it to the web server.
  5. Check the implementation by calling up the affected page and clicking on the Source code check. Search for the meta tag <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">to ensure that the changes have taken effect.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

When using the "Noindex Follow" tags, there are some common mistakes that should be avoided to prevent negative effects on SEO.

Here are some of those mistakes and how to avoid them:

  1. Error: Incorrect use of the tag - A common mistake is to use the "Noindex Follow" tag on pages that are actually indexed are supposed to be. This excludes these pages from search engines, which leads to reduced visibility.
  2. Error: Forgetting the "Follow" aspect - Another mistake is to focus only on the "Noindex" and neglect the "follow" aspect. This prevents the web crawlers from following and indexing the linked pages.
  3. Error: Application on important pages - Another common mistake is to use the "Noindex Follow" tag on important pages like the home page or product pages. This will exclude these pages from search engines and severely affect their visibility.

To avoid these mistakes, it is important to use the "Noindex Follow" tag only where it is really necessary. Carefully check which pages indexed to be tracked and which pages should be tracked by the web crawlers in order to achieve the best possible SEO performance.

Impact of "Noindex Follow" on SEO

The use of the "Noindex Follow" tags can have various effects on the Search engine optimization (SEO) of a website have. Here are some important points to consider:

  1. Visibility in search engines: When a page with the "Noindex Follow"tag, it will not be recognized by search engines. indexed. This means that it will not be displayed in the search results. However, the links contained on this page are still tracked by search engines and included in the indexing of other pages.
  2. Exclusion of duplicate content: By using "Noindex Follow" on certain pages, duplicate content can be avoided. This can be helpful to Duplicate Content-problems, especially when it comes to pages with similar or identical content.
  3. Better SEO performance: Although the use of the "Noindex Follow" tags do not have a direct impact on the Ranking of a page, it can still lead to better SEO performance. By making pages with low Relevance for search engines from the Index are excluded, search engines have more resources available to index and rank the most relevant pages.
Advantages and disadvantages of "Noindex Follow" on SEO
Advantages Disadvantages
Avoidance of Duplicate Content Reduced visibility in search engines
Optimization of search engine resource utilization No direct effect on the Ranking

"Noindex Follow" and the visibility in search engines

The use of the "Noindex Follow" tags has a direct impact on the visibility of a web page in search engines. By adding the "Noindex" tags, Google is instructed not to display this page in the search results. This can increase the visibility and thus the organic Traffic be impaired.

There are situations in which it makes sense to temporarily exclude certain pages from the search engines, for example to work on the page or Duplicate Content to be avoided. In such cases, the use of the "Noindex Follow"tags may be the best option.

However, it is important to note that the "Follow" in the "Noindex Follow"tag means that the links on the page will continue to be crawled by the search engines and indexed be included. This is especially relevant when it comes to important content or landing pages that should link to other pages.

Advantages of "Noindex Follow":
Duplicate content avoidance
Better control of web crawlers
Use for transition pages or thank you pages

To increase the visibility in search engines despite the use of "Noindex Follow", there are some proven tips. One important aspect is on-page optimization. Here, relevant keywords should be used in the meta description tags and headings to make the content more understandable for search engines.

Furthermore, it is advisable to set internal links to other important pages in order to Relevance to increase. In addition, external Backlinks help to increase visibility.

Conclusion: "Noindex Follow" can be a useful way to temporarily exclude certain pages from search results without losing important links. However, it is important to consider the impact on visibility and take appropriate measures to optimize SEO performance.

« Back to Glossary Index

FAQ

What does "Noindex follow" mean? arrow icon in accordion
"Noindex follow" is a search engine optimization (SEO) term that refers to a directive attribute applied to web pages to cause search engines not to index a page, but to follow the links it contains.
When should you use "Noindex follow"? arrow icon in accordion
"Noindex follow" should be used when content on a page is relevant and important, but should not appear in search engine results. For example, it can be used for print versions of pages, pages with sensitive information or pages with very similar content.
Are there any negative effects of using "Noindex follow" on a page? arrow icon in accordion
No, it does not have a direct negative impact on the ranking of a page. However, it may make the page harder to find, as it will not be displayed in the search results.
How to insert "Noindex follow" into the HTML code of a page? arrow icon in accordion
"Noindex follow" can be inserted by adding the meta tag in the header area of the page.
Can "Noindex follow" pages still be indexed by other pages and appear in search results? arrow icon in accordion
Yes, other websites can still link "noindex follow" pages and search engines are able to follow these links and index the pages. Therefore, it is important to avoid using "noindex" on pages whose content is not intended for the public.
Does Google listen to the "noindex follow" statement attribute? arrow icon in accordion
Google treats "Noindex follow" instructions as advice and tries to follow it. However, other factors such as linked pages or external links may still cause search engines to index content from "noindex follow" pages.
What is the difference between "Noindex follow" and "Noindex nofollow"? arrow icon in accordion
"Noindex follow" means that a page should not be indexed, but linked pages should be followed by search engines. "Noindex nofollow", on the other hand, says that a page should neither be indexed nor linked pages followed by search engines.
Does "Noindex follow" affect the crawling behavior of search engines on a page? arrow icon in accordion
No, "Noindex follow" instructions do not affect the crawling behavior of search engines. Crawling still takes place as usual, which allows them to continue indexing linked pages.
How to check if a page with "Noindex follow" was actually not indexed? arrow icon in accordion
One can enter the URL of the page in the Google search bar and see if it appears in the search results. Alternatively, one can use SEO tools like "Search Console" to get information about the indexing status of a web page.
Is "Noindex follow" recommended for all types of content and websites? arrow icon in accordion
No, "Noindex follow" is not recommended for all types of content and web pages. It should be applied only in certain cases, such as privacy pages, pages with repetitive content or experimental web pages whose effectiveness has not been proven yet. It is recommended to learn more about the topic and seek expert advice to make an informed decision.

With top positions to the new sales channel.

Let Google work for you, because visitors become customers.

About the author

Social Media & Links:

SEO Scaling Framework

The fastest way to the SEO revenue channel

✅ Our exact framework condensed into 96 pages

✅ 3 hours of detailed accompanying video with additional best practices

✅ Step-by-step path to the Bulletproof 100k€ SEO channel

Request video + PDF now!

ℹ️ We will check your details and then release the PDF:

🔒 Don't worry! We will No spam e-mails send!