Definition
Noindex is a meta robots directive telling search engines not to include a page in search results — while still allowing the page to be crawled (unless combined with nofollow).
Detailed Explanation
Implementation: <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow"> or HTTP X-Robots-Tag: noindex.
Use for: thank-you pages, internal search results, thin duplicates, staging environments. Do not use robots.txt Disallow when you need deindexing — use noindex instead.
Nepal Context
WordPress “Discourage search engines” checkbox during dev often stays enabled after launch — classic cause of zero organic traffic for new Nepali business sites.
Key Takeaways
- noindex = don’t show in search (index control)
- robots.txt Disallow = don’t crawl (different tool)
- Check GSC Coverage report for accidental noindex
Common Mistakes
- noindex on pages you want to rank
- Using robots.txt to deindex (Google may still index from external links)
- Leaving noindex on paginated archive pages site-wide
