Not every page on your site belongs in Google search results. Thank-you pages, internal landing pages, duplicate content, staging URLs, login pages, and utility pages can clutter search results and dilute your site’s SEO value. When Google indexes these low-value pages, it wastes crawl budget — the limited time Google spends on your site — and can make your site look less authoritative overall. The noindex and nofollow controls in Rank Forge let you tell Google exactly which pages to include and which to skip.
Understanding Noindex vs. Nofollow
| Setting | What It Does | When to Use It | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noindex | Tells Google: “Do not include this page in search results” | Thank-you pages, confirmation pages, login pages, internal-only content, duplicate pages, author archives with no unique content | A “Thank you for subscribing” page that has no value in search results |
| Nofollow | Tells Google: “Do not follow or pass ranking authority through links on this page” | Pages full of user-generated links, affiliate pages with many outbound links, sponsored content pages | A community forum page where users can post any link |
Most of the time, you will only use Noindex. Nofollow is less common and serves a more specific purpose.
> WordPress global setting wins: If Settings > Reading > Discourage search engines from indexing this site is enabled, WordPress forces noindex, nofollow for the whole site. Rank Forge preserves that core directive even if an individual post or archive would otherwise be indexable.
Step-by-Step: Hiding a Single Post or Page
- Open the post or page in the WordPress editor.
- Scroll to the Rank Forge box below the content.
- Open the Advanced tab. The Search Visibility section is at the top.
- Tick Hide from search results (noindex).
- Optionally tick Do not follow links on this page (nofollow) if you also want to prevent link authority from flowing through this page.
- Save or publish the post.
- The page remains live on your site and accessible via direct link, but Google will remove it from search results within a few days to a few weeks.
[Screenshot: The Advanced tab of the SEO box with Hide from search results ticked]
Step-by-Step: Hiding an Entire Category or Tag
- Go to Posts > Categories (or Posts > Tags) in the WordPress sidebar.
- Click Edit on the category or tag you want to hide.
- Scroll down to the Rank Forge section on the edit screen.
- Tick Hide from search results (noindex).
- Click Update.
- All pages in this category archive are now hidden from Google.
Step-by-Step: Hiding Archive Types Globally
- Go to Rank Forge > Settings, tab Search Appearance, the Archives card.
- The Archives card lists the post types that have an archive page, with a checkbox “Hide <type> archive from search (noindex)” for each. There are no checkboxes for category, tag, date or author archives.
- Check the archives you want hidden from search. Tick Noindex paginated pages to hide page 2 and onward of archives, categories, tags and search results.
- Click Save Settings.
Which Pages Should You Noindex
| Page Type | Recommend Noindex? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Thank-you and confirmation pages | Yes | No search value — nobody searches for “thank you for your order” |
| Tag archives | Usually yes | Often thin content that duplicates your main pages |
| Date archives | Yes | Almost never provide unique value; they just list posts by date |
| Author archives | Depends | Yes for single-author sites (duplicate of your blog page). Keep indexed for multi-author sites. |
| Category archives | Usually no | Categories often have unique descriptions and serve as useful landing pages |
| Login and registration pages | Yes | Private functionality, not search content |
| Staging or test pages | Yes | Should never appear in Google |
| Paginated archives (page 2, page 3) | Optional | Some SEOs noindex paginated archives to concentrate authority on page 1 |
Real-World Example
Imagine you run a membership site with a “Welcome” page that appears after someone signs up. This page says “Welcome, your account is ready! Click here to get started.” There is zero value in this page appearing in Google — it would just confuse searchers who land on it without context. Ticking Hide from search results asks search engines to keep it out of their results, and the page stays fully accessible to your logged-in members.
> Good to know: Noindex removes a page from search results, but it does not make the page private. Anyone with the direct URL can still visit it. If you need true privacy, use WordPress password protection or a membership plugin.
> Tip: Many SEO experts recommend hiding date archives and tag archives as a first step after installing any SEO plugin. These archive types rarely provide unique value and often contain thin, duplicate content that dilutes your site’s overall quality signal to Google.
Common Mistakes
- Accidentally noindexing important pages. Always double-check the Advanced tab before publishing. A noindexed homepage or blog page would be disastrous.
- Expecting instant results. Google may take days to weeks to remove a noindexed page from results. Be patient.
- Using noindex instead of a redirect. If a page has moved to a new URL, use a redirect (301) instead of noindex. Noindex removes it; a redirect transfers its value to the new page.
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