SEO - Meta Robots Tag

Meta tags are essential in search engine optimisation (SEO) since they help improve a website's visibility and rankings in search engine results. The "Meta Robots Tag" is a meta tag that significantly impacts how search engines crawl and index web pages. The significance of the Meta Robots Tag, its different directives, and how to utilise them to enhance the SEO performance of your website are all covered in this chapter.

Understanding the Meta Robots element

The Meta Robots Tag is an HTML meta element that tells search engine crawlers how to treat a specific web page. It comprises several directives that drive search engine bots and is positioned within HTML content's <head> section.

To determine if a search engine should index a website, follow its links, or archive its content, the Meta Robots Tag is frequently employed. It gives website owners more control over how their pages are crawled, indexed, and displayed in search engine results.

Illustration

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><head>
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
(...)
</head>
<body>(...)</body>
</html>

Directives for Common Meta Robots

index − Thanks to this directive, search engine results pages (SERPs) can contain a page that a search engine has indexed. If no Meta Robots Tag is supplied, it will act in this manner by default.
noindex − Search engines are told not to index the page with the noindex directive. It is helpful for pages with the same material, private carriers, or pages still under development that you want to avoid appearing in search results.
follow − Search engines are instructed to follow and crawl the links on the page via the request follow. If no Meta Robots Tag is supplied, it will act in this manner by default.
nofollow − Search engines are told not to crawl or follow any links on the page via the nofollow directive. It can be helpful to stop giving authority to potentially hazardous websites on pages that include unreliable or user-generated content, like comment areas.
noarchive − This directive forbids page caching by search engines. Pages containing sensitive information or those that change frequently and shouldn't be accessible via cache can benefit.
nosnippet − This directive forbids the display of a snippet or summary of the page by search engines in search results. It can be helpful if you want readers to visit a page to obtain the complete content or if the material on the page is too complex to be condensed into a summary.

<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">

Advanced Usage and Recommended Techniques

Exclusion and Indexing

Choosing which pages to index and which to omit from search engine results is critical. For instance, the "no index" directive may benefit pages with scant or redundant information, such as tag archives or index pages, to prevent degrading the general quality of your website in search results. Put your efforts into indexing unique, high-quality content that benefits your audience.

Combination of Directives

The Meta Robots Tag allows you to combine different directives for precise results. Search engines can crawl and follow links on a page when "index, follow" is used but cannot index the page itself.

Sitemaps and Consistency

Make sure that the directions in your website's XML sitemap are consistent with the directives in your Meta Robots Tag. Search engines may become confused if you include a page in your sitemap yet employ the "no index" directive, which could result in less-than-ideal crawling and indexing. Keep your sitemaps and messages in line to send search engines clear signals.

Use Case Illustrations

Specific Meta Robots Tag directives can be helpful in the following situations −

Use "no index, follow" on pages that create several URLs with the same content on e-commerce websites with product sorting and filtering options to prevent duplicate content problems.
The "no index" directive can help protect private information on login or account pages from unauthorised access through search engine results.
The "nofollow" directive can be used in user-generated content areas like forums and comment sections to prevent sending link equity to potentially spammy or low-quality external websites.

The X-Robot Tag

The X-Robots-Tag header must be included in the HTTP response for the page or record to be used. To instruct web crawlers not to keep track of a web page, utilise the following example in the title −

x-Robots-Tag: noindex

The X-Robots-Tag header is helpful when managing how search engines and other online robots are linked to your website. It should be used carefully and with other SEO best practices to ensure it doesn't negatively impact your website's look engine ranks.

Continuous Testing and Monitoring

As with any SEO strategy, it's critical to constantly check the results of your Meta Robots Tag instructions. Track the status of indexation and any crawl issues using tools like Google Search Console. Additionally, do tests to verify that search engines are correctly reading and following the instructions. You may optimise the visibility of your website by regularly monitoring and testing and making the required adjustments.

You may exert more influence over how search engines crawl and index your website, improve your SEO efforts, and give your audience a better user experience by adhering to certain recommended practices and utilising the Meta Robots Tag efficiently.

Remember that search engine algorithms and standards change over time, so staying up-to-date with the best SEO techniques and methods is critical to maximising your use of the Meta Robots Tag.

Utilising the Meta Robots Tag

The Meta Robots Tag must be added to your HTML document's <head> section to be used. Here is an illustration of how the tag should be composed −

<head>
   <title>Tutorials Point Title </title>
	<meta name="robots" content="directive1, directive2">
</head>

The "content" property can comprise one or more directives, split by commas, depending on the instructions you want to provide. Here's an example of how to combine various requirements −

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can manage how search engines scan and index your web pages using the Meta Robots Tag, a powerful tool in your SEO toolbox. You can improve user experience, optimise website visibility, stop undesired sites from being indexed, manage link equity, and more by carefully employing the Meta Robots Tag and associated directives. To maximise the impact of your SEO efforts, always consider your website's goals and content while using Meta Robots Tag directives.