How to Fix Excluded by noindex Tag

There are various methods a website URL can send NOINDEX directive telling search engines like Google to NOT index certain parts of a website. This is to block indexing of URLs.

Fixing Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag Issues

When troubleshooting Page indexing errors, do not waste time analyzing Page indexing reports for Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag for All known pages as you will always see many URLs Google identifies as having issues. Instead, analyze All submitted pages

Google Search Console Tip: do NOT submit just 1 parent XML Sitemap. Instead, submit XML Sitemap ONLY for URLs you want Google to index, this will help avoid Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag errors as well.

UPDATED Video Lesson for Fixing Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag Errors

Analyzing Search Console Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag Report

You can analyze the Page Indexing reports to see more examples and date ranges the issue was encountered at.

Then you can use URL inspection tool by pressing on an example URL.

Notice that in the URL inspection tool reports says “‘noindex’ detected in ‘robots’ meta tag” which tells you that Google is seeing a meta tag. <meta name=“robots” content=“noindex”>

All you have to do is to identify where on a web page does Google see ‘robots meta tag with noindex’ directive and remove the noindex directive from the web page.

Another common issue a website can face with noindex rules is through X-Robots-Tag: noindex To fix either one of these type of errors, simply remove the noindex directive however Google is seeing it from your website.

What is Excluded ‘noindex’ tag in Page indexing Report?

URL is excluded from Google indexing process due to Google’s web crawler is seeing noindex directive. Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’ issues must be addressed for proper indexation and maintainence of a website.

Places to Check for Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag Errors

Some SEO Plugins (like Yoast) allow insertion of meta tags that look like this <meta name=“robots” content=“noindex”> Check web page source code (Press CTRL+U on your keyboard) using your favorite web browser such as Google Chrome and either analyze the web page source code or (Press CTRL+F on your keyboard to find ‘robots’) to see if there are any noindex meta tags. If there is, remove the noindex meta tag from the web page if you used SEO plugins incorrectly.

You can also use Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool > TEST Live URL and Analyze HTTP Response Code for X Robots Tag noindex

If there is a response header with noindex directive?

This means your Content Management System is either using Header Response code sending noindex directive, that may look like this (WordPress CMS PHP example below): <?php if ( is_tag() ) { header("X-Robots-Tag: noindex", true); } ?> Or .htaccess file is sending header response code that include noindex directive which looks like this: <IfModule mod_headers.c> Header set X-Robots-Tag “noindex” </IfModule> To remedy excluded by noindex tag errors for Search Console Page indexing reports for such scenarios, simply remove the noindex directives whether it is sent through meta tags, PHP or .htaccess file.

Self Hosted Websites Can Also Check cPanel

How to Validate Fixing Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag

All you need to do is identify how Google’s user-agent (Googlebot) is coming across noindex directive (be it through seeing a meta tag or noindex header response code) and then simply remove the noindex directive from the web page so that Google can crawl and index that URL Search Console Page indexing report is showing as having an issue.

Then, you can press on Validate Fix in Google Search Console.

How long before validation reflects in search console? This will depend on the type of website. Google may take a day, or even few days to validate your fix.

What Happens If the Validation Fails?

Don’t be alarmed. Simply double check your website once again and ensure that the submitted URLs do not have noindexing directives. Then you can either let Google naturally update its index, or you can validate your fix for excluded by “noindex” tag again.

Updated Content and Video Tutorials (Covers All Page Indexing Issues)

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