How to Use the Meta Robots Tag for SEO
1. What Is the Meta Robots Tag?
The Meta Robots Tag is a small piece of code added to your webpage that tells Google what it should do with that page. Think of it like giving Google instructions:
“Index this page,”
“Don’t index this page,”
“Don’t follow the links,”
or
“Don’t show this page in search.”
Using Meta Robots tags correctly helps prevent duplicate pages from ranking, protects private pages, and ensures Google only indexes the pages that truly matter.
Example of a Meta Robots Tag:
<meta name=”robots” content=”index, follow”>
This tells Google:
Index this page
Follow the links on this page
2. Why Meta Robots Tag Is Important for SEO
Meta Robots tags are important because they help you manage what Google sees and what it doesn’t.
They help you:
- Stop Google from indexing duplicate or thin pages
- Prevent private pages from appearing in search
- Control link equity (PageRank) flow
- Guide crawlers to the right pages
Without this tag, Google may index unnecessary pages — which can reduce your overall SEO performance.
3. Common Meta Robots Values
1. Index
Tells Google to show your page in search results.
Example: <meta name=”robots” content=”index”>
2. No Index
Tells Google not to show this page in search results.
Useful for login pages, checkout pages, duplicate content, etc.
Example: <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>
3. Follow
Google can follow links on this page and pass link value.
Example: <meta name=”robots” content=”follow”>
4. No Follow
Improves how search engines access your website.
Includes:
- Fast loading speed
- Mobile friendliness
- Secure website (HTTPS)
- XML sitemaps
- Clean website structure
5. No Index, No Follow
This focuses on building trust and authority outside your website, mainly through:
- Backlinks (links from other websites to yours)
- Mentions on social media
- Guest posts
4. When Should You Use Meta Robots Tags?
Here are the most common situations where Meta Robots tags help your SEO:
1. Use No Index For:
- Thank you pages
- Login or signup pages
- Cart & checkout pages
- Admin or dashboard pages
- Internal search result pages
- Tag pages with thin content
Example:
You don’t want your “Order Success” page to appear on Google.
Use: <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex, nofollow”>
2. Use No Follow for:
- Pages with untrusted external links
- Forums, comments, or UGC pages
- Paid links
Example: If users can post links in comments, add:
<meta name=”robots” content=”nofollow”>
3. Use Index, Follow for:
- Blog posts
- Service pages
- Product pages
- Important landing pages
This allows Google to index the page and pass link authority.
5. Example: Using Meta Robots Tag Correctly
| Page | Should it appear on Google? | Meta Robots Tag |
| Home Page | Yes | index, follow |
| Blog Article | Yes | index, follow |
| Checkout Page | No | noindex, nofollow |
| Admin Login | No | noindex, nofollow |
| Duplicate Category Page | No | noindex, follow |
| User Forum | Yes, but don’t trust links | index, nofollow |