• seohunters9

        See all notifications

        Skip to content
        Moz logo Menu open Menu close
        • Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Pro Home
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Home
          • STAT
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Home
          • Compare SEO Products
          • Moz Data
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Link Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • MozBar
          • More Free SEO Tools
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Moz Academy
          • MozCon
          • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Small Business Solutions
          • The Moz Story
          • New Releases
        • Log in
        • Log out
        • Products
          • Moz Pro

            Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

          • Moz Local

            Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

          • STAT

            SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

          • Moz API

            Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

          • Compare SEO Products

            See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

          • Moz Data

            Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

          Let your business shine with Listings AI
          Moz Local

          Let your business shine with Listings AI

          Learn more
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis

            Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

          • Keyword Explorer

            Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

          • Link Explorer

            Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

          • Competitive Research

            Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

          • MozBar

            See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

          • More Free SEO Tools

            Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
          Moz Pro

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

          Learn more
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO

            The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

          • SEO Learning Center

            Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

          • On-Demand Webinars

            Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

          • How-To Guides

            Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

          • Moz Academy

            Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

          • MozCon

            Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
          Moz API

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

          Find your plan
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers

            Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

          • Small Business Solutions

            Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

          • Agency Solutions

            Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

          • Enterprise Solutions

            Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

          • The Moz Story

            Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

          • New Releases

            Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

          Surface actionable competitive intel
          New Feature

          Surface actionable competitive intel

          Learn More
        • Log in
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Dashboard
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Dashboard
          • Moz Academy
        • Avatar
          • Moz Home
          • Notifications
          • Account & Billing
          • Manage Users
          • Community Profile
          • My Q&A
          • My Videos
          • Log Out

        The Moz Q&A Forum

        • Forum
        • Questions
        • My Q&A
        • Users
        • Ask the Community

        Welcome to the Q&A Forum

        Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

        1. Home
        2. SEO Tactics
        3. Technical SEO
        4. Why are pages still showing in SERPs, despite being NOINDEXed for months?

        Moz Q&A is closed.

        After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

        Why are pages still showing in SERPs, despite being NOINDEXed for months?

        Technical SEO
        5
        10
        2079
        Loading More Posts
        • Watching

          Notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread.

        • Not Watching

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread if category is not ignored.

        • Ignoring

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Do not show question in unread.

        • Oldest to Newest
        • Newest to Oldest
        • Most Votes
        Reply
        • Reply as question
        Locked
        This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
        • MadeLoud
          MadeLoud last edited by

          We have thousands of pages we're trying to have de-indexed in Google for months now.  They've all got . But they simply will not go away in the SERPs.

          Here is just one example....

          http://bitly.com/VutCFiIf you search this URL in Google, you will see that it is indexed, yet it's had  for many months.  This is just one example for thousands of pages, that will not get de-indexed.  Am I missing something here?  Does it have to do with using content="none" instead of content="noindex, follow"?

          Any help is very much appreciated.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • SanketPatel
            SanketPatel @MadeLoud last edited by

            Thanks for your reply,

            Let me know if you are able to deindex those pages. I will wait. Also please share what you have implemented to deindex those pages.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • MadeLoud
              MadeLoud @SanketPatel last edited by

              A page can have a link to it, and still not be indexed, so I disagree with you on that.

              But thanks for using the domain name.  That will teach me to use a URL shortener...

              SanketPatel 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • MadeLoud
                MadeLoud @MadeLoud last edited by

                Hm, that is interesting.  So you're saying that it will get crawled, and thus will eventually become deindexed (as noindex is part of the content="none" directive), but since it's a dead end page, it just takes an extra long time for that particular page to get crawled?

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • edwardrj
                  edwardrj last edited by

                  Just to add to the other answers, you can also remove the URLs (or entire directory if necessary) via the URL removal tool in Webmaster Tools, although Google prefers you to use it for emergencies of sorts (I've had no problems with it).

                  http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164734

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -1
                  • eyepaq
                    eyepaq @MadeLoud last edited by

                    No, nofollow will only tell the bot that the page is a dead end - that the bot should not follow any links on page. And that means any inks from those pages won't be visited by the bot - that is slowing the crawling process overall for those pages.

                    If you block a page in robots.txt and the page is already in the index - that will remain in the index as the noindex or content=none won't be seen by the bot so it won't be removed from the index - it will just won't be visited anymore.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • MadeLoud
                      MadeLoud @eyepaq last edited by

                      Ok, so, nofollow is stopping the page from being read at all?  I thought that nofollow just means the links on the page will not be followed.  Is meta nofollow essentially the same as blocking a page in robots.txt?

                      eyepaq MadeLoud 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • SanketPatel
                        SanketPatel last edited by

                        Hi Howard,

                        The page is in Google index because you are still linking to that page from your website. Here is the page from where that page links:

                        http://www.2mcctv.com/product_print-productinfoVeiluxVS70CDNRDhtml.html

                        As you are linking that page Google indexing the page. Google come to know about "noindex" tag before that he has already indexed it. Sorry for bad English.

                        Lindsay has written awesome post about it here:

                        http://www.seomoz.org/blog/robot-access-indexation-restriction-techniques-avoiding-conflicts

                        After reading above blog post, my all doubts about noindex, follow, robots.txt get clear.

                        Thanks Lindsay

                        MadeLoud 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -1
                        • Bryan_Loconto
                          Bryan_Loconto last edited by

                          We always use the noindex code in our robot.txt file.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • eyepaq
                            eyepaq last edited by

                            Hi,

                            In order to deindex you should use noindex as content=none also means nofollow. You do need to follow now in order to reach all other pages and see the no index tag and remove those from the index.

                            When you have all of them out of the index you can set the none back on.

                            This is the main reason "none" as attribute is not very wide in usage as "shooting yourself in the foot" with it it's easy.

                            On the otehr hand you need to see if google bot is actually reaching those pages:

                            • see if you don't have any robots.txt restrictions first

                            • see when google's bot last have a hit on any of the pages - that will give you a good idea and you can do a prediction.

                            If those pages are in the sup index you can wait for some time for Google bit to revisit.

                            One last note: build xml sitemaps with all of those pages and submit those via WMT - that will help at 100% to get those in front of the firing squad and also to be able to monitor those better.

                            Hope it helps.

                            MadeLoud 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • 1 / 1
                            • First post
                              Last post

                            Browse Questions

                            Explore more categories

                            • Moz Tools

                              Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                            • SEO Tactics

                              Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                            • Community

                              Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                            • Digital Marketing

                              Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                            • Research & Trends

                              Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                            • Support

                              Connect on product support and feature requests.

                            • See all categories

                            Related Questions

                            • dMaLasp

                              Favicon not showing in google serps

                              serp favicon

                              Hi, I have a website where the favicon is not showing in the google mobile serps. It's appearing the default icon instead (world icon). This is the tag I have place in the head section of the website: <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" /> The size of the favicon is 48x48 and it's appearing correctly in the browser tag. I've checked that the google robot can crawl it and in the server logs I can see requests from the "Google Favicon" user-agent. Has anyone had this same problem? Any advice?

                              Technical SEO | | dMaLasp
                              0
                            • RoxBrock

                              Robots.txt & meta noindex--site still shows up on Google Search

                              I have set up my robots.txt like this: User-agent: *
                              Disallow: / and I have this meta tag in my on a Wordpress site, set up with SEO Yoast name="robots" content="noindex,follow"/> I did "Fetch as Google" on my Google Search Console My website is still showing up in the search results and it says this: "A description for this result is not available because of this site's robots.txt" This site has not shown up for years and now it is ranking above my site that I want to rank for this keyword. How do I get Google to ignore this site? This seems really weird and I'm confused how a site with little content, that has not been updated for years can rank higher than a site that is constantly updated and improved.

                              Technical SEO | | RoxBrock
                              1
                            • JimDirectMailCoach

                              When creating parent and child pages should key words be repeated in url and page title?

                              We are in the direct mail advertising business:  PrintLabelAndMail.com Example: Parent:
                              Postcard Direct Mail Children:
                              Postcard Mailings
                              Postcard Design
                              Postcard Samples
                              Postcard Pricing
                              Postcard Advantages should "postcard" be repeated in the URL and Page Title? and in this example should each of the 5 children link back directly to the parent or would it be better to "daisy chain" them using each as parent for the next?

                              Technical SEO | | JimDirectMailCoach
                              0
                            • MarieHaynes

                              How to identify orphan pages?

                              I've read that you can use Screaming Frog to identify orphan pages on your site, but I can't figure out how to do it.  Can anyone help? I know that Xenu Link Sleuth works but I'm on a Mac so that's not an option for me. Or are there other ways to identify orphan pages?

                              Technical SEO | | MarieHaynes
                              0
                            • Dan-Lawrence

                              Can you 301 redirect a page to an already existing/old page ?

                              If you delete a page (say a sub department/category page on an ecommerce store) should you 301 redirect its url to the nearest equivalent page still on the site or just delete and forget about it ? Generally should you try and 301 redirect any old pages your deleting if you can find suitable page with similar content to redirect to. Wont G consider it weird if you say a page has moved permenantly to such and such an address if that page/address existed before ? I presume its fine since say in the scenario of consolidating departments on your store you want to redirect the department page your going to delete to the existing pages/department you are consolidating old departments products into ?

                              Technical SEO | | Dan-Lawrence
                              0
                            • bozzie311

                              Where to put Schema On Page

                              What part of my page should I put Schema data? Header? Footer? Also All pages? or just home page?

                              Technical SEO | | bozzie311
                              4
                            • JU1985

                              Handling 301s: Multiple pages to a single page (consolidation)

                              Been scouring the interwebs and haven't found much information on redirecting two serparate pages to a single new page.  Here is what it boils down to: Let's say a website has two pages, both with good page authority of products that are becoming fazed out.  The products, Widget A and Widget B, are still popular search terms, but they are being combined into ONE product, Widget C.  While Widget A and Widget B STILL have plenty to do with Widget C, Widget C is now the new page, the main focus page, and the page you want everyone to see and Google to recognize. Now, do I 301 Widget A and Widget B pages to Widget C, ALTHOUGH Widgets A and B previously had nothing to do with one another?   (Remember, we want to try and keep some of that authority the two page have had.) OR do we keep Widget A and Widget B pages "alive", take them off the main navigation, and then put a "disclaimer" on the pages announcing they are now part of Widget C and link to Widget C? OR Should Widgets A and B page be canonicalized to Widget C? Again, keep in mind, widgets A and B previously were not similar, but NOW they are and result in Widget C. (If you are confused, we can provide a REAL work example of what we are talkinga about, but decided to not be specific to our industry for this.) Appreciate any and all thoughts on this.

                              Technical SEO | | JU1985
                              0
                            • mmaes

                              Which pages to "noindex"

                              I have read through the many articles regarding the use of Meta Noindex, but what I haven't been able to find is a clear explanation of when, why or what to use this on. I'm thinking that it would be appropriate to use it on: legal pages such as privacy policy and terms of use
                              search results page
                              blog archive and category pages Thanks for any insight of this.

                              Technical SEO | | mmaes
                              0

                            Get started with Moz Pro!

                            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                            Start my free trial
                            Products
                            • Moz Pro
                            • Moz Local
                            • Moz API
                            • Moz Data
                            • STAT
                            • Product Updates
                            Moz Solutions
                            • SMB Solutions
                            • Agency Solutions
                            • Enterprise Solutions
                            • Digital Marketers
                            Free SEO Tools
                            • Domain Authority Checker
                            • Link Explorer
                            • Keyword Explorer
                            • Competitive Research
                            • Brand Authority Checker
                            • Local Citation Checker
                            • MozBar Extension
                            • MozCast
                            Resources
                            • Blog
                            • SEO Learning Center
                            • Help Hub
                            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                            • How-to Guides
                            • Moz Academy
                            • API Docs
                            About Moz
                            • About
                            • Team
                            • Careers
                            • Contact
                            Why Moz
                            • Case Studies
                            • Testimonials
                            Get Involved
                            • Become an Affiliate
                            • MozCon
                            • Webinars
                            • Practical Marketer Series
                            • MozPod
                            Connect with us

                            Contact the Help team

                            Join our newsletter
                            Moz logo
                            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                            • Accessibility
                            • Terms of Use
                            • Privacy

                            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.