Google Search Console
“Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”: meaning and how to fix it
Depends on the pageWhat it means
Google found a noindex directive (meta robots or X-Robots-Tag header) and left the page out of the index.
Is it a problem?
Only if the noindex is a mistake. It is the right setting for thank-you pages, internal search, account areas and staging.
Common causes
- Deliberate noindex on pages that shouldn't rank
- A leftover noindex from staging or a theme/plugin setting
- An X-Robots-Tag header added by the server or CDN
How to fix it
- Remove the noindex from pages that should rank: check both the HTML and the HTTP headers
- Keep noindex pages out of the sitemap
How to check the fix
Request indexing in URL Inspection once the noindex is gone.
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