How To Do Deindexing? Effective Methods Are Explained Here!

Deindexing removes a web page or website from search engine results pages (SERPs).

This can be done for various reasons, including deleting old or duplicate information and sites that violate search engine criteria.

In this post, we’ll look at deindexing, why it’s essential and ways to accomplish it efficiently.

What Is Deindexing?

Deindexing removes a web page or website from search engine results pages (SERPs). This implies that the page or site will no longer display in search results when people enter relevant keywords.

There are various reasons why a page or site could be de-indexed, including:

• Violating search engine standards, such as employing black hat SEO techniques or participating in spamming activity.
• Having duplicate material on your website or page.
• Having old or irrelevant material on a website or page.
• Broken links or technological difficulties might hamper proper page indexing or site.

Deindexing can significantly affect a website’s traffic and exposure. If a page or site gets deindexed, it may not display in search results, making it far more difficult for people to locate.

Effective methods for deindexing:

There are various ways to de-index a page or website. Here are the most common ones:

1. Deindexing Using The Noindex Meta Tag

The noindex meta tag prevents pages from appearing in search results. To deindex a webpage, add the noindex meta element below to the HTML code’s head tag.

<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>

This is how the code appears when it is inserted to the head element of the site’s HTML code.

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The above noindex meta tag instructs all search engines not to index the page. You can advise particular search engine crawlers not to index the webpage by substituting robots with the crawler bot’s name.

For example, the noindex meta tag below informs Googlebot not to index the page. Meanwhile, other crawler bots can index the page.  

<meta name=”googlebot” content=”noindex”>

Regarding preventing crawler bots from indexing a website, Google has stated that it only supports noindex rules for Googlebot and Googlebot-news. Google does not support noindex restrictions for its other bots.

2. Deindexing Using Google Search Console

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One of the simplest methods to de-index a page is to utilize Google Search Console’s “Remove URL” feature.

This is a brief guide:

Go to the Google Search Console.

Click “removals” on the sidebar.

Click “New Request”.

Enter your URL.

This tool lets website owners temporarily or permanently remove URLs from Google’s search results. When you file a removal request, Google will process it within a few days and remove the page from search results.

3. Deindexing Using X-Robots-Meta Tag

The X-Robots-Meta tag prevents websites and non-HTML components like photos, movies, and PDF files from showing in search results. Use the X-Robots-Meta element below to prevent a webpage or resource from showing in search results.

X-Robots-Tag: noindex

The X-Robots-Tag is set up on the server side. This might be accomplished using server configuration files or a server-side programming language like PHP.

This is how the above tag appears when included in PHP code.

<?php 

header(‘X-Robots-Tag: noindex’); 

?>

The X-Robots-Meta tag can also prevent some search engine crawlers from indexing a webpage or another non-HTML element. For example, the following meta tag informs Googlebot not to index the webpage.

4. Deindexing Your Site & Webpages Using WordPress

WordPress enables you to prevent search engines from crawling your website. To accomplish this, navigate to WordPress Dashboard → Settings → Reading.

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Once completed, choose Discourage search engines from indexing this site and click Save Changes. Your entire website will now be set to noindex.

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However, you must request that Google re-crawl and deindex your website. To do so, go to Google Search Console, type your site URL into the URL Inspection section, and press Enter on your keyboard.

Once completed, click REQUEST INDEXING, as shown below.

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However, this strategy only works for deindexing the complete site. If you wish to deindex your posts and pages, follow this instruction to change your URLs to noindex.

What Do People Get Mostly Wrong About Deindexing?

Deindexing in Google is a severe issue that needs meticulous attention to detail. Unfortunately, many people make mistakes that might be more harmful than beneficial. Here are some typical misconceptions regarding deindexing to avoid:

• Thinking that deindexing is the only solution

Deindexing should not be the initial step in dealing with undesired information. There are alternative options to examine before requesting deindexing. For example, you can try to have the content deleted by contacting the website owner directly or submitting it to Google via the Search Console’s removal feature.

• Assuming that deindexing is a quick fix

Deindexing is a simple and quick way to remove unwanted information from Google. However, this is not true. Deindexing is a complicated operation that demands meticulous preparation and execution. Google can take days or weeks to complete a deindexing request, and approval is not guaranteed.

• Assuming that deindexing is the same as removing content from the internet

Deindexing just removes content from the Google index. It does not entirely erase the content from the internet. The material is still accessible via other search engines or by visiting the website directly.

• Believing that deindexing is permanent

Deindexing is only a temporary solution. If the website owner restores the material to their site, Google will re-index it. As a result, deindexing should only be utilized as a last resort after all other options have been explored.

• Ignoring the potential consequences of deindexing

Deindexing may have unforeseen implications, such as reducing your website’s overall rating. This is because Google ranks websites based on the amount and quality of links that lead to them. Deindexing a page with important links may accidentally affect your website’s rating.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has improved your knowledge of deindexing for Google and SEO. In most circumstances, webmasters will endeavor to prevent deindexing, while some may attempt to de-index their websites.

Please do not hesitate to look at our SEO packages or contact us if you want more assistance.

FAQs

1. What happens if I add the noindex rule to a webpage over a long period?

Google will cease indexing any webpage that has been labeled noindex for an extended length of time. This happens even if you provide the following property on the webpage.

2. Can I deindex duplicate pages?

Don’t deindex duplicate pages. Instead, indicate the webpage’s original version using the rel=”canonical” link element.

3. Can I block pages from being indexed using robots.txt?

Yes, you can prevent pages from being indexed with a robots.txt file. This approach solely blocks the search engines.