What is Blocked Indexing?

Blocked indexing occurs when Google or other search engine's web crawlers are given a noindex directive and cannot list the webpage in search results.

What is the Purpose of Blocked Indexing?

There are a few reasons why a site owner may want to prevent a search engine from listing a webpage. For one, Google and other search engines penalizes sites with duplicate content, in which case it should not be indexed. Additionally, site owners may not want to list a page with outdated, gated (information that should only display after a form is filled out), and/or little-to-no content.

Should This Webpage Be Blocked From Indexing?

If the site owner would like the page to be visible in search results, then the page should not be blocked from indexing. Check to make sure there isn't a noindex directive for this webpage or on a sitemap. Additionally, make sure that there is quality content on the page to prevent de-indexing.

For an in-depth look at indexing, check out our guide Prevent and Enable Indexing.