Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why)

Chris Thompson · 08-21-2009, 06:54 AM

Hey fellow WordPress users,

Ok like most of you I'm using WordPress along with the All-In-One-SEO plugin. I love it and I don't want to change it. But I have run into a problem where Id like to have certain pages with NoIndex in the meta data. This popular plugin that so many of us use does not allow you to create NoIndex tags per page.

To make sure this thread helps people who don't understand, here are the reasons I need this:

1) NoIndex is a TAG that goes in your header, it tells Google not to index the specific page.

2) There are plenty of times when a marketer does NOT want pages indexed by Google. The most obvious (which apply to me) are:

Thank you pages, such as after a customer opts-in and gets a freebie from you. You don't want that freebie to be public
Special sales pages where special pricing is given. You don't want everyone to be able to find it
Avoid duplicate content penalty. The duplicate content penalty is something that matters WITHIN YOUR SITE ONLY. Say you have 40 landing pages that are mostly the same but keyword optimized for slightly different keyworkds, and you are using Adwords (PPC) to send traffic, you would NOT want to index these pages because Google would see them as too similar and you'd get slapped with a duplicate content penalty.

I hope that explanation helps some of you. Now does anyone have a simple plugin suggestion that handles JUST the NoIndex / NoFollow and not otherwise duplicate the SEO functions of All-In-One-SEO?

Leanne King · 08-21-2009, 06:58 AM

Hi Chris, Platinum SEO is by the guys that originally developed All In One SEO it has the function that you refer to. If you don't want to give up AIOS then I'd recommend the no index plugin by Yoast Meta Robots WordPress plugin - Yoast - Tweaking Websites works perfectly with AIOS.

Hope that helps
Leanne

Chris Thompson · 08-21-2009, 07:08 AM

That's awesome! I saw it yesterday quickly while searching, and I didn't realize it was the solution I wanted. I got confused and thought it was for creating a robots.txt file .. silly me.

bgmacaw · 08-21-2009, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Thompson

[*]Avoid duplicate content penalty. The duplicate content penalty is something that matters WITHIN YOUR SITE ONLY. Say you have 40 landing pages that are mostly the same but keyword optimized for slightly different keyworkds, and you are using Adwords (PPC) to send traffic, you would NOT want to index these pages because Google would see them as too similar and you'd get slapped with a duplicate content penalty.

From a SEO perspective, there is no duplicate content penalty in this case but a duplicate content filter. Google understands that scripts like WordPress and some ecommerce sites automatically produce on-site duplicate content. Since this is done for users, not search engine manipulation, they're OK with and won't penalize you for using the features of a perfectly legit script although they will only show one page from your domain in their results in most cases.

On WordPress sites, Google will almost always index the post page as long as it's the one that pings BlogSearch. It may or may not index category pages or tag pages. If it does index them, then these pages may show up in the search results while your original post page is filtered out because the algorithm considers it less relevant to the search query. Of course, this may not be desirable to you from a landing page perspective. In that case, noindexing or simply not using tags or categories publicly would make sense.

The Expert · 08-21-2009, 10:26 AM

I think there is a plugin called "Headspace" (or "Headspace 2") that allows you tweak the header of any page to your hearts content.

Gail Sober · 08-21-2009, 10:38 AM

Just use a robots.txt file
The Web Robots Pages

It's not a perfect solution but the bots that will obey your meta tag will obey the robots.txt file

A bad bot will obey neither

Chris Thompson · 08-21-2009, 11:33 AM

Robots.txt is probably OK. It's not ideal because anyone can look at your file and see what you are disallowing. Anyone.

InternetMarketingIQ · 08-21-2009, 12:50 PM

The solution has already been given. Use Platinum SEO plug in.

Gail Sober · 08-21-2009, 01:11 PM

Oops, sorry Chris. I missed where you had already ruled out the robots.txt in a previous post.

Platinum SEO looks very good. Going to have to give it a go myself.

08-21-2009, 06:54 AM	#1
Chris Thompson Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 946 Thanks: 17 Thanked 182 Times in 119 Posts Social Networking	Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) Hey fellow WordPress users, Ok like most of you I'm using WordPress along with the All-In-One-SEO plugin. I love it and I don't want to change it. But I have run into a problem where Id like to have certain pages with NoIndex in the meta data. This popular plugin that so many of us use does not allow you to create NoIndex tags per page. To make sure this thread helps people who don't understand, here are the reasons I need this: 1) NoIndex is a TAG that goes in your header, it tells Google not to index the specific page. 2) There are plenty of times when a marketer does NOT want pages indexed by Google. The most obvious (which apply to me) are: Thank you pages, such as after a customer opts-in and gets a freebie from you. You don't want that freebie to be public Special sales pages where special pricing is given. You don't want everyone to be able to find it Avoid duplicate content penalty. The duplicate content penalty is something that matters WITHIN YOUR SITE ONLY. Say you have 40 landing pages that are mostly the same but keyword optimized for slightly different keyworkds, and you are using Adwords (PPC) to send traffic, you would NOT want to index these pages because Google would see them as too similar and you'd get slapped with a duplicate content penalty. I hope that explanation helps some of you. Now does anyone have a simple plugin suggestion that handles JUST the NoIndex / NoFollow and not otherwise duplicate the SEO functions of All-In-One-SEO?
	Read How I began outsourcing. Get your Free Bonus too. Boost Clickbank Conversions: Free Video Here.

08-21-2009, 06:58 AM	#2
Leanne King WP Queen War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney , Australia Posts: 1,105 Thanks: 9 Thanked 198 Times in 132 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) Hi Chris, Platinum SEO is by the guys that originally developed All In One SEO it has the function that you refer to. If you don't want to give up AIOS then I'd recommend the no index plugin by Yoast Meta Robots WordPress plugin - Yoast - Tweaking Websites works perfectly with AIOS. Hope that helps Leanne
	COUPON CRUSHER WSO - TRAFFIC GRAB CHEAT SHEETWP Mini Money Makers - XFACTOR WP THEME - Optimize Press WordPress Theme Review \| HTML Sites to WordPress \| WordPress Security \|WP Twin - $20 Discount \| Nanacast Fast Start

08-21-2009, 07:08 AM	#3
Chris Thompson Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 946 Thanks: 17 Thanked 182 Times in 119 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) That's awesome! I saw it yesterday quickly while searching, and I didn't realize it was the solution I wanted. I got confused and thought it was for creating a robots.txt file .. silly me.
	Read How I began outsourcing. Get your Free Bonus too. Boost Clickbank Conversions: Free Video Here.

08-21-2009, 10:26 AM	#5
The Expert HyperActive Warrior Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 357 Thanks: 26 Thanked 52 Times in 32 Posts	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) I think there is a plugin called "Headspace" (or "Headspace 2") that allows you tweak the header of any page to your hearts content.

08-21-2009, 10:38 AM	#6
Gail Sober Advanced Warrior Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 741 Thanks: 59 Thanked 45 Times in 37 Posts	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) Just use a robots.txt file The Web Robots Pages It's not a perfect solution but the bots that will obey your meta tag will obey the robots.txt file A bad bot will obey neither

08-21-2009, 11:33 AM	#7
Chris Thompson Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 946 Thanks: 17 Thanked 182 Times in 119 Posts Social Networking	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) Robots.txt is probably OK. It's not ideal because anyone can look at your file and see what you are disallowing. Anyone.
	Read How I began outsourcing. Get your Free Bonus too. Boost Clickbank Conversions: Free Video Here.

08-21-2009, 12:50 PM	#8
InternetMarketingIQ Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US of A Posts: 2,190 Thanks: 47 Thanked 257 Times in 211 Posts	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) The solution has already been given. Use Platinum SEO plug in.
	Internet Marketing IQ™

08-21-2009, 01:11 PM	#9
Gail Sober Advanced Warrior Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 741 Thanks: 59 Thanked 45 Times in 37 Posts	Re: Wordpress plugin for NoIndex? (and a lesson for newbs on why) Oops, sorry Chris. I missed where you had already ruled out the robots.txt in a previous post. Platinum SEO looks very good. Going to have to give it a go myself.