noindex
“noindex” is a directive — a meta robots tag or X-Robots-Tag HTTP header — that tells search engines not to include a page in their index, so it won't appear in search results.
What it means
A meta robots tag or X-Robots-Tag HTTP header instructing engines to keep the page out of the index.
Why it matters for indexing
An accidental noindex is one of the most common reasons a page silently never appears in search.
How to check it
View source for <meta name="robots" content="noindex">, or use URL Inspection which reports it explicitly.
How FastIndexing helps
Pre-flight catches a stray noindex before you waste credits submitting a page Google is told to ignore.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'noindex' mean?
It means “do not index this page.” The page can still be crawled, but the engine is told to keep it out of search results.
What's the difference between noindex and nofollow?
noindex keeps the page out of the index; nofollow tells engines not to pass link equity / not to follow links. They're independent and can be combined.
When should you use noindex?
For pages you don't want in search — thank-you pages, internal search results, staging, thin tag archives. Don't use it on pages you want found; an accidental noindex is a top reason pages never appear.