Google: When Unindexing Pages From Search Use Noindex, Not Robots.txt

Mar 9, 2021 - 7:41 am 2 by

Google Unindex

Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that when you want to "unindex," remove indexed pages from Google Search, you should not block Google with robots.txt, but rather use noindex. He said only unindex pages when if you don't care if the page doesn't rank but if you want it to rank, then improve the page.

Here are those tweets:

So we see a few things from this tweet:

(1) Only unindex pages when they are not ranking for queries you care about.

(2) If you care about those queries, then improve the pages and do not unindex them.

(3) If you do decide to unindex them, then use noindex instead of robots.txt.

Yes, noindex trumps robots.txt directives.

Also, I don't know if "unindex" is a word but hey.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 26, 2025

Mar 26, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google March 2025 Core Update Volatility Heats Up At Tail End Of Update

Mar 26, 2025 - 7:55 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Different Auctions Locations May Impact CTR & Impression Rates

Mar 26, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Poor Pingdom Score Does Not Affect Your SEO

Mar 26, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Expands AI Overviews To More EU Regions

Mar 26, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Support New Get A Call Option & Text Help

Mar 26, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Search Does Not Use Blockchain (For Timestamps)