If Your WordPress Website Isn’t Indexed by Search Engines, the Noindex May Be the Culprit

If you have a WordPress website and it isn’t appearing on search engines, the noindex tag might be to blame. The noindex tag tells search engines to bypass the website or page when indexing links. You need to remove the noindex tag if mistakenly added or added by accident, to ensure proper indexing for your website.

Why Remove the Noindex Tag in WordPress?

Removing the noindex tag is key if you want your site to show up on search engines. With the noindex tag, the website or page is invisible, failing to show up on search engine results pages (SERPs). To figure out what a webpage holds, search engines delve into various features like keywords, images, and phrases. However, with the noindex tag present, the site is effectively keeping search engines away, leading to a severe deficit in organic traffic from search engines.

How to Remove the Noindex from Your WordPress Site

The best ways to remove the noindex tag in WordPress include:

1. Check WordPress Settings

Start by accessing the WordPress dashboard and clicking on the Settings tab. From there, click on Reading and uncheck the box next to the “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” option in the Search Engine Visibility section. Click Save Changes, and you’re done.

2. Remove Noindex Using Yoast SEO Plugin

If you are using Yoast SEO plugin on your WordPress site, navigate to Yoast SEO and click on the Search Appearance column. Click Archive and select the “Index” option. Repeat the steps for other tabs, including Search Appearance, Post Types, and Taxonomies, to ensure no noindex tags keep showing up.

3. Remove Noindex Using Robots.txt

To access the robots.txt file, visit the root directory of your website, locate the robots.txt file, and review it find any noindex tags. Strike out the noindex tag and save the file.

4. Remove Noindex Using .htaccess

Visit your site’s root directory and look for the .htaccess file. Open it in a text editor and search for the noindex tag. Remove the noindex tag instance and save the .htaccess file.

5. Remove Noindex Using Plugins

Choose a reliable plugin like Remove Noindex that scans your site for any noindex tags and removes them in one click. This plugin can save you time and effort and is highly rated for its efficiency. Once the plugin is installed, go to Settings> Remove Noindex and click on the “Remove noindex from the whole site” option. After that, click on save changes to clear all noindex tags on the website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing the noindex tag is vital for ranking your website to attract organic traffic from search engines. Follow the methods discussed in this article to ensure your website is properly indexed, and don’t forget to make a backup of your website before making any changes.