How to Fix “Excluded by ‘noindex’ Tag” in Google Search Console (2025 Guide)

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Why This Is an SEO Problem
• How to Identify ‘Excluded by noindex tag’ Pages in the New Google Search Console
• Common Causes of the ‘Excluded by Noindex Tag’ Issue
• How to Fix “Excluded by ‘noindex’ Tag” in Google Search Console – Step by Step
• How to Prevent ‘Excluded by Noindex Tag’ Errors in the Future
• Conclusion

Introduction

If you’re working on SEO, visibility is everything. But sometimes, your web pages just don’t appear in Google Search. You open Google Search Console (GSC) and find the error: “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag.” This issue is common, and it confuses many website owners.

What is “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” in GSC?

This error means Google found the page, but it won’t show it in search. This is a result of your website instructing Google not to index it. This happens when a “noindex” tag is placed in the HTML of the page.

The noindex tag looks like this in the HTML code:

<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>

When Google sees this, it listens. The page is skipped from indexing.

Why is this a problem?

Many times, website owners don’t know the tag exists. It could be included by:

• A plugin for SEO such as Rank Math or Yoast
• A developer by mistake
• Default CMS settings
• Staging or test environments

As a result, valuable pages may get excluded from search. That’s a huge problem if those pages were meant to bring traffic.

You’ll usually see this status in GSC under:

• Index → Pages → Not Indexed
• Reason: “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”

This post will walk you through the process of resolving the problem. We’ll also go over ways to avoid it going forward. If ignored, this small tag can hurt your SEO in a big way.

Why This Is an SEO Problem

If your page is excluded from Google’s index, that page simply won’t appear in search results. It doesn’t matter how valuable or optimized the content is — if it’s not indexed, it’s invisible to Google users. That is the precise meaning of the GSC error “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag.”

This can severely affect your search engine visibility, traffic, and ranking efforts.

1. No indexing = No traffic from Google

When a page is excluded from Google’s index, it’s like it doesn’t exist in search.

You may have spent hours writing a blog, designing a service page, or building a landing page. But if it contains a noindex tag, Google won’t show it to users at all.

It won’t show up even if someone searches for the exact keywords on that page. That’s a major loss of organic visibility — especially for content meant to drive traffic or conversions.

Imagine publishing a product page and wondering why it gets zero visits. Later, you discover it’s excluded by a noindex tag — a simple mistake, but with major impact.

2. Lost internal link value and SEO strength

Google crawls and comprehends the structure of your website with the help of internal links. They also transfer “link equity” across pages, which is a type of SEO value.

But here’s the problem:
Pages marked as noindex break the flow of internal link value.

If several important pages link to a noindex page, that link value is lost. Google may even consider the path “dead” in terms of SEO contribution.

Over time, this weakens the overall structure and authority of your website — especially if key content pieces are blocked.

3. Bad for user experience and search intent

Users trust search engines to deliver useful content. If your helpful article or product guide is excluded from the index, users can’t find it.

Poor user experience results from this, particularly if:

• The page solves a real problem.
• It answers a common search query.
• It serves as part of a content funnel.

Users may bounce from your site if they only find outdated or partial content in search. Worse, they may land on a competitor’s page instead.

4. Wasted crawl budget

Every site has a crawl budget — a limit on how many pages Google will crawl and process in a given time.

If Googlebot is crawling pages with noindex tags, it’s wasting time on content that won’t be added to the index. That’s a missed opportunity.

Your goal should be to make every crawl count. When Google crawls fewer “usable” pages, other important content may get ignored or delayed.

This becomes especially critical for:

• Large e-commerce websites
• News publishers
• Sites with lots of dynamic pages

Google obeys the noindex tag strictly

Google treats the noindex directive seriously. If it finds a noindex tag in your page’s HTML, it will not index the page — even if:

• Other websites link to it.
• It has high-quality content.
• It’s included in your sitemap.

You’re essentially telling Google: “Don’t rank this page.”
Sometimes, that’s the intention. But if it’s added by mistake — through a CMS plugin, dev environment, or template — it can be devastating to your SEO.

How to Identify ‘Excluded by noindex tag’ Pages in the New Google Search Console

Finding which of your pages are blocked by the noindex tag is the first real step to fixing the issue. Luckily, Google Search Console (GSC) makes this easy — but only if you know where to look.

Google has updated its layout. The old “Coverage” report is now replaced with a new section called “Pages.” Let’s walk through the new process in a step-by-step way.

Step 1: Open the New “Pages” Report

Start by logging into your Google Search Console account. Click “Pages” in the “Index” section of the menu on the left.

This report shows a full list of your URLs and how Google is treating them.

It’s divided into two main sections:

• Indexed – Pages that are included in Google’s index.
• Not Indexed – Pages Google knows about but didn’t include.

To find noindex issues, we need to check the Not Indexed section.

Step 2: Filter for “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag”

In the “Not Indexed” tab, GSC provides the reason why each URL was excluded.

Look through the list of reasons and find this one:

Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag

A list of the impacted URLs will be displayed when you click on this. These are the pages that Google found but skipped indexing because of a noindex directive in the page code.

These URLs may include:

• Blog posts
• Product pages
• Landing pages
• Category or tag archives

In many cases, these are pages you expected to appear in Google search — but they aren’t.

Step 3: Review Each Page Listed

Go through each URL to understand whether it should be indexed or not.

Ask yourself:

• Do users find this page useful?
• Should it appear in search results?
• Is the noindex tag intentional?

If the page should be indexed, then you know it needs fixing. You’ll want to remove the noindex tag or adjust the settings in your CMS or plugin.

Common Causes of the ‘Excluded by Noindex Tag’ Issue

Now that you know how to locate the affected pages in Google Search Console (GSC), the next step is understanding why those pages were excluded in the first place.

Many times, these issues are unintentional. A noindex tag might be added by mistake or by default. The most frequent reasons of this problem are listed below.

1. CMS or SEO Plugin Settings

A content management system (CMS), such as WordPress, is used by the majority of modern websites. To manage indexing settings, these systems frequently rely on SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or All in One SEO.

Sometimes, these plugins are set to noindex specific pages by default.

For example:

• Your blog categories or tags may be set to noindex.
• Author archives or media pages may be excluded automatically.
• A new page or post may be saved as “noindex” by default.

This usually happens when:

• The plugin settings are misconfigured.
• You use default settings without checking each section.
• You duplicate a page that already has a noindex tag applied.

2. Theme or Template Code

Some themes or page templates include hard-coded noindex tags. This can affect:

• Landing pages
• Custom post types
• Templates created by developers

In certain instances, the noindex tag is included into the HTML of the theme. Even if your SEO plugin shows the page as indexable, the actual code still blocks it.

This is often overlooked during development or staging, especially when pages are cloned or reused from other sections of the site.

3. Staging or Test Environments Pushed Live

Developers usually set staging sites or test environments to “noindex.” This prevents search engines from seeing test pages.

However, when the site is pushed live, these noindex tags are sometimes left behind.

If this happens, entire sections of your live site could be blocked from indexing. You won’t even know it until traffic starts dropping — or never appears at all.

4. Robots Meta Tags or HTTP Headers

Pages can be excluded using the <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”> tag. But noindex instructions can also come from HTTP headers.

If your server includes a “noindex” directive in the response headers, Google will obey it.

This usually happens due to:

• Misconfigured server settings
• Custom code added by a developer
• Third-party tools overriding CMS behavior

Such headers are harder to find and usually missed during routine checks.

5. Canonical or Alternate Tags Conflicts

If a page uses a canonical tag pointing to a different URL, and that URL is noindexed, then Google may treat your page as not important.

In some cases:

• Your canonical points to a noindexed version.
• Alternate language or device-specific tags conflict with index settings.

These tag conflicts confuse search engines and may result in unintended noindex behavior.

How to Fix “Excluded by ‘noindex’ Tag” in Google Search Console – Step by Step

Now that you’ve found which pages are affected and understand the causes, it’s time to fix the issue. Fixing the “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” in GSC is a careful process. You must first decide whether the page should be indexed. Then, you need to remove or update the noindex setting safely.

This comprehensive, step-by-step instruction will assist you in fixing the issue without negatively impacting your SEO.

Step 1: Decide if the Page Should Be Indexed

Indexing is not required for every page. Intentional exclusions are possible. Before fixing anything, review each URL in GSC and ask:

• Is this page valuable to users?
• Does it offer helpful or original content?
• Should this page appear in Google search?
• Is it part of your SEO or content strategy?

Go ahead and fix it if the response is affirmative. If not, leave the noindex tag as it is. This step helps avoid indexing pages that offer no SEO value.

Step 2: Locate the Noindex Tag

You need to find where the noindex directive is coming from. It could be added through:

• Your SEO plugin (like Yoast or Rank Math)
• Your theme’s template code
• HTTP response headers from your server
• Manual meta tags in your HTML

Use your browser’s developer tools (right-click → View Page Source) and search for:

<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>

If it’s there, your page is blocked from indexing. If not, use SEO tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to examine your HTTP headers or plugin settings.

tep 3: Remove or Update the Noindex Setting

Now that you’ve located the cause, it’s time to address it.

In SEO Plugins (WordPress)

If you’re using a plugin:

• Open your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the page or post.
• Scroll to the SEO plugin section (e.g., Yoast or Rank Math).
• Look for “Allow search engines to show this Page in search results?”
• Change it to Yes (index) or “Allow”.
• Update or publish the page.

In Template Code

If the tag is hardcoded in the theme:

• Ask your developer to remove the noindex tag from the template file.
• Make sure the correct robots meta tag is used.

From HTTP Headers

Check your server or CDN configuration. Look for X-Robots-Tag headers that say:

X-Robots-Tag: noindex

To make indexing possible, update or remove them.

Step 4: Request Indexing in Google Search Console

Return to Google Search Console after deleting the noindex directive.

1. At the top of the GSC dashboard, use the URL Inspection Tool.
2. Paste the fixed URL into the search bar.
3. Click “Request Indexing”.

Google will re-crawl the page and attempt to add it to the index. This step doesn’t guarantee immediate results, but it speeds up the process.

Step 5: Wait and Monitor

Indexing is not always instant. Give Google some time — usually a few days to a few weeks. You can track progress in the Pages report of GSC.

• Look under the “Indexed” section.
• Check if the status of the fixed URL has changed.
• If it’s still excluded, recheck for any missed noindex tags.

Consistency is key. Keep checking until the page shows as indexed.

How to Prevent ‘Excluded by Noindex Tag’ Errors in the Future

Fixing noindex issues is important, but preventing them is even better. Many site owners face these problems again because they don’t update their settings or check them regularly. A few simple habits can help you avoid this error in the long term.

1. Review SEO Plugin Settings Regularly

Make frequent adjustments to your settings if you utilize plugins like Yoast, Rank Math, or All in One SEO. These tools can automatically apply noindex to certain content types.

Make sure to:

• Check settings for categories, tags, and archive pages
• Review post and page settings after publishing
• Avoid bulk applying noindex without double-checking

Sometimes, updates reset plugin settings. Always recheck after updates or plugin changes.

2. Clean Up Themes and Templates

Ask your developer to audit your theme for hard-coded noindex tags. These are easy to miss, especially in:

• Custom page templates
• Landing pages built with builders
• Duplicated or legacy templates

Removing unused or outdated templates also helps reduce errors.

3. Remove Noindex from Staging Before Going Live

Staging sites are often set to noindex for testing. But when these sites are pushed live, developers sometimes forget to remove the tag.

Always double-check:

• Robots meta tags
• SEO plugin settings
• X-Robots-Tag in headers

Do this before launching or migrating any site.

4. Schedule Regular Index Audits

Make it a habit to check GSC monthly. Use the Pages → Not Indexed report to find issues early. You can also look for noindex tags with the aid of tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog.

Early detection means quicker fixes and fewer traffic drops.

Conclusion

Technical SEO issues like the “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” error can silently hurt your website’s visibility. If you’re unsure how to handle it or need expert help diagnosing your Google Search Console issues, the team at WooHelpDesk is here to support you.

We specialize in solving technical SEO problems, optimizing website performance, and keeping your pages search-ready. Whether it’s a plugin conflict, template error, or indexing issue, we’ll fix it fast and right.

📞 Call us now at +1 888 602 0119 (US & Canada) or visit WooHelpDesk.com to get started. Let’s make sure your content gets the visibility it deserves — starting today.