Noindex and nofollow are different directives with different purposes. Using the wrong one can hurt your SEO. Here's when to use each.
What's the Difference?
Noindex
Tells search engines NOT to add the page to their index. The page won't appear in search results.
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">Nofollow
Tells search engines not to pass link equity (PageRank) through links. The page can still be indexed.
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">Or on individual links:
<a href="..." rel="nofollow">Link</a>When to Use Noindex
- Thank you/confirmation pages
- Internal search results
- Login/member areas
- Duplicate or thin content you can't consolidate
- Staging/development sites
- Pages with no SEO value
When to Use Nofollow
- Paid/sponsored links (required by Google)
- User-generated content (comments, forums)
- Links to untrusted sites
- Login links (to save crawl budget)
Combining Directives
You can use both together:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">This prevents indexing AND tells Google not to follow links on the page.
Common Mistakes
Noindexing Important Pages
Sometimes plugins or themes accidentally add noindex. Always audit your pages.
Nofollow on Internal Links
Don't nofollow your own internal links—you want link equity to flow through your site.
Using Noindex When You Mean Nofollow
These do different things. Make sure you're using the right one.
Checking for Issues
- Use Screaming Frog to find noindex pages
- Check Search Console for noindexed pages
- View page source and search for "noindex"
Related: Robots.txt Guide
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