If you have explored the WordPress backend, you might have seen an option called ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ and wondered what it does. Is it a way to hide your site from search engines or keep your content private from unwanted visitors? While this option might seem like a quick fix, it is important to understand how it works and its limitations. In this blog, we will explain what this option does, its limitations & how you can do this using xCloud. Let us get started.
What Does “Discourage Search Engines from Indexing This Site” Mean?
Ever wondered how search engines discover and rank your website? The answer lies in an automated program known as a spider—sometimes referred to as a robot or crawler. These digital scouts traverse the internet, visiting websites and logging content to build a vast index of information.
What Do Spiders Do?
Spiders play a crucial role in how Google and other search engines interact with your site. Here is what they do:
- Rank Your Website: Spiders gather data to determine how your site should rank in search engine results.
- Grab Snippets: They extract content snippets from your articles to display on search results pages.
- Pull Images: Spiders collect images from your site for indexing in platforms like Google Images.
How WordPress Handles Crawling Instructions
In WordPress, you have the option to control whether search engines can index your site. For example, if you enable the ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ setting, here is what happens:
- Robots.txt File Update: WordPress modifies the robots.txt file, which provides guidelines to spiders about which parts of your site to crawl or ignore.
- Meta Tag Addition: It can also add a meta tag in your site’s header, instructing search engines like Google not to index any of your content.
This feature is helpful if your site is still under construction or if you prefer to keep it private. However, remember that discouraging search engines from indexing your site means it will not appear in search results, impacting your site’s visibility.
By understanding how spiders work and how to guide them effectively, you can better manage your website’s SEO and ensure it is optimized for search engines.
Why Would You Hide Your Website From Search Engines?
Websites are built to connect with audiences — to inform, engage, and encourage action. Whether you are sharing insightful articles, selling products, or creating captivating content, visibility is crucial. So, why would anyone intentionally block search engines from accessing their site?
Surprisingly, there are valid scenarios where deindexing part or all of your website makes sense. Let us explore the reasons and alternatives you might consider. Here are a few common reasons to hide your website (or parts of it).
- Your Site is Under Development: If your website is not ready for the public eye, you may not want search engines indexing incomplete pages or test content.
- You Want Private Content Management: WordPress can double as a private content management system, perfect for internal resources or personal projects you do not want to share publicly.
- Protecting Sensitive Information: Sometimes, websites house sensitive data you would rather keep away from prying eyes.
- Restricting Access to Specific Groups: If your content is designed for a niche audience — accessible via invitation or link only — keeping it off search engines makes sense.
- Gated or Exclusive Content: For paywalled articles or exclusive newsletters, deindexing ensures that only paying members or subscribers can access the content.
- Archiving Old Content: To improve user experience and maintain relevance, you may want to hide outdated or irrelevant articles from search engines.
- Avoiding SEO Penalties: Duplicate content, test pages, or unnecessary subdomains can hurt your site’s SEO ranking. Blocking search engines from these areas helps protect your main site.
Are There Better Alternatives?
For some of these scenarios, alternative solutions can be more effective than deindexing:
- Use a Local Development Server: When building a new site, consider testing it on a private server or staging environment rather than exposing it online.
- Set Articles to Private: WordPress allows you to mark pages or posts as private, keeping them hidden from public view and search engines.
- Add Password Protection: For sensitive or gated content, protect access using a secure password.
However, there are cases where deindexing remains the right choice. Whether it is protecting private resources or fine-tuning your SEO strategy, selectively blocking search engines is a legitimate tool in your website management toolkit.
Remember, striking the right balance between visibility and privacy ensures your website serves its purpose effectively. Speaking of it, xCloud is the platform that allows you to keep that right balance easily.
How to Discourage Search Engines from Indexing Your Site Using xCloud?
Managing search engine visibility in xCloud is straightforward and versatile, allowing you to control whether search engines index your WordPress site. This feature is available in multiple locations within the xCloud dashboard, ensuring convenience and flexibility.
Search Engine Visibility in xCloud
For live websites, it is recommended not to discourage search engines from indexing your site. When adding a new site, you will find the Search Engine Visibility option under “More Advanced Settings”, as shown below:
Remember, for the Staging & Demo site, this option is being discouraged by default. What if you do not check this option while adding a site? No worries. You can do it later; as we mentioned, we can use this option in multiple places on xCloud.
Once you log into your xCloud dashboard, click on ‘Sites’ and from the list of multiple sites (if you have) enter the sites for which you want to discourage search engine indexing.
On the resulting page, click on ‘Site Settings’ from the left side panel. Scroll down a bit to find the option ‘Search Engine Visibility’, click to turn on the toggle button, & hit the ‘Save Settings’ option to complete the configuration. Well, you’ve done your part, now it’s up to search engines to honor this request.
Once configured, your site’s visibility settings will request search engines not to index the site. However, it is ultimately up to the search engines to honor this directive.
Note: Do not forget to uncheck the box while going back to live again.
With this simple process, you can effortlessly manage search engine visibility for your WordPress site directly from the xCloud dashboard, keeping your staging or demo environments private and ensuring best practices for live sites.
Make the Most of Search Engine Visibility Options with xCloud
Deciding when to discourage search engines from indexing your site is essential for effective website management. Whether protecting sensitive content, staging a demo, or optimizing SEO, this option helps you control what gets indexed online.
xCloud simplifies the process with easy-to-use tools for managing search engine visibility, ensuring you can balance privacy and exposure effortlessly. Use this feature wisely to safeguard your content, streamline development, and keep your live sites optimized for search engines.
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