Disabling Search Engine Indexing For WordPress

Written by - adeena

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January 17, 2019

The spider of Google Bot reads web pages to check and verify the quality. This process of scanning web pages is called Google Indexing. We publish new content (text and images) to be indexed by Google so that Google can give us value over our competitors after scanning and analyzing. Search Engine Indexing is a process of gathering, analyzing, and saving data to ease a quick and precise instruction revival of a website.

There are a few reasons to turn off the whole website indexing or any specific web page’s indexing. We are showing you the step-by-step guide to turn off the indexing of any WordPress website during the development duration.

Table of Contents

5 reasons why Disabling Search Engine Indexing For WordPress

Disabling search engine indexing for WordPress can be a strategic decision for various reasons:

Privacy Protection: Disabling search engine indexing can help protect sensitive information or content not meant for public consumption. This is particularly important for websites containing personal data or confidential materials.
Content Control: By preventing search engines from indexing certain pages or content. Website owners can have better control over what information is readily accessible to the public. This ensures that only intended content is visible through search engine results.
Testing and Development: During the development or testing phase of a website. It may be beneficial to disable search engine indexing. This prevents unfinished or experimental content from being indexed and appearing in search results prematurely.
SEO Strategy: In certain cases, strategically disabling indexing for specific pages can be part of an overall search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. This approach allows website owners to focus search engine attention on key pages while excluding less relevant or duplicate content.
Avoiding Duplicate Content Penalties:

Search engines penalize websites that contain duplicate content. This can happen when the same content appears on multiple pages or when content is syndicated from other sources. Disabling indexing for specific pages can reduce this risk by ensuring that unique and relevant content gets indexed and displayed in search results.

How to disable search engine indexing for WordPress

Step # 1

Enter your username and password and log in to your dashboard.

Step # 2

Go to Setting
Find Reading option

Step # 3

Now scroll down when the “Reading Settings” page opens click on the “Search Engine Visibility” option and mark it as Checked.

Step # 4

Click the “Save Changes” button to save your changes.

To turn off indexing and prevent search engines from reading your web pages while updating your website, follow these steps. Remember to enable indexing again after editing your website so that search engines can index it and you can reap the benefits.