When to use noindex vs canonical
Use noindex when you never want a page in search (login, thank-you, internal tools). Use canonical when multiple URLs serve similar content and you want one preferred URL indexed. Don't use both on the same page for the same URL—they conflict.
Common noindex mistakes
- Noindexing pages you want indexed (e.g. key landing pages)
- Combining noindex with canonical pointing elsewhere—pick one
- Relying on noindex for security—use authentication
- Noindexing thin content instead of improving it
Robots.txt vs meta robots
Robots.txt controls crawling at the path level (which URLs bots may request).Meta robots control indexing at the page level (whether a crawled page appears in results). Use robots.txt to reduce crawl load; use meta robots to keep pages out of search without blocking access.
Ecommerce examples
Use noindex, nofollow on: cart, checkout, account, internal search results, filtered category pages that duplicate the main category. Use index, nofollow on product pages with user reviews (show in search, don't pass equity through review links).