Hello,
We apologize for the issue you are facing with noindexing a specific image. Unfortunately, there is no direct way to apply a noindex directive to individual images using the Rank Math SEO plugin or any other SEO plugin, as the Robots Meta tag cannot be added to image files directly.
The noindex setting you see on the attachment page applies to the entire page that contains the image, not the image itself. If the image is still showing up in Google search results, it may be due to caching or because Google has indexed the image before the noindex directive was applied.
To effectively remove an image from Google search results, you can consider the following options:
- Use a Noindex Meta Tag on the Attachment Page: Ensure that the attachment page for the image has the noindex meta tag enabled. This will prevent Google from indexing that page, which may help in removing the image from search results over time.
- Request Removal via Google Search Console: You can raise a removal request for the specific image in Google Search Console. This is often the quickest way to get an image removed from search results. You can follow these steps:
- Open Google Search Console and log in.
- Navigate to the Removals section.
- Click on New Request and follow the prompts to submit your request for removal.
For more detailed instructions on how to request removal, you can refer to our guide on removing images from Google Search Results.
Thank you for raising this concern, and we hope this helps you resolve the issue!
How do I upload a screenshot to show you the noindex meta is enabled? I assume that’s what you mean by noindexing the attachment page? Also I don’t really understand why there would not be a way to noindex specific images. Why is this so difficult to do?
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Rank Math support.
The noindex tag is applied by adding a meta tag to the HTML of the target page, since images are files and not a “page”, noindex cannot be added to the image. The only other way to mark an image/file as noindex is to add the noindex tag to it’s HTTP header response.
To set the image’s attachment page as noindex, navigate to the image attachment page and set it to noindex using the Rank Math admin toolbar – here’s a video:
PS: this will only work if the Redirect Attachment setting is not enabled.
If you need to share screenshots with us, you can do so by uploading them to an image hosting site like Imgur, and then sharing the generated URL with us here.
We hope this helps clarify the issue. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Hello,
Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.
If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you.
