Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your question about blocking Google from crawling specific parts of a page’s content to avoid duplicate content issues.
To prevent Google from indexing specific parts of your page’s content, you can use the NoIndex meta tag. By adding the NoIndex meta tag to the HTML of the specific content you want to block from indexing, you can instruct search engines not to index that particular content.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Identify the specific content on your page that you want to block from indexing.
- Add the NoIndex meta tag to that content. This will prevent search engines like Google from including that content in their index.
If you need further assistance or have any more questions, please feel free to ask. We are here to help!
You can also assign this ticket to a human agent for more detailed assistance by using the available buttons.
Sources:
How to Fix “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed” Error in Google Search Console » Rank Math
How to Edit Your Robots.txt With Rank Math SEO » Rank Math
Why You Shouldn’t Duplicate Posts/Pages » Rank Math
Using Rank Math’s ‘Quick Actions’ Admin Menu Item
Discovered – Currently Not Indexed in Google Search Console » Rank Math
Can you give me an example because I think wherever the noindex meta tag is on the page Google will not index the whole page
Hello,
Apologies for the confusion.
There is no straightforward way to tell crawlers to not look into specific sections on a page. Your best chance is to not show it to them.
Please note that what crawlers see is what they index. Unless the robots meta is set to noindex, modern robots will respect that and stop indexing the whole page.
Looking forward to helping you.
Thanks so what would be the non-straight forward way? Also wouldn’t this be a feature you could include as to me it would be kind of vital if you were using global modules with the same text on multiple pages. This day and age isn’t it appropriate to be able to noindex/nocrawl parts of a page?
Hello,
Unfortunately, search engines do not currently offer a tag or method that specifically tells crawlers to ignore certain sections of content within a page.
A workaround for preventing duplicate content issues without directly blocking crawlers from parts of a page could be Using JavaScript/AJAX or iFrames.
Dynamically loading the repetitive content through JavaScript or AJAX means that the content might not be indexed by search engines as part of the page content.
However, modern search engines are becoming increasingly effective at processing JavaScript, so this is less reliable as a long-term strategy.
Placing the duplicate content in an iFrame and then blocking the iFrame’s URL in your site’s robots.txt file could technically prevent search engines from indexing the content.
Including a feature in Rank Math to block search engines from indexing parts of a page would require search engines to support such a feature.
Since current search engine technology does not support this level of granularity, it’s not a feature that SEO tools can directly implement.
We hope that helps, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any other questions.
Thank you.
Thanks
Maybe the conversation needs to begin with the search engines. It would be pointless me trying to start such a conversation but surely if you and say Yoast went to the search engines in tandem then this may become a reality. I like you doubt it but surely it is worth a go?!!!
Thanks
Danny
Hello,
Your suggestion of engaging with search engines on this matter is noted.
Such conversations could potentially lead to advancements in how search engines process and index web content.
Your feedback is valuable, and while we cannot guarantee specific outcomes, we are committed to exploring ways to improve SEO practices and address the challenges faced by website owners.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your understanding.
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.
