Google’s Search Relations team has confirmed that noindexed pages don’t adversely impact a website’s crawl budget, no matter how many a site has. This topic was addressed during the November 2022 edition of Google’s SEO office-hours Q&A session by Google Search Advocates John Mueller and Gary Illyes.
Illyes addressed a question asking if an “excessive” number of indexed pages is an issue for discovery or indexing, at the 8:23 mark in Google’s November 2022 office-hours. Illyes says noindex is a tool to help websites keep content out of search engines, and that there are no adverse effects associated with it. He encouraged using the noindex tag when necessary.
In a recent Google Webmaster Central hangout, John Mueller was asked about the relationship between noindexed pages and crawl budget. He stated that there is no magic ratio to watch out for and that small to medium-sized sites shouldn't worry too much about crawl budget. He also said that removing unnecessary internal links is more of a site hygiene issue than an SEO issue.
You can watch the hangout in its entirety here: Google Webmaster Central hangout
At the 11:26 mark in the Google Webmasters video, a question is asked about no indexed pages that is slightly different from the previous two questions.
The question reads: "A lot of SEOs are complaining about having millions of URLs flagged as excluded by noindex in Google Search Console. All to nonsense internal search pages linked from spammy sites. Is this a problem for crawl budget?"
Ilyes reiterates the earlier point about noindex being a tool for sites to use as needed, and states that assuming the pages are intentionally noindexed, there's no need to worry about Search Console flagging them. He goes on to say that if you want to ensure that those pages or their URLs don't end up in Google's index, continue using noindex and don't worry about crawl budget.
News and SEO often go hand-in-hand. After all, SEO is all about making sure your content is seen and heard by the right people at the right time.
And what better way to ensure your content is seen than by getting it featured on a high-profile news site?
Of course, getting your content featured on a news site is easier said than done. But it's not impossible.
Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Find the right news site for your story. Not all news sites are created equal. Some are more likely to feature your story than others. Do your research and find the right fit for your story.
- Make sure your story is newsworthy. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's important to remember that not all stories are newsworthy. If your story isn't interesting or doesn't have a news hook, it's unlikely to get featured on a news site.
- Build relationships with reporters and editors. This one takes some time, but it's worth it. Get to know the reporters and editors who cover stories like yours. Follow them on social media, read their work, and pitch them story ideas that would be a good fit for their beat.
- Write a great press release. If you do end up getting coverage, make sure you write a great press release to go along with it! A well-written press release can make all the difference in how successful your story is. 5