Google Search Advocate John Mueller explains whether or not the usage of meta robots tags can have an effect on webpage rankings in search outcomes.
This subject is addressed within the newest installment of the Ask Googlebot sequence on YouTube.
Mueller solutions the next query submitted on Twitter:
“If a web site doesn’t have a robots meta tag, does this have an effect on the rating negatively?”
Websites can use meta robots tags to customise the looks of search snippets, so it’s frequent to ask in the event that they influence search rankings.
The quick reply isn’t any; meta robots tags aren’t rating indicators.
The longer reply is they’ll affect click-through fee.
Read Mueller’s full reply within the following part.
Google’s John Mueller On Meta Robots Tags
Answering the query relating to meta robots tags and their impact on search rankings, Mueller says:
“We discuss a few of these search engine optimization parts so usually that it’s straightforward to imagine that they’re required. In this case, no. A meta robots tag will not be required for rating.
The robots meta tag can specify how a particular web page ought to be proven in search, or if it shouldn’t be proven in any respect. This metatag is just obligatory if you wish to change the default look of a web page within the search outcomes.
For instance, if you wish to restrict how lengthy the snippet may be, then you should utilize the max snippet robotic metatag. If you don’t have any preferences relating to how a web page is to be proven in search then not having a robots metatag on a web page in any respect can be completely fantastic.
If you’re curious in regards to the choices, I’d take a look at our documentation on each the robots meta tags in addition to on different tags that Google helps.”
Google helps over a dozen meta robots tags that publishers can use to customise all the things from the textual content in a search snippet to the sizes of pictures and video previews.
The tags have an effect on what individuals see in search outcomes, however they received’t positively or negatively influence search rankings.
Meta robots tags don’t talk any indicators or data that Google can use to grasp the place to rank a web page in search outcomes.
Therefore, a web page with meta robots tags doesn’t have an inherent benefit over a web page with out them.
That doesn’t imply they’re not useful, nonetheless. Meta robots tags are value utilizing whenever you’re sad with how Google shows your pages in search outcomes.
You could discover that Google provides away an excessive amount of of a web page’s major content material within the search snippet, by which case you’ll be able to restrict the variety of characters with the max-snippet tag.
If you are feeling a search snippet would look higher with no sitselinks search field, you should utilize the nositelinkssearchbox tag. That’s a use case that would influence click-through fee, nevertheless it received’t have an effect on how Google ranks the web page.
For extra details about the meta robots tags Google helps, see the official help page.
Source: Google Search Central
Featured Image: Screenshot from YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral, September 2022.
