Just because something lives in a “hidden” or “not linked” section of your website, doesn’t mean it’s invisible to search engines & Google…
In this post, I’m breaking down exactly which pages you should hide from search engines (a.k.a. noindex) to protect your SEO and why it even matters in the first place.
Because yes, blocking Google from crawling certain pages can actually help your rankings overall.
First, why would you want to hide pages from search engines?
When search engines, like Google, crawl your site, they form a big-picture view of your content. If your site is packed with fluff pages, low-value duplicates, or deadweight like random tag archives, it can water down your overall authority.
Basically: not every page deserves the spotlight. And in some cases, shining that light can drag your rankings down.
Pages you should hide from Search Engines
Let’s walk through a few key examples where a little “noindex” magic can go a long way:
1. Private Client-Only Pages
Photographers, designers, coaches—if you’ve got hidden pages for client work or onboarding tucked into the “Not Linked” section, that’s not enough to keep them off Google’s radar.
👉 Instead: Go to the SEO settings for each page and toggle on the option to hide the page from search results (aka noindex!). How to do that for different platforms below!
2. Blog Tag Archive Pages
Most website platforms create a page for every single blog tag you use. Sounds helpful in theory, but in reality? These pages are usually thin, repetitive, and offer zero unique value.
👉 Instead: Use tags internally for organization, but turn OFF indexing for these tag pages in your SEO settings.
3. Old, Low-Content, or Test Pages
If you’ve got old test pages lying around or barebones pages with almost no content or keywords—they’re not helping your SEO. At best, they’re ignored. At worst, they’re dragging down your site’s overall quality score.
👉 Best move: Delete them or noindex them. Just make sure you set up a redirect if you’ve ever shared that link publicly.
4. Thank You Pages
These pages are often used in email funnels and after form submissions, but they’re not meant to rank in search engines.
👉 Add a noindex tag so Google doesn’t treat them like real content pages. That way, your actual high-value pages get the attention instead.
5. Duplicate or Near-Duplicate Content
If you’ve got multiple pages covering the exact same thing, search engines will only pick one to show—so why dilute your authority?
👉 Merge overlapping content into one strong page and noindex (or delete) the weaker versions.
How to noindex a page in Squarespace (it’s easy!)
- Head to your Pages section.
- Click the gear icon next to the page you want to hide.
- Select SEO from the left-hand menu.
- Scroll down and toggle on Hide page from search results.
✨ Done! When that toggle is on, the SEO fields disappear (because, well, they’re not needed anymore).
How to noindex a page in WordPress (using Yoast SEO)
Using WordPress instead of Squarespace? You can still easily noindex any page or post using the free Yoast SEO plugin.
Here’s the quick and simple version:
- Install and activate the Yoast SEO plugin (if it’s not already installed).
- Go to the page or post you want to hide from search results.
- Scroll down to the Yoast SEO settings underneath your content editor.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Find the option that says Allow search engines to show this Page in search results?
- Select No from the dropdown.
That’s it! No need to mess with code or complicated settings. Just publish (or update) the page and you’re good to go.
How to noindex a page in WordPress (using Rank Math)
Prefer Rank Math instead of Yoast? You’ve got options there too—and they’re just as simple.
Option 1: Noindex a single page or post
- Edit the page or post you want to hide.
- Scroll down to the Rank Math SEO section below your content.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- In the Robots Meta section, check the box that says No Index.
Bam babyyyyy. That page won’t show up in search results.
Option 2: Noindex all posts of a certain type (like tags or categories)
- Go to your WordPress dashboard → Rank Math SEO → Titles & Meta.
- Choose the post type or taxonomy (like posts, pages, categories, or tags).
- Scroll down to the Robots Meta section for that item.
- Enable the meta settings and check No Index.
This is great if you know in advance that a whole section of your site shouldn’t be indexed (like tag pages, for example).
Your SEO-Friendly Action Plan:
Go page by page—especially in your “Not Linked” section (or hidden/old pages in WordPress)—and:
- Noindex anything that’s private, repetitive, outdated, or thin on content.
- Clean up tag archives.
- Consolidate duplicate pages.
- Double-check that redirects are in place if you’re deleting anything.
Your goal is to make sure every indexed page is actually worthy of ranking. It’s not about quantity—it’s about quality.
If you’re not sure whether Google is indexing pages it shouldn’t be, this Google Search Console errors explained post can help you spot crawl issues, indexing problems, and other SEO red flags hiding behind the scenes.
TL;DR: Not every page on your site needs to rank (and some shouldn’t)
Google is judging your site based on the overall quality of its pages. When you noindex the junk, you make it easier for your best stuff to shine.
Whether you’re on Squarespace or WordPress, give your site a little spring cleaning. Your SEO will thank you.
Got questions or want to learn more about using SEO to grow your business online? That’s what my SEO 101 workshop is for. Come hang out!
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