So what are meta robot tags?
First things first, what is a meta robot tag? A meta robot tag is a tag imbedded in your website that tells search engines what to look for. It lets search engines know what to follow and what to avoid. It’s most often a piece of code in the header of your website. It’s a code that allows you to decide what you want your exposure to be. This tag can allow you to decide what pages of your site you want hidden from search engine crawlers (programs that scan sites to make entries for a search engine index). It also tells the crawler what likes to stop with and what links to continue to follow. One of the reasons these tags are extremely essential is because they combat duplicate content. Duplicate content is the confusing nature of similar posts. This content can confuse search engines by giving off mixed signals. Having control of what these crawlers see can completely change the reach of your website.
The Crawlers Are Coming!
You might be thinking to yourself “but I don’t even know what meta robot tags are, I most definitely don’t have them.” Don’t be alarmed. The search engine crawlers will still automatically index your site. The search engine crawlers are Internet bots that search the web in order to index sites and information. Wouldn’t it be better to make sure they index it on your terms? The meta robots have four main functions that the crawlers are attracted to:
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- follow
- index
- nofollow
- noindex
Follow prompts the crawlers to follow the links you have embedded in your code. The index command does exactly what it sounds like. It tells the crawlers to index that particular webpage. The nofollow and noindex commands do just the opposite of the commands above.
Make Your SEO a Priority
Taking matters into your own hands is important when it comes to your search engine optimization (SEO) and coding. This can be extremely difficult if you don’t have a handle on what that means.
