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      How Do I Update My Site Map?

      This article will detail how to update and remove pages from your site map to prevent Google from crawling them.

      Pages must be added to your sitemap to ensure your website's discoverability and indexing by search engines. Ensuring all pages are included helps search engine crawlers navigate and index your site efficiently, potentially leading to improved search engine rankings and increased organic traffic.

      To check, you can follow these steps. However, do note that there are some system pages we advise to keep hidden. For example, reset password pages and 404 pages.

      1. Click on ‘All Pages’.
      Click on All Pages
      2. Check on the ‘No Index’ or ‘No Follow’ columns.
      Click on noindex?
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       3. To change them, click on ‘Quick Edit’.
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      4. Tick the two boxes below.
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      5. Click ‘Update’.
      Click on Update
       

      There are a few reasons why you might choose not to index certain pages on your website:

      1. Duplicate Content: If you have multiple pages with very similar content, you might want to avoid indexing some of them to prevent search engines from penalising your site for duplicate content.

      2. Private or Sensitive Information: Pages containing private or sensitive information that you don't want publicly accessible may be excluded from indexing to maintain privacy and security.

      3. Low Quality or Thin Content: Pages with low-quality content or very little valuable information may be omitted from indexing to prevent them from negatively affecting your site's overall search engine ranking.

      4. Temporary or Unfinished Pages: Pages that are still under construction or temporary in nature may be kept out of search engine indexes until they are ready for public consumption.

      5. Pages with No SEO Value: Some pages, such as thank you pages, login pages, or certain administrative pages, may not provide any SEO value and therefore are excluded from indexing to focus search engine crawlers on more relevant content.

      6. Canonicalisation: Using canonical tags, you can indicate to search engines which version of a page is the preferred one to index. This process is particularly useful for dealing with duplicate content issues.

      Overall, the decision to index or not index a page depends on various factors, including content quality, relevance, and strategic considerations for your website's SEO and overall performance.