If you are a blogger or an owner of any website then in recent times you have heard of this issue Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’. Since the new Google search console has been launched so many site owners are getting an email like New Index coverage issue detected for site http:/www.yoursite.com/.
When you will click on the “Fix Index Coverage Issues” Button. Then It will redirect you to the New google search console where you can see the affected pages.
Unfortunately, I got an error in 455 pages on my website that could not be indexed. It means that these pages will not show in the Google search result. Which can make a loss of traffic to my website. So like me, you will also have two questions in your mind:
Why are these pages not indexed? and How can we resolve this issue? After searching a lot, I got the solution to both the question.
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Contents
Why are these pages not indexed?
The reason by which these pages are not indexed is <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,follow“/>. This line of code is the reason that you are getting Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’ issue. Basically, it is telling the google bot to do not index the page. But follow the links. If any of your pages have <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,follow“/>. Then, the google bot will not index that page and this lead to be Submitted URL marked noindex issue. Now move on to How can we resolve Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’ issue?
How can we resolve Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’ issue?
Before resolving the issue, you must check the URL of pages that are not indexed. In my case, only tags( i.e https://www.hackchefs.com/tag/best-url-shortening-website/ ) are not indexed and causing the Submitted URL marked noindex issue. And the reason for which these tag URLs are not indexed is the Yoast SEO plugin. The Yoast SEO plugin automatically put ‘noindex’ in meta content (i.e. <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,follow“/>) of pages that include the tag in there URL or tag pages.( i.e https://www.hackchefs.com/tag/best-url-shortening-website/ ). So that’s why these pages are not indexed in google and google search console showing the Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’ issue.
The solution to this problem is different for a different scenario. Here I will divide the problem into two scenarios first is the only tag and category pages or URLs are not indexed(like me) and second is main pages or URLs (other than tag and category pages) are not indexed.
First Scenario
If you have only tag or category URLs or pages that are not indexed like me (See the above screenshot), then no need to worry. It does not have any effect on SEO because the tag and category pages are not meant to be indexed that’s why Yoast SEO plugin has set these pages as noindex by default. Because you have included the XML sitemap of tag and category in Google Webmaster, you are facing this issue.
To resolve this problem or this Submitted URL marked noindex issue you should remove the XML sitemap of tag and category in Google Webmaster or you can disallow the tag and category sitemap URL using robots.txt (i.e https://www.hackchefs.com/post_tag-sitemap.xml, https://www.hackchefs.com/category-sitemap.xml). You will find the robots.txt file in Google Webmaster Tool > Crawl > robots.txt tester and there you can make changes to your robots.txt file.
Second scenario
If your main pages or URLs (other than tag and category pages) are not indexed then you need to worry because that pages will not come in the google search results and cause you traffic loss.
So it’s better to index that pages or fix the Submitted URL marked noindex issue. In order to index that pages or fix this issue, you should follow these steps. I am assuming you have installed Yoast SEO plugin on your WordPress site and if you don’t then install it now.
How to remove Submitted URL marked noindex issue.
1. Firstly, go to Google search console>Index Coverage and in status section click on the SUBMITTED URL MARKED ‘NOINDEX’ (i.e. Status>Index coverage>Submitted URL marked ‘noindex’).
2. Then copy the URL given in the EXAMPLES and open in new tab.
3. Now click on the “Edit Post” and go to below of the post at Yoast SEO section. Click on the gear(advance) and set the Meta Robots Index as Index.
4. Now, save the post and Repeat the process for all the affected pages. After changing the meta robots index, Re-upload the sitemap. Now when you check it again, you will see that your issue is fixed.
Conclusion
After following the above steps you will be able to remove or fix Submitted URL marked noindex issue. But remember, before removing the issue you must check the type of URL. Whether it is a tag URL or main page URL. And then take the necessary action accordingly.
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