How to Enable Custom Robots Header Tags in Blogger: A Step-by-Step Guide
Are you looking to improve the SEO performance of your Blogger blog? One effective way to achieve this is by enabling custom robots header tags. Custom robots header tags allow you to control the behavior of search engine crawlers on your blog, ultimately boosting its visibility in search engine results. In this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to enable custom robots header tags in Blogger.
Step 1: Log in to your Blogger account and go to the dashboard. If you have multiple blogs, select the one you want to enable custom robots header tags for.
Step 2: From the left menu, click on “Settings” and then “Search Preferences.” On the right side, you will find the “Custom robots header tags” option. Click on the “edit” link next to it.
Step 3: To enable this feature, click on the first radio button that says “Yes.”
Step 4: The next step is crucial as it determines how search engines will behave on your blog. You will see a list of checkboxes that allow you to control different aspects. It is recommended to follow the optimum settings for custom robots header tags in Blogger. These settings include three sections: Homepage, Archive and Search pages, and Default for Posts and Pages.
Step 5: After checking the appropriate boxes, click on the “Save changes” button to apply the custom robots header tags settings to your blog.
Let’s take a closer look at the three sections and their meanings:
Homepage Settings Explanation:
The homepage is the most important page of your blog. By default, it is advisable not to block anything on the homepage from search engine crawlers. Google understands the structure and behavior of a blog’s homepage, making the “noimageindex” option unnecessary.
Archive and Search page Settings Explanation:
Archive and search pages are automatically generated pages that provide information about your blog posts. While these pages are essential for navigation, it is recommended not to index them to avoid duplicate content issues and maintain a clean index status for your blog.
Default for Posts and Pages Settings Explanation:
This section allows you to control the behavior of search engine crawlers on your blog’s posts and pages. It is crucial to let search engines index your content to make it discoverable. Preventing search engines from indexing your posts and pages would hinder their visibility.
Blogger offers ten custom robots header tags with different functionalities:
all: Allows search engine crawlers to visit and discover every element of your blog.
noindex: Prevents search engine crawlers from crawling and indexing your blog, suitable for private blogs.
nofollow: Makes outbound links on your blog nofollow, controlling their impact on search engine rankings.
none: Combines both noindex and nofollow tags, preventing indexing and considering outbound links as dofollow.
noarchive: Controls search engine cache permission, affecting the display of cached versions on search engine result pages.
nosnippet: Prevents search engines from showing text snippets for your web pages in search results.
noodp: Disables adding your website information to Open Directory Project (ODP) like Dmoz.
notranslate: Disables translation of your blog into different languages.
noimageindex: Prevents search engines from indexing images on your blog.
unavailable_after: Deindexes your blog after a specific amount of time.
To enable custom robots header tags for individual posts, follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to the “Posts” section in your Blogger dashboard and click on “New post.”
Step 2: On the right side, under “Post settings,” click on “Custom Robots Tags.”
By following these steps, you have successfully enabled custom robots header tags for your Blogger blog!
In conclusion, enabling custom robots header tags in Blogger is a powerful tool for optimizing your blog’s SEO performance. By controlling the behavior of search engine crawlers, you can improve your blog’s visibility in search engine results and drive more organic traffic. Take advantage of this feature and unlock the full potential of your Blogger blog today!
