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Tony R.
Tony R.
User

How to hide webpages from appearing live  en

Author: Tony R.
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hi

I would like to hide a webpage but not remove it just incase i decide to use it again later but I do not want the page to be found in a google search etc. Is this possible

thanks

Posted on the
8 ANSWERS
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

Hello Tony,

Yes, it is possible.

First 'hide' the page in WebSite X5 itself by going to Step 2 Map Creation, clicking once on the page in question in the site map (to give it focus), then clicking on the icon in the toolbar above...  'Hidden Page in the menu' (hover your mouse over each icon to see the descriptions if necessary)

Then go to Step 4 Advanced Settings > Statistics, SEO and Code > Basic tab, and tick the box marked 'Include the robots.txt file'  -  then add the name of the page which you wish to hide to the list (as shown in the screenshot attached).

Kind regards,

Paul

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Posted on the from Paul M.
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

robots.txt screenshot

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Posted on the from Paul M.
Tony R.
Tony R.
User
Author

hi there thanks for getting back. I do not seem to have > Statistics, SEO and Code > Basic tab in my version. Am i missing something?

thanks

tony

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Posted on the from Tony R.
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

That section should definitely be there, Tony, as it is referenced in the Evolution 11 help file:

http://help.websitex5.com/en/v11/evo/index.html?imp_seo.htm

However, I am now wondering if the 'robots.txt' part of it is absent in the Evolution edition...  unfortunately I only have the Professional edition to work with and cannot verify.

Even if the option is not available in the Evolution edition, you can still add a robots.txt file to your web site manually:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6062608?hl=en

Hope this helps,

Paul

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Posted on the from Paul M.
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

ADDENDUM: it appears that the option to include a 'robots.txt' file is an extra feature exclusive to the Professional edition.  Compare the help files:

Professional: http://help.websitex5.com/en/v11/pro/index.html?imp_seo.htm

Evolution: http://help.websitex5.com/en/v11/evo/index.html?imp_seo.htm

My apologies, Tony...  I was not aware of this limitation when I initially answered your post.

However, you can still create and use a robots.txt file by following the instructions which Google provide in the article I linked to.

Good luck!

Paul

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Posted on the from Paul M.
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

Another follow-up, Tony...  please see this article from Google which contains pertinent information on use of the 'noindex' meta tag:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93710

If using the 'noindex' meta tag, then you should remove any restriction on page crawls from your 'robots.txt' file

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Posted on the from Paul M.
Tony R.
Tony R.
User
Author

hi there, thanks for your responses. Is their much preference over noindex vs robots.txt. and next question which is easiest to manage. im thinking noindex may be easiest to implement?

cheers

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Posted on the from Tony R.
Paul M.
Paul M.
Moderator

Both methods will hide the page description completely in Google search results  -  but 'noindex' meta tags will also hide the page title in the results too.  In other words, using 'noindex' there will be no trace of your page in Google search whatsoever.

So, personally I would go for 'noindex'.

You can also remove pages which have already been indexed, using Google Webmaster Tools:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1663691?hl=en

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Posted on the from Paul M.