Table Of Contents
Introduction
If you’ve ever looked at your WordPress site’s pages indexed by Google and noticed dozens (or hundreds) of tag pages showing up, you might wonder: Do these pages help my SEO, or are they just clutter?
Tag pages are automatically generated archives in WordPress that group posts under similar topics using tags. While they seem useful, especially for internal navigation, they often offer thin content, duplicate content, or zero SEO value when left unchecked.
Imagine running a blog where every post is tagged with 3–4 keywords. Over time, you may end up with hundreds of tag archive pages – each listing just a few posts and offering no unique content. Google sees these pages and may index them, but since they don’t provide original value, they can dilute your SEO efforts.
So, should you keep them indexed? In most cases – no. If not properly managed, tag pages can bloat your site’s index, confuse search engines, and reduce your chances of ranking for meaningful content.
In this guide, we’ll walk through why and how to de-index tag pages in WordPress without harming your site’s functionality or user experience.
Why De-Index Tag Pages?
1. Tag Pages Rarely Offer Unique Value
Tag pages are typically lists of existing content without original material. Search engines prioritize unique and informative pages. When you allow tag pages to be indexed, you’re inviting them to crawl content that’s already accessible through categories or main blog feeds.
2. Risk of Duplicate Content
Search engines penalize or ignore duplicate content. A post showing up in its own URL, a category page, and multiple tag pages sends mixed signals. It’s better to consolidate content signals to fewer, high-quality pages.
3. Waste of Crawl Budget
Google assigns a limited crawl budget to each site. Letting search engines crawl hundreds of tag pages that don’t contribute SEO value wastes that budget, keeping important pages from being discovered quickly.
4. SEO Focus Dilution
Imagine having 10 strong blog posts, but they’re scattered across 50 weak tag pages. De-indexing tag archives ensures all SEO focus remains on the actual content, not the containers.
Step-by-Step: How to De-Index Tag Pages in WordPress
1. Use an SEO Plugin (Yoast or Rank Math)
Both Yoast SEO and Rank Math make it easy to prevent search engines from indexing tag pages.
With Yoast SEO:
- Go to your WordPress Dashboard.
- Navigate to: SEO → Search Appearance → Taxonomies.
- Locate the “Tags” section.
- Set “Show Tags in search results?” to “No”.
- Save changes.
With Rank Math:
- Go to: Rank Math → Titles & Meta → Tags.
- Turn off the “Index Tags” switch.
- Save your settings.
💡 Result: This adds a noindex meta tag to all tag pages, signaling search engines to exclude them from search results.
2. Add Noindex Tag Manually (Without Plugin)
If you prefer not to use a plugin, you can manually add a noindex directive for tag pages in your theme’s header.php file.
<?php
if (is_tag()) {
echo ‘<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex, follow”>’;
}
?>
Add this before the closing </head> tag. This method is effective but requires caution. Mistakes in this file can break your site layout.
3. Block Tag Pages in Robots.txt (Not Recommended Alone)
Some tutorials recommend blocking tag pages via your robots.txt file like this:
Disallow: /tag/
Why it’s not enough: This prevents search engines from crawling the page, but not from indexing it if they already know about it (e.g., via backlinks).
💡 Use this only after applying a noindex tag to make sure search engines understand your intent.
4. Remove Already Indexed Tag Pages from Google
If tag pages have already been indexed, you can remove them manually:
Via Google Search Console:
- Go to the Search Console.
- Click on “Removals” in the left sidebar.
- Select “New Request.”
- Paste the URL of the tag page (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/tag/example-tag/)
- Submit the removal request.
💡 This is temporary, but useful while Google processes your noindex updates.
5. Redirect or Clean Up Tag URLs (Optional)
If you want to stop using tags entirely, consider cleaning them up:
- Redirect tag URLs to related category pages or relevant blog posts.
- Use a redirection plugin like “Redirection” to manage 301 redirects.
This ensures any traffic or link juice going to tag pages is preserved and not lost.
Should You Delete All Tag Pages?
Not necessarily.
If you’re running a news site or a large blog, some tag pages might attract traffic, especially if they’re well-structured and curated. In such cases:
- Keep high-traffic tag pages and optimize them.
- De-index the rest using the methods above.
Use tools like Google Analytics or Ahrefs to analyze traffic sources before deleting or de-indexing anything.
When to Keep Tag Pages Indexed
There are edge cases where tag pages might be useful:
- Your tags target long-tail search keywords (e.g., “WordPress security tips”).
- You manually add descriptions or summaries to tag pages.
- Your theme uses tags as important navigation for users.
But these cases are rare. Most WordPress blogs are better off de-indexing tag archives.
Best Practices After De-Indexing Tag Pages
- Update your internal linking: Remove links to tag pages unless they serve a clear purpose.
- Limit tag creation: Avoid adding new tags unless they serve users.
- Focus on content clustering: Use categories and pillar posts to structure your content better.
- Audit your taxonomy regularly: Tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb can help identify index bloat.
Conclusion
Tag pages in WordPress are often overlooked but can significantly affect your SEO health. While they seem harmless, these auto-generated pages usually offer little value to search engines – and when left indexed, they may dilute your content’s visibility and drain your crawl budget.
By de-indexing tag pages through SEO plugins, manual edits, or both, you help search engines focus on what truly matters: your content.
Before making changes, always analyze your traffic data. Don’t rush to delete or block everything. But for most small to medium-sized websites, de-indexing tag pages is a smart, long-term move to strengthen your site’s SEO foundation.
FAQ Section
1. What is a tag page in WordPress?
A tag page in WordPress is an archive that lists posts sharing the same tag. It’s automatically generated to help organize content based on keywords or topics.
2. Why should I de-index tag pages?
You should de-index tag pages because they often contain duplicate or thin content, which may hurt SEO and waste your site’s crawl budget.
3. How do I de-index tag pages using Yoast SEO?
Go to SEO → Search Appearance → Taxonomies, find the “Tags” section, and set “Show Tags in search results?” to “No.” Save changes to add a noindex tag automatically.
4. Can I de-index tag pages without a plugin?
Yes, you can add a noindex meta tag to tag pages by editing your theme’s header.php file using a simple conditional PHP statement.
5. Does blocking tag pages in robots.txt remove them from Google?
No, blocking tag pages in robots.txt prevents crawling, not indexing. If Google already knows about the page, it can still appear in search results.
6. How do I remove already indexed tag pages from Google?
Use Google Search Console’s “Removals” tool. Submit the exact URL of the tag page to request temporary de-indexing while noindex tags take effect.
7. Should I delete all tag pages?
Not always. Keep and optimize high-traffic tag pages. De-index or remove low-value ones based on traffic data and SEO goals.
8. Will de-indexing tag pages hurt my site’s ranking?
No, it typically improves rankings by focusing SEO signals on high-quality content and reducing index bloat from low-value pages.
Explore Related Blog Posts
How to Create Half-Size Cards in WordPress?
