Home Veronica's Shopify Guides & Ideas Why Are My Shopify Pages “Noindex” or “Nofollow”? (And How to Fix It)
September 28, 2025

Why Are My Shopify Pages “Noindex” or “Nofollow”? (And How to Fix It)

By Veronica Jeans, Bestselling Author

Shopify SEO Technical Fix

What “noindex” & “nofollow” mean

Noindex tells search engines not to include a page in search results. Nofollow tells crawlers not to pass link authority from links on that page. These are fine for utility pages (cart, checkout, account, search). They’re a problem on products, collections, blogs, and core pages you want to rank.

Common reasons it happens in Shopify

  • Draft/unpublished items: Draft products/collections/pages are typically noindexed.
  • Theme/app code: A global <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow"> was added in a layout or template.
  • Search engine listing setting: “Hide from search engines” toggled on a product/page/collection.
  • System pages: Cart, checkout, account, and internal search should remain noindex by design.

How to fix it (step-by-step)

  1. Set status to Active
    In Admin → Products / Collections / Pages → open the item → set Status to Active.
  2. Unhide from search engines
    Scroll to Search engine listing preview → Edit website SEO → ensure “Hide from search engines” is off.
  3. Correct your theme robots tag
    Online Store → Themes → Actions → Edit code → open Layout › theme.liquid → replace any global noindex with the snippet below.
  4. Check SEO apps
    Make sure an SEO app isn’t forcing noindex on important templates.

Correct Liquid robots snippet

Place this inside the <head> of theme.liquid. It noindexes only utility pages and indexes everything else.

{%- if template contains 'cart' or template contains 'checkout' or template contains 'account' or template contains 'search' -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
{%- else -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
{%- endif -%}
Tip: Don’t add noarchive unless you have a specific reason. Keep it simple: allow indexing for products, collections, blogs, and core pages.

Verify in Google Search Console

  1. Open Google Search Console.
  2. Use the URL Inspection bar for a product/collection/blog URL.
  3. Confirm Indexing allowed. If not, click Request indexing after your theme fix.
  4. Spot-check other page types (product, collection, blog article, About/Contact).

Optional: on-page debug helper (invisible to shoppers)

Add directly beneath your robots meta in theme.liquid to quickly confirm what’s being output:

<!-- Debug Robots Output:
{% if template contains 'cart' or template contains 'checkout' or template contains 'account' or template contains 'search' %}
  noindex, nofollow
{% else %}
  index, follow
{% endif %}
-->

✅ Quick Checklist

  • Status is Active on products/collections/pages.
  • “Hide from search engines” is OFF in Search engine listing preview.
  • theme.liquid has the correct robots snippet (above).
  • SEO apps aren’t overriding robots for key templates.
  • Google Search Console shows Indexing allowed on spot-checked URLs.

Shopify SEO Checklist: Fixing Noindex & Nofollow Issues

Is Google ignoring your Shopify pages? Here’s a quick checklist to make sure your products and collections get indexed properly:

Step 1. Check Page Status

  • Go to Products / Collections / Pages.
  • Make sure Status = Active (not Draft).

Step 2. Check Search Engine Listing

  • Open the page in Admin.
  • Scroll to Search engine listing preview → Edit website SEO.
  • Make sure “Hide from search engines” is NOT selected.

Step 3. Fix Your Theme Code

  • Go to Online Store > Themes > Edit Code.
  • Open theme.liquid.
  • Replace any global noindex tag with this snippet:
{%- if template contains 'cart' or template contains 'checkout' or template contains 'account' or template contains 'search' -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
{%- else -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
{%- endif -%}

Step 4. Review SEO Apps

  • Check if any installed SEO apps are forcing noindex.
  • Adjust or disable settings for products/collections.

Step 5. Confirm With Google

  • Go to Google Search Console.
  • Use URL Inspection → make sure it says “Indexing allowed”.
  • If not, click Request Indexing.

Pro Tip: Only keep noindex on cart, checkout, account, and search pages. Everything else should be indexed!

⚡ Quick win: Run this checklist once, and you’ll instantly know if Google can see your products (and if not, how to fix it).

FAQ

Which Shopify pages should stay noindex?
Cart, checkout, account, and internal search results. Optionally: tag/filter URLs that create thin duplicates.
Will switching from noindex to index make pages rank instantly?
No. It allows indexing, but ranking also depends on content quality, internal links, external links, and technical health.
Where exactly do I add the robots snippet?
Online Store → Themes → Actions → Edit code → Layout › theme.liquid, inside the <head> tag.
Do I need to edit every template?
No. Controlling robots at the layout level (theme.liquid) is typically sufficient. Only add page-level overrides if you have special cases.
How long until Google reflects my changes?
After you fix and request indexing in GSC, re-crawling can be hours to days. You can monitor via the URL Inspection tool.
What about policy pages (Returns, Privacy)?
It’s fine to leave them indexable (they help trust). If they’re thin/duplicated across sites, you can noindex—but it’s optional.

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Veronica Jeans

Veronica Jeans

eCommerce Strategist | Shopify Expert | 7-Figure Business Coach

I have integrated my extensive knowledge in the field of eCommerce and Shopify, along with my international financial expertise, to offer up a playbook for generating income online.