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How to Hide a Page From Search Engines on Shopify

Sam|
November 20, 2024|
6 min read
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Do you want to control which pages of your website appear in search results? This detailed guide will provide practical steps on how to hide specific pages on your Shopify store from search engines like Google, ensuring those pages remain accessible to your intended audience while preventing unwanted traffic. 

Let’s learn the effective techniques to manage your website’s visibility and optimize your online presence.

How to hide a page from search engines on Shopify (desktop mode)

Let’s explore the detailed steps on how to hide a page on Shopify from search engines like Google:

Step 1: Access the coding editing field

From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes. Locate the theme you want to edit, click the Action (…) button, then select Edit code to open the code editor. In this editor, you’ll find the robots.txt file.

Step 1: Access the coding editing field

Step 2: Choose the theme.liquid file

In the left panel, find and click on the theme.liquid file under the layout folder. 

Step 2: Choose the theme.liquid file

Step 3: Exclude the specific page/ search template

  • To prevent a specific page from being indexed, paste the following code into the <head> section:

{% if handle contains 'page-handle-you-want-to-exclude' %}
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
{% endif %}

Note: Replace ‘page-handle-you-want-to-exclude’ with the actual handle of your page. For example, if you’re hiding the “About Us” page (e.g., ‘about-us’ for the page yourstore.com/pages/about-us). 

Step 3: Exclude the specific page/ search template
  • To exclude the search template, paste the following code in the <head> section.
{% if template contains 'search' %}
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
{% endif %}
To exclude the search template

Step 4: Save the Changes

After adding the code, click Save to apply the changes.

How to Hide a Page from Search Engines on Shopify (Mobile Mode)

In today’s mobile-first world, knowing how to manage your Shopify store on the go is crucial. Let’s explore how to hide pages from search engines using both iOS and Android devices.

For IOS

Thanks to the Shopify mobile app, managing your Shopify store’s visibility on an iOS device is straightforward. Here’s how to hide a page using your iPhone or iPad:

  • Step 1: Tap the Store button in the bottom menu and select “Online Store”.
  • Step 2: Tap Themes. Click the Action (…) button to open the actions menu, and then click Edit code.
  • Step 3: Click on the theme.liquid layout file and add Noindex Tag for a Specific Page in the <head> section:
{% if handle contains 'page-handle-you-want-to-exclude' %}
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
{% endif %}

(Replace page-handle-you-want-to-exclude with the actual handle of the page you want to hide.)

  • Step 4: Tap Save to apply your changes. 

Now, your page will be hidden from search engine indexing.

For Android

For Android users, the process of hiding a Shopify page from search engines is similar to iOS, with a few minor differences:

  • Step 1: Go to Shopify on your Android phone and select the Store icon on the bottom bar (next to Products). Under the Sales Channels section, tap on “Online Store.”
  • Step 2: Go to Themes, then click the Action (…) button next to it and select Edit code.
  • Step 3: Open theme.liquid: Click on the theme.liquid layout file. To exclude a specific page, paste this code in the <head> section:
{% if handle contains 'page-handle-you-want-to-exclude' %}
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
{% endif %}

(Replace page-handle-you-want-to-exclude with the actual handle of the page you want to hide.)

  • Step 4: Tap Save to apply your changes.

 This will prevent the page from appearing in search engine results.

Why Should You Hide Your Shopify Pages from Search Engines?

Understanding why hiding certain pages from search engines is crucial for effective online store management. Let’s explore some common reasons why you should hide site from search engines. 

  • Private Development: Work on your site privately without affecting rankings by using the “noindex” meta tag.
  • Managing Temporary or Seasonal Content: You should prepare landing pages for upcoming product launches or sales events. Hiding these pages ensures they only appear in search results after you can make them public.
  • Optimizing Site Structure and SEO: By hiding duplicate content or near-identical pages, you can prevent search engines from penalizing your site for content redundancy. This helps focus your SEO efforts on your primary, high-value pages.

In my opinion, hiding certain Shopify pages from search engines prevents irrelevant or unfinished content from being indexed, ensuring a cleaner and more professional online presence. It also helps maintain control over which pages appear in search results, improving SEO and protecting sensitive information or temporary promotions.

FAQs

Will hiding a page affect my overall SEO?

Hiding a page from search engines generally will positively impact your overall SEO, provided you’re doing it for legitimate reasons and not trying to deceive search engines. It can improve your SEO by focusing the crawl budget on your most important pages.

Yes, you can still link to hidden pages from other parts of your site. The methods we’ve discussed primarily prevent search engines from indexing these pages, but they don’t restrict internal linking or direct access.

How do I know if my page is successfully hidden?

You can use Google’s URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. This tool will tell you if a specific URL is indexed and can be found in search results.

Can I redirect a Shopify hidden page to another page?

Yes, you can go to Online Store > Navigation > View URL Redirects > Click on Create URL redirects > Enter the hidden page URL in the Redirect from the field and the target page URL in the Redirect to field and Save the changes.

Will hidden pages still be visible to customers on my website?

Yes, hidden pages will still be accessible via direct links and within your Shopify store. The page is just hidden from search engines, not from users who visit your website directly.

Will hiding a page affect my store’s SEO performance?

Hiding pages will only affect the SEO performance of those specific pages. The rest of your store’s pages that remain visible to search engines will not be affected.

Final words

This article explored various methods to hide specific pages from search engine results on your Shopify store, including using robots.txt, noindex tags, and password protection. To maintain a well-structured website, regularly review your hidden pages and ensure they align with your overall SEO strategy and business goals.

Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Vietnam. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.

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