Site search and indexing: where the risk lies
LightSEO · Technical SEO
Site search and indexing: where the risk lies
Every query in the internal search creates a new URL. If these URLs get indexed, the site quickly piles up thousands of pages nobody needs.
The problem
What happens
The number of URLs is endless. Every query makes a page. Including typos, nonsense and spam.
The content duplicates categories. Search results show the same products as the regular sections.
Vulnerability to spam. Attackers can generate queries with advertising text, and these pages will get into the index under your name.
The solution
How to block them properly
🚫
Noindex on search pages
A more reliable method than robots: the page stays out of the index even when it is reached through a link.
🔗
Nofollow on links
So the crawler does not wander through the results pages.
🧭
Canonical to the category
When a search for a specific word effectively duplicates a section.
The benefit
What to do with search data
Review the query report. What people search for on the site is a ready-made list of what your catalog is missing.
Queries with no results. The most valuable data: either the product is missing or the search cannot find it. Both cases mean lost money.
Are your site search results in the index?
We will block them correctly and show you what people searched for on the site without finding it.
