: Is having noindex on a page same as not showing the URL anywhere on the site? I am currently working on a project which has a large number of pages based on different sector and city, but

@Alves908

In theory both should be the same as far as the search engines are concerned. However, there may be a difference depending upon your site.

This is what we know. You have pages with little data that has been discovered by the search engines and you want to potentially remove them. This is a good thing. Low quality pages will effect your sites SEO with search engines seeing these pages as low quality. You are right to want to remove them from the index.

I do not know your system and how difficult it would be to remove pages and offer a 404 for pages that do not offer value. Assuming that this is not difficult, then I take two views on this.

If there are no links for the pages and they are not referenced within a sitemap, then a noindex would remove them from a search engines index. But so would removing these pages and presenting a 404 error. Both options will take time.

Again, not knowing your site, here is what I would prefer it it were my own site.

I would remove the pages and offer a 404 and make sure that there are no links to these pages and that they are not referenced within a sitemap. The reason for this is simple. It takes fewer resources and it is better for user experience (UX). It is always far better that a user is not disappointed. You will reduce bounce rates and will garner favor with your audience.

However, if it is rather difficult to remove the pages and offer up a 404 error, then noindex would certainly help to curb user dissatisfaction. I would work to make sure there are no links to these pages and that they do not appear within a sitemap. This is important.

Remember that the user always comes first. User satisfaction is always paramount and can over-come several performance issues. Once you are satisfied that the user experience is the best you can create, then focusing on search engine performance will certainly add value to your user and attract new users.

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