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Megan663

: URL in sitemap with temporary/dynamic noindex Our scenario is we've got multiple pages set up for category-based browsing, such as example.com/products/boardgames A list of the canonical URLs for

@Megan663

Posted in: #MetaRobots #Noindex #Seo #Sitemap

Our scenario is we've got multiple pages set up for category-based browsing, such as example.com/products/boardgames
A list of the canonical URLs for the categories is in the sitemap, with a frequency of weekly.
From time to time, it's likely that these URLs will produce 0 items in the category, potentially for weeks/months at a time. In this case, I'd like those results to be removed from crawlers until there's some results.

I had thought to leave them in the sitemap, but dynamically add a meta-robots noindex tag to the head. Would this have the desired effect of removing the webpage from search results when there's no items, and then re-added when there are results available?

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@BetL925

I tested this approach - doesn't worked for me. But its only my experience. John Mueller means, it should work.

I wouldn't noindex categories, where all products are sold out. I would 410 them only if there will be never new products in the category. But even if a category is temporarily empty - let it be indexed, publish a notice for users and offer some related links. BTW, it is a most optimal approach - to optimize and index categories, but not products.

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