Meta Robots
An HTML meta tag that instructs search engine crawlers how to index and follow links on a page
The meta robots tag is an HTML element placed in a page’s head section that tells search engine crawlers whether to index the page and whether to follow its outbound links. Common directives include index, noindex, follow, and nofollow. For link building, understanding meta robots is critical because a backlink on a page with a nofollow directive may pass less or no link equity. Similarly, a page set to noindex will not appear in search results, potentially reducing the value of links placed there. When evaluating link opportunities, always check whether the target page uses restrictive meta robots directives that might diminish the SEO benefit of the link.