What is the difference between "index, follow" and "follow"?
1 answer
@alvera_smith
"Index" and "follow" are two different directives used in the HTML meta tags that provide instructions to search engine crawlers on how to handle a web page.
The "index" directive tells search engines whether or not to include the page in their index, which is a database of web pages that the search engine uses to retrieve search results. If a page has the "index" directive set to "noindex", the search engine will not include it in its index.
The "follow" directive tells search engines whether or not to follow the links on the page to discover other pages on the site. If a page has the "follow" directive set to "nofollow", the search engine will not follow any links on the page.
When both "index" and "follow" directives are used together, it means that the search engine should include the page in its index and follow the links on the page to discover other pages on the site.
When only the "follow" directive is used without the "index" directive, it means that the search engine should follow the links on the page to discover other pages on the site, but should not include the page itself in its index.
In summary, "index, follow" means that the search engine should include the page in its index and follow the links on the page to discover other pages on the site, while "follow" alone means that the search engine should follow the links on the page to discover other pages on the site, but not include the page itself in its index.