Google Webmaster noindex in meta tag error

Hi,

Just looking for guidance in correcting an error in Google webmaster tools. Where do I look to address this:

No: 'noindex' detected in 'robots' meta tag

Iève got 2 errors (1 page each) like this. I've got nearly 4k pages index successfully simply by following the guidance of the sitemap plugin Sitemap XML here on AZ. The 2 URLs in question are:

https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288
https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2287

When I "inspect" them in the tool I get the noindex error but when I do the "live URL test" I get the all-clear green light.

So I guess my first question is, is this just Google being Google and there's nothing I can do or if there is something I can do, what might that be?

In case it matters, I have a robots.txt in the www root that contains the following and I believe was generated by the sitemap plugin:

Sitemap: https://puregood.ca/sitemap.xml

This page (https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288) definitely has a valid

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" />

Look directly in the source. The word tool does not make something trustworthy, just view the source and look for the generated tag.

Having said that your html_header.php has likely been blocked during development for example and the developer forgot to remove it or it's just broken... either way you need to address this because pages with noindex will not be indexed in Google, Bing, Etc at all.

~Melanie

mprough:

This page (https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288) definitely has a valid

I'm sorry Melanie, I don't completely understand your response.

You're saying the source contains the noindex directive. So you're suggesting I edit the source but I don't know what file that would be or how that got in there to begin with. There is no "developer" or I suppose you could say I am the developer.

OR

are you saying the header file is what's bringing in the noindex directive. I know I edited that file at one point. If I recall correctly, was to remove the greeting per dbltoe's recommendation. To be clear, he didn't recommend I edit the header file he merely suggested I remove the greeting and that is the only was I figured out how to do it. I could be mistaken and I'm thinking of a different file... I'm writting this without having looked at me notes. If you could just clarify a bit so I know exact what you're suggesting I do I would greatly appreciate it.

html_header.php in your template directory common folder is likely the culprit. In any case yes, indexing of these pages is being blocked and will continue until you fix it.

What version of Zen Cart and what template are you using?

mprough:

html_header.php in your template directory common folder is likely the culprit. In any case yes, indexing of these pages is being blocked and will continue until you fix it.

What version of Zen Cart and what template are you using?

Okay. I'll look at that right away.

1.5.6c and responsive classic.

I'm confused...I combed through the html_header.php file and the only mention of noindex is the following and is not something I added myself:

<?php if (defined('ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP') && in_array($current_page_base,explode(",",constant('ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP'))) || $current_page_base=='down_for_maintenance' || $robotsNoIndex === true) { ?>
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" />
<?php } ?>

Is this what you're telling me is causing this issue? In a very "monkey see, monkey do" kind of way, if I'm understanding the code above correctly it is only on if certain conditions are met ie maintenance mode. Perhaps something I did elsewhere is forcing that on...I don't know. But if that is the case, why is this only happening for 2 products out of nearly 4k or are you seeing this being applied for all products?

I said the html_header.php was the MOST likely candidate.

mprough:

I said the html_header.php was the MOST likely candidate.

No worries. Perhaps you're putting too much into what I'm writing. You mentioned that file and I found noindex in that file so I'm just wondering if that is what you're referring to?

Look, your website is displaying a NOINDEX tag on the following pages in your OP

https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288
https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2287

Something is broken as these should NOT have a noindex tag. They will never be indexed in any search engines as long as this tag remains. I have no idea how it was broken, but it is.

mprough:

Look, your website is displaying a NOINDEX tag on the following pages in your OP

https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288
https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2287

Something is broken as these should NOT have a noindex tag. They will never be indexed in any search engines as long as this tag remains. I have no idea how it was broken, but it is.

Okay. So no offense but that is exactly what I said and why I'm asking for help. It's okay if you can't figure it out. I'm asking for help because I can't either and I'm looking for someone willing to help me figure it out. You stating it is broken and you don't know why is to no avail.

I am the one taking time to try to help you. You have been asked to provide this when posting

[Note: remember to include site URL, ZC version, list of plugins, PHP version, etc ... read the Posting Tips shown above for information to include in your post here.
And, remove this comment before actually posting!]

and asked again here by me

mprough:

html_header.php in your template directory common folder is likely the culprit. In any case yes, indexing of these pages is being blocked and will continue until you fix it.

What version of Zen Cart and what template are you using?
You are required to participate in the "solution" in this forum. If you fail to be kind, be detailed, follow instructions or maybe we just don't like your avatar... whatever, we are not required to help you.

plc613:

Okay. So no offense but that is exactly what I said and why I'm asking for help. It's okay if you can't figure it out. I'm asking for help because I can't either and I'm looking for someone willing to help me figure it out. You stating it is broken and you don't know why is to no avail.

~Melanie

plc613:

Okay. So no offense but that is exactly what I said and why I'm asking for help. It's okay if you can't figure it out. I'm asking for help because I can't either and I'm looking for someone willing to help me figure it out. You stating it is broken and you don't know why is to no avail.

i would look to see if this file exists:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

if it does, great. but it's not part of the a base v156c install. if it does not exist, i would copy this file:

includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php

to here:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

i would then compare the last line to this line here:

https://github.com/zencart/zencart/blob/e60c81b6dbac7b1a61fb891397fe20de7b02c623/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php#L60

while not the only possibility, it is the most likely culprit.

best.

mprough:

I am the one taking time to try to help you. You have been asked to provide this when posting

[Note: remember to include site URL, ZC version, list of plugins, PHP version, etc ... read the Posting Tips shown above for information to include in your post here.
And, remove this comment before actually posting!]

and asked again here by me

You are required to participate in the "solution" in this forum. If you fail to be kind, be detailed, follow instructions or maybe we just don't like your avatar... whatever, we are not required to help you.

~Melanie

This used to be a nice place to get help now I'm finding all I'm met with is some odd bitterness. I didn't say anything about your obligations to help. I am just asking for help and all you're giving me is attitude. If you don't want to help then don't comment.

carlwhat:

i would look to see if this file exists:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

if it does, great. but it's not part of the a base v156c install. if it does not exist, i would copy this file:

includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php

to here:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

i would then compare the last line to this line here:

https://github.com/zencart/zencart/blob/e60c81b6dbac7b1a61fb891397fe20de7b02c623/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php#L60

while not the only possibility, it is the most likely culprit.

best.

Thank you. I appreciate that. So I do have that file in my tpl overrides but the last line is untouched and identical to that of the one you linked.

What should I do?

plc613:

as stated by melanie, this line is what makes that no index determination. what does this line do? its saying, IF we have this constant ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP, and the current page is in the constant, OR the current page is down for maintenance OR this var $robotsNoIndex is set to true, add that robots line.

now, we know that line is being added, so one of those 3 statements is true.

plc613:

Thank you. I appreciate that. So I do have that file in my tpl overrides but the last line is untouched and identical to that of the one you linked.

What should I do?

you need to find out which of the above statements is true.

my guess is the constant ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP. unfortunately the ZC override system can be confusing. it is entirely possible that this constant is defined somewhere else.

what happens if you change the name of this file:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

to

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/backup_meta_tags.php

does it then work? i would be curious as to why you have that file there. what did you need to override from the base ZC?

there are a multitude of ways to solve the problem. but solving the problem in a manner that makes future upgrades less painful is always the goal.

best.

carlwhat:

as stated by melanie, this line is what makes that no index determination. what does this line do? its saying, IF we have this constant ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP, and the current page is in the constant, OR the current page is down for maintenance OR this var $robotsNoIndex is set to true, add that robots line.

now, we know that line is being added, so one of those 3 statements is true.

you need to find out which of the above statements is true.

my guess is the constant ROBOTS_PAGES_TO_SKIP. unfortunately the ZC override system can be confusing. it is entirely possible that this constant is defined somewhere else.

what happens if you change the name of this file:

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/meta_tags.php

to

includes/languages/english/responsive_classic/backup_meta_tags.php

does it then work? i would be curious as to why you have that file there. what did you need to override from the base ZC?

there are a multitude of ways to solve the problem. but solving the problem in a manner that makes future upgrades less painful is always the goal.

best.

Thank you so much for taking the time. I understand what we're looking for. So first off, I pulled that file out in order to add meta tags for the home page and set the site title. That's how I learnt to do it years ago in 2013. Perhaps that's no longer kosher. I'm certainly not married to those edits but one thing I'm finding very odd is that the google webmaster tools brought this to my attention. However, when I go to the area it guides me to to test for this I don't get the error at all. It shows a green 'allowed' indicating it is not being blocked by a noindex directive. Melanie and yourself seem to see what the crawler sees. If you don't mind, I'd like to know how you're going about exposing that? In the meantime, I'll rename the file but like I just said, I won't know if it is fixed until I request the page to be reindexed and google reports back. I just renamed the file now if you want to check.

plc613:

If you don't mind, I'd like to know how you're going about exposing that?

i use chrome. it may be slightly different depending on what browser you use.

i go here:

https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288

i press control-U or look for something that says VIEW SOURCE. that will bring up the source for the page and you can see the html tag there in the header section.

right around line 10.

carlwhat:

i use chrome. it may be slightly different depending on what browser you use.

i go here:

https://puregood.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2288

i press control-U or look for something that says VIEW SOURCE. that will bring up the source for the page and you can see the html tag there in the header section.

right around line 10.

huh. I always used F12 in Chrome. Learnt something new already! Now for these meta tags...Holy crap that is a mix match of many files from what I can tell. I see stock stuff like ecommerce and Zen Cart!, some stuff added and other that were pulled form a mix of products and categories. I REALLY need to clean this up and understand what I did so wrong here.

More pressing to all that is the fact that I renamed the meta_tags.php file that was pegged as the most likely culprit and the source is still noindex and the tags are all over the place.

  <meta name="keywords" content="The Soap Works Bee Pollen Soap Beauty & Skincare Vitamins & Supplements Home & Lifestyles Baby & Kids Personal Care Pantry & Snacks Tea & Coffee Medicine & Health Diet & Fitness ecommerce, open source, shop, online shopping, store" />
  <meta name="description" content="Zen Cart! The Soap Works Bee Pollen Soap - 110g The Soap Works Bee Pollen Soap contains pure bee pollen – an abundant source of vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, hormones, and enzymes. This is a luxurious face and bath treatment for all skin types. There are so many good things in bee pollen. The Soap Works' pollen comes from " />
  <meta name="author" content="Pure Good Health & Wellness" />
  <meta name="generator" content="shopping cart program by Zen Cart®, http://www.zen-cart.com eCommerce" />
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" />

Here is a clue as to what might be different about those two products... What category are they supposed to be in?