If your website has an internal search bar, it could be secretly hurting your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
In a recent discussion, google’s John Mueller and Martin Splitt warned website owners that unprotected search box pages can be exploited by spammers. That will lead Google to treat your website as hacked or demote it for poor site quality.
What is Search Box Spam?
When a visitor uses your website search bar, your content management system automatically generates a dynamic results page and unique URL containing the search query.
Spammers exploit this by using automated bots to query thousands of spam keywords in your search bar. This can include adult terms, unregulated pharmaceuticals, or scam phone numbers. If those auto-generated pages are crawlable, meaning Google will find it, search engines may index them and turn your domain into a host for spam content in Google search results.
How To Fix and Prevent Search Box Spam
Google recommends two primary defenses to stop search box spam before it damages your site quality:
- Update your robots.txt file (Best Practice from Google)
- The best solution is to disallow search engines from crawling your internal search results pages altogether. Adding a broad rule to your robots.txt file prevents crawlers from ever accessing or generating infinite search URLs.
- Use a noindex tag
- A secondary measure is to ensure your CMS template for internal search result pages includes a <meta name+”robots” content=”noindex”> directive. If you don’t know how to do this, ask your website provider to make sure it is included. This instructs search engines to never display those pages in search results.
About The Author, Brian Pate
To see Brian’s speaking/teaching schedule, click here.