How to Add the Noindex, Follow Meta Tag in Shopify for Paginated Pages and Other Page Types

Paginated pages are prevalent in Shopify stores, particularly for blogs, collections, and search results. While these pages benefit users, they frequently create duplicate content that negatively impacts SEO performance. The noindex, follow meta tag prevents search engines from indexing duplicate pages while permitting link following.

This guide covers implementing noindex, follow tags for:

Paginated pages (e.g., ?page=2)
Collection pages
Blog pages
Product pages
Search result pages
Custom pages (FAQ, Privacy Policy)

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Paginated Pages

Access Online Store > Themes in Shopify admin
Select Actions > Edit Code
Open theme.liquid from the Layout folder
Insert this code in the <head> section:

{%- if canonical_url contains '?page=' -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">
{%- endif -%}

This targets pages with pagination query strings.

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Collection Pages

{%- if template contains 'collection' -%}
  <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">
{%- endif -%}

Prevents indexing of collection pages with potentially duplicate product listings.

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Blog Pages

{%- if template contains 'blog' -%}
  <meta content="noindex, follow" name="robots">
{%- endif -%}

Applies the tag across all blog pages.

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Product Pages

{%- if template contains 'product' -%}
  <meta content="noindex, follow" name="robots">
{%- endif -%}

Targets product pages specifically.

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Search Result Pages

{%- if template contains 'search' -%}
  <meta content="noindex, follow" name="robots">
{%- endif -%}

Prevents indexing of search results pages.

Adding “Noindex, Follow” for Custom Pages

{%- if template contains 'page' and canonical_url contains 'your-custom-page-handle' -%}
  <meta content="noindex, follow" name="robots">
{%- endif -%}

Replace 'your-custom-page-handle' with the actual page handle.

Conclusion

The noindex, follow meta tag effectively prevents search engines from indexing low-value pages like pagination results or temporary product pages. Strategic application enhances SEO without blocking important customer-facing content from discovery.