Meta robots tag contains nofollow — the fix
The meta robots tag on this page includes a nofollow directive, instructing search engines not to follow any links on the page. This prevents link equity from flowing to linked pages.
Where this fits: metadata in SEO
Metadata is how your page introduces itself to search engines and social platforms: the title tag, meta description, canonical URL, Open Graph and Twitter cards. Titles remain one of the strongest on-page relevance signals, and descriptions drive click-through rate from the results page even though they aren't a direct ranking factor. Bad metadata rarely breaks a site — it quietly bleeds clicks on every query where you appear.
Why meta robots tag contains nofollow hurts your rankings
A page-level nofollow directive stops all link equity from being distributed to any page linked from this page, including your own internal pages. This can severely damage internal link equity distribution and hurt the rankings of linked pages. It is rarely the correct approach; individual link-level nofollow is preferred when needed.
This is a high-severity issue: it directly suppresses rankings or click-through on the pages it affects. It belongs in your current sprint, prioritised by how many pages carry it.
How to fix it
Remove the nofollow directive from the meta robots tag unless you intentionally want to prevent all link equity flow from this page. If you need to nofollow specific links, use rel="nofollow" on individual link elements instead.
<!-- Before -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, nofollow" />
<!-- After -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow" />Metadata best practices
- Write one unique title per page, 50–60 characters, primary topic first, brand last.
- Write meta descriptions as ad copy: 140–155 characters, include the query intent, end with a reason to click.
- Ship Open Graph + Twitter Card tags on every shareable page — social embeds are free impressions.
- Keep canonical URLs absolute, lowercase, and consistent with your internal links.
- Never duplicate titles across pages — duplicates tell Google the pages are interchangeable.
The full library: SEO best practices, by category.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Meta robots tag contains nofollow" mean?
The meta robots tag on this page includes a nofollow directive, instructing search engines not to follow any links on the page. This prevents link equity from flowing to linked pages.
Why does meta robots tag contains nofollow matter for SEO?
A page-level nofollow directive stops all link equity from being distributed to any page linked from this page, including your own internal pages. This can severely damage internal link equity distribution and hurt the rankings of linked pages. It is rarely the correct approach; individual link-level nofollow is preferred when needed.
How do I fix meta robots tag contains nofollow?
Remove the nofollow directive from the meta robots tag unless you intentionally want to prevent all link equity flow from this page. If you need to nofollow specific links, use rel="nofollow" on individual link elements instead.
How serious is this issue?
This is a high-severity issue: it directly suppresses rankings or click-through on the pages it affects. It belongs in your current sprint, prioritised by how many pages carry it. It belongs to the metadata family of checks.
How do I find every page affected by this on my site?
Run a free Dr Urls audit: it crawls your site, detects meta robots tag contains nofollow on every affected page, shows example URLs, and generates a ready-to-use fix task. Re-scan after fixing to verify the issue is gone.
Does your site have this issue?
A free Dr Urls audit crawls your site, finds every page affected by meta robots tag contains nofollow, and hands you a ready-made fix task.
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