Exclude login or admin pages from followable internal links using rel="nofollow".
- Exclude login or admin pages from followable internal links using rel="nofollow"1 cited source1 category
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Why this matters
Pages not meant for indexing or ranking should be blocked from passing link equity to avoid crawl budget waste and ranking noise.
Hypothetical standard operating procedure
Adapt this example to your site, access, tools, and change process. It is our suggested procedure, informed by the sources below.
- Identify all internal links pointing to login, admin, or private URLs.
- Add rel="nofollow" attribute to these links in HTML anchor tags.
- Verify that these pages are also disallowed in robots.txt or using meta noindex tags.
- Test with crawler to ensure nofollow attribute is present and respected.
- Document policy to maintain for new private links.
Watch for
Accidental follow internal links to non-public pages dilute equity inappropriately.
Definition of done
All internal links to login, admin, or private pages carry rel="nofollow" to prevent passing link signals.
Sources & attribution
Original checklist wording and example SOP by Best SEO Checklist, using source-grounded AI assistance. Editorial contact: Ted Kubaitis, @tedkubaitis on Teams. Check current source guidance before implementation.