'NoIndex' Threads With Zero Responses - Good Idea?

[TheBigK]

So I was reading how DaniWeb recovered from the Panda Attack. One of things that DaniWeb did was to 'noindex' the discussions with zero responses. Once a discussion gets a reply; then the noindex tag is removed. I want to know whether this is a good move and has anyone considered implementing this on their forums. Looking forward to your responses.

 

[Brent W]

Hurts near realtime indexing by Google. No need to do more than basic things. DaniWeb was a special case.

 

[TheBigK]

Hurts near realtime indexing by Google.

I agree. But it also prevents thin content being showed to Google Bot. I think a better approach would be to noindex posts with less than 100 words that are yet to get a response.

 

[Brent W]

I agree. But it also prevents thin content being showed to Google Bot. I think a better approach would be to noindex posts with less than 100 words that are yet to get a response.

I don't know, I've never been a fan of telling Google what it should and should not index, as long as you remove duplicate content and make sure you use canonical link tag.

 

[digitalpoint]

I agree with BamaStangGuy... unless your site is affected by Panda and that actually helps it, then it would hurt more than help.

 

[TheBigK]

I agree with BamaStangGuy... unless your site is affected by Panda and that actually helps it, then it would hurt more than help.

Maybe. A lot of our users aren't native English speakers and can't express themselves on the forums. That leads to creation of thin content on the site. I think it's a better strategy to let Google decide what to index and what to ignore.