Noarchive tag is an HTML directive, its search engines not to store or display a cached version of your webpage.
What Is the Noarchive Tag?
The noarchive tag is a meta tag used to instruct search engines not to save a cached (snapshot) copy of a webpage. When search engines crawl and index a site, they often store a cached version that users can access via the “Cached” link in search results.
By using the noarchive directive, you can prevent that cached version from appearing, enhancing privacy or controlling outdated content visibility.
How to Use the Noarchive Tag:
Add the following tag in the <head> section of your HTML page:
htmlCopyEdit<meta name="robots" content="noarchive" />
Or, if you want only Google to follow the directive:
htmlCopyEdit<meta name="googlebot" content="noarchive" />
When to Use Noarchive:
- Pages with time-sensitive content (e.g., event pages or pricing tables)
- To protect proprietary or sensitive information from being stored or reused
- To avoid confusion when updated content differs from cached versions
- For login or user-specific pages that shouldn’t be cached
SEO Impact of Noarchive Tag:
- No direct impact on rankings, but it affects how your content is presented in search
- Users won’t be able to view older versions of your page
- Can be used with other directives like
noindex,nofollow, ornosnippetfor deeper control - May increase bounce rate if users can’t access content when your site is temporarily down
Best Practices:
- Use only when necessary—don’t apply sitewide unless there’s a strong reason
- Combine with other robots directives for full content control
- Monitor in Google Search Console to ensure correct implementation
