Add noindex to image attachment pages
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WordPress has a default of creating image attachment pages for all images uploads. This results in the creation of a lot of unnecessary pages that have zero content that google is indexing. Google can see these pages as poor content pages and might flag the site as a content farm, content mill or just a plain spammy website.
A very easy fix for this is to add the noindex code to these pages that wordpress automatically creates for all images:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">There are a lot of reasons why these attachment pages with zero content are very bad SEO practice.
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Hi,
This results in the creation of a lot of unnecessary pages that have zero content that google is indexing.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood. If the attachment page has an image, why do you say it has no content? In most cases, I want my embedded and gallery images to open on attachment pages.
Besides the image, an image attachment page includes the following, all of which I want it to contain:
1. website title (which may be a link)
2. header image (which may be a link)
3. custom or default background of the site
4. header area menu
5. title link to the post or page to which the image is attached
6. date
7. comment option
8. sharing buttons on images that are embedded (but not gallery images?)
9. thumbnail links to previous and (sometimes) following images in a gallery
I wish an image attachment page also included the website’s sidebars.An image linked to a media file, by contrast, provides none of this information. The only clue of its relationship to the website in which it resides is the image URL.
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Well the problem is Google is indexing these pages. If one is not diligent to spend the time to add well thought out titles, captions and descriptions tot he images then you have a page that only has a photo and no actual content to speak of whatsoever in regards to relevant text.
You could end up with a website that has 1,000’s of “pages” with no content which can seriously dilute the content of your overall website and then actual content pages you have created. Which is what I have at present.
My problem is I jumped into wordpress not knowing about these image attachment pages at all. I only discovered them when I noticed Google actually indexing these pages and then I started to panic because these pages have NO actual content. Just an image.
A webpage with just an image and a two word description of the image like “anisette cookies” is a useless page and Google sees this page as poor content, spam, link farm because there are so many pages like it, etc…..
I have found this article since posting this that has been extremely helpful:
An Introduction To WordPress Attachment Pages
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/wordpress-attachment-pages/It mentions how you can use these attachment pages to your advantage with utilizing the image edits of: title, caption and description.
So now I have to go back and edit the 1,000’s of photos I have already uploaded that have no description or caption. UGH! Will be worth it but is going to be a daunting task.
I think automatically creating a page for every photo on a website is excessive and unnecessary.
WordPress should have a BIG warning for those new to WordPress about these sneaky image attachment pages.
Normally would not be an issue at all, but because Google is actually indexing these pages it becomes extremely important!
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@ removearticle,
You have my sympathy. I have a similar, though almost the inverse, problem, and have unsuccessfully attempted to get WordPress.com staff to address the issue. After I created my primary site in 2009, images were uploading to attachment pages for a long while. Then at some point, I presume after a WordPress update, the images began to be uploaded to media files. I didn’t notice the change for a while, and when I noticed it and complained in the forum, nobody seems to understand the issue, or be able to provide a solution.
Eventually, I found the “link image to” setting menu, but not before thousands of images were uploaded linked against my wishes to “media files.” It appears also that at some point WordPress also changed images previously linked to attachment pages were changed to link to media files. Otherwise I can’t explain how images previously linked to attachment pages suddenly weren’t at some point (about two or three years ago I believe).
I wish I could modify a setting so that my uploaded images always link to attachment pages by default. I have not found that modifying the “link to” setting on one image has an effect upon the next image uploaded, but perhaps I’ve missed this effect through inattention.
I just found one page in which 8 of 9 embedded images were linked to custom URLs, though I have no idea why. I certainly didn’t want each of them, or any of them, to be attached to a custom URL. The ninth was linked to a media file. I wanted all 9 to be linked to attachment pages. I want 99% of the images on my site to be linked to attachment pages and have asked WordPress staff if there is some way to change all of the incorrectly linked images in bulk. I’d be happy if all of the image links were changed to “link to attachment page,” including those which have custom links that I intentionally set. Have yet to hear a response from staff on this issue.
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yeah, it just seems that with the wordpress template design and the “image attachment page” feature that is thrust upon weather you want it or not, that you just have to be methodical, careful and give a LOT of attention to each and every image that is uploaded and added to a page or post, manually addresses each descriptive addition to each image.
I have been used to designing website that were self-hosted and not template design. You upload image, add it to your page, throw some alt-text in there and your done.
Having these image attachment pages that google indexes changes the whole ball game and suddenly images and image management with seo in mind become HUGE!
laborious manual editing of 1,000’s of images one by one is not my idea of a good time.
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The idea that changing the “link to” setting at image details on one image would affect all future uploaded images, until you change the setting again, is absurd. But I think that might be what is happening. I’ll try to test this when I’ve some time.
A large percentage of my traffic is to images. This fact alone greatly increases the importance of having the titles, features, and links I listed above on the page containing the image, as well as the option of including other descriptive information (caption, description) as you mention above.
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I second OP’s suggestion to noindex attachment pages. Please WP!
The option to NOINDEX specific pages would be a great improvement also.
All the good SEO-juice standard WP blog provides goes to waste, because Google sees all this content with zero value to it.
This is the biggest reason pushing me to .org.
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