TECHNICAL · SEO GLOSSARY
Nosnippet
A meta robots directive (`<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">` or `X-Robots-Tag: nosnippet`) that instructs Google not to display a text snippet or video preview in search results for the page. The page can still be indexed and ranked; Google will show the URL and title but no description excerpt or preview.
Definition
The `nosnippet` robots directive tells Google\'s search results not to display a text excerpt (the descriptive text shown below a page\'s title in search results) or a video preview thumbnail for the page. It\'s specified as: `<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">` in the page\'s `<head>`, or `X-Robots-Tag: nosnippet` in the HTTP response header. When `nosnippet` is applied: (1) the search result shows the page\'s title and URL but Google won\'t display a text snippet in the result; (2) Google also won\'t use any snippet from the page as a featured snippet source; (3) the page can still be indexed and ranked normally — `nosnippet` only affects the result display, not indexation or ranking. Related directives: **`max-snippet:N`** — limits the snippet to N characters rather than eliminating it entirely. `max-snippet:0` is equivalent to `nosnippet`. `max-snippet:-1` (or omitting the directive) allows Google to display a snippet of any length. **`max-image-preview:[size]`** — controls the size of an image preview in results. `max-image-preview:none` prevents any image preview (including in Google Discover). `max-image-preview:large` enables large image previews (required for Google Discover cards). **`max-video-preview:N`** — limits video preview duration in search results to N seconds. Use cases for `nosnippet`: (1) protecting sensitive or proprietary text from appearing in search results without a click, (2) preventing Google from displaying outdated snippets for pages that have dynamic content, (3) legal requirements to not display certain content in search previews. Drawbacks: removing the snippet typically reduces CTR significantly — users use the snippet to determine if the page answers their query before clicking. The snippet is often the primary reason a user clicks a result. Using `nosnippet` without a strong reason will reduce organic traffic to the page even if rankings are unchanged.
Why it matters for SEO
The `nosnippet` directive has a direct, measurable negative impact on CTR — search users rely heavily on snippet text to decide which result to click. Pages with `nosnippet` applied unintentionally (via an overly broad robots meta tag like `content="noindex, nofollow, nosnippet"` when only `noindex` was intended) are silently losing clicks. The audit checks for `nosnippet` on pages that appear to be publicly-intended indexable content.
How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this
The audit checks the robots meta tag on every crawled page for `nosnippet` or `max-snippet:0` directives. Pages with `nosnippet` that appear to be standard content pages (not login pages, checkout pages, or internal admin pages) are flagged for manual review — to confirm the directive is intentional and not an accidental application of an overly restrictive meta robots value.
Useful tools and resources
GLOSSARY
Related terms
technical
Robots Meta Tag
An HTML `<meta name="robots">` tag that tells crawlers whether to index a page, follow its links, or display snippets — more granular than robots.txt.
Read definition →technical
Robots.txt
A text file at the root of a domain that tells crawlers which pages or sections to access or avoid.
Read definition →technical
Noindex
A directive that tells search engines not to include a page in their index — implemented via a meta tag or HTTP header.
Read definition →onpage
CTR Optimisation (Click-Through Rate)
The practice of improving the percentage of searchers who click on a search result — by optimising title tags, meta descriptions, structured data rich results, and URL display — without changing rankings.
Read definition →onpage
Featured Snippet
A special SERP result that displays a direct answer pulled from a webpage above the standard organic listings — also called "position zero."
Read definition →technical
Technical SEO
The discipline of optimising a website\'s infrastructure — crawlability, indexability, site speed, structured data, and security — so that search engines can discover, render, and understand pages correctly.
Read definition →See how your site scores on Nosnippet.
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