quick question about NOT getting indexed on SE's

[belledumonde]

say you have a personal blog, how do you NOT get it listed on search engines?

see i want to be online, but i only want people to see my blog if i have provided a link. i do want people to visit but not uninvited so i dont want it to show up on search engines at all.

i have backlinks because of comments, signatures in forums, etc but i dont want that to up my pr or serps. i want to put my real name on my blog but not let it be found that way through search engines. how? spaces between letters? i dont think so...

main goal: i dont want my name in a search to lead to my blog.

what can i do to prevent that?

thank you to anyone who can help!

[mlseim]

You use a robots.txt file ...

http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/robots.html

Only guaranteed for "honest" robots, like Googlebot.

The only other way to guarantee private visits would
be to use PHP to create a log-in script, with a password
to view your site. .... or .htaccess might be a way.

[belledumonde]

heres the thing, i use blogger... so........ thats a big problem for me right there. i dont have access to any of that stuff. i am without funds to buy my own anything at the moment.

BUT, its not entirely impossible is it? i could write a php file and host it externally then link to it from my blog? maybe use a redirect? is my thinking going in the right direction? tell me either way so i know what path to pursue.

is it possible? thats the question, then we can talk about how. :)

[Beagle]

you can use a meta tag. I did a quick google search and it seems you can stop robots with a meta tag in your page, but I can't figure out how the tag should be formed to accomplish it.

[vinyl-junkie]

<meta name="robots" content="NoIndex, NoFollow" />
If you are not using Strict document type, drop the slash at the end.

[belledumonde]

how sure is using the meta tag? does it work for all?

[kab_184]

Meta tage : most of the time work

its true bots creep in even if u have robots.txt telling them not to..try No cache as well in meta tags...make the content page look expire via meta tags..so bots take it a dead page as well...

[raf]

main goal: i dont want my name in a search to lead to my blog.

what can i do to prevent that?
you could only show your name as an image ... (just an image with your name in the same font and decoration as the part of your page where you put it.)

[belledumonde]

you could only show your name as an image ... (just an image with your name in the same font and decoration as the part of your page where you put it.)

so funny, i was JUST ABOUT to say that. :thumbsup:

any other ways?

[raf]

any other ways?
yes. you can basically use every technique that is used to prevent bots from harvesting email adresses. like using a small javascript to generate and print your name (so that it's rendered but not as such part of the code --> like a jscript that prints far backwards).

[vinyl-junkie]

you could only show your name as an image ... (just an image with your name in the same font and decoration as the part of your page where you put it.)
Not a good idea. Images without alt tags become an accessibility issue. You need to have them, which puts you right back where you started.

[raf]

Not a good idea. Images without alt tags become an accessibility issue. You need to have them, which puts you right back where you started.
well, i live in a free country where there is no law that says your alt-tag needs to contain your name. if he has an <img alt="my name" ...> then this is perfectly fine, especially if he only want to allow a select public, which he invites, to see his pages.

[belledumonde]

yes, i dont see why i need to put my name in the alt tag of the image. i think "my name" would be fine. it is still a descriptive alternative text for the image.

i think using javascript is something i'll look into. thanks for the suggestion raf!

[kab_184]

If you read earlier what belledumonde wrote

see i want to be online, but i only want people to see my blog if i have provided a link.

belledumonde is giving access and guiding URL manually. So..i agree.. ALT tag is not required coz user already knows what they are about to see.

[vinyl-junkie]

well, i live in a free country where there is no law that says your alt-tag needs to contain your name.
I never said that his alt tag needed to have his name. Perhaps you need to re-read my previous post. It's a best practice as well as accessibility issue to have them. If he chooses to ignore such advice, he's certainly free to do so.

[raf]

I never said that his alt tag needed to have his name. Perhaps you need to re-read my previous post. It's a best practice as well as accessibility issue to have them. If he chooses to ignore such advice, he's certainly free to do so.What a bizarre reply…
Why were you assuming that he would not be using an alt for that image in the first place?[
To me your remark is like telling people they can’t write their loveletters on red paper because that could cause some problems for certain colourblind people.
Everyone is free to server whatever content in whatever form they like!
People that write code for public sites, and especially for public services/government sites/commercial sites  they all have to keep accessibility issue in mind because they either need to deliver content to as many people as possible (because it’s required by law, because they don’t want to loose business etc).
But if I or our threadstarter decides to make an inaccessible page, then that’s just our decision. As long as we reach our intended public, there is no ‘accessibility issue’ at all.

[vinyl-junkie]

What a bizarre reply...
Bizarre indeed. Especially since you say basically the same thing I did, only in the form of a painfully long speech. Lighten up, my friend. It ain't that big of a deal! :rolleyes: