The checkbox that hides your site.
WHAT IT DOES
Asks search engines not to index the site.
WHY IT EXISTS
For development sites that should not appear in results.
WHY IT CAUSES PROBLEMS
It is enabled during development and forgotten at launch.
The site is built, launched, promoted, and invisible in search.
WHERE IT IS
WordPress: Settings, Reading, discourage search engines.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN WRONG
The site works perfectly Nothing appears in search Search Console reports pages excluded by a noindex tag
HOW LONG THE DAMAGE LASTS
Until it is found and fixed, plus time to be reindexed.
Sites have run invisible for months.
WHAT TO DO
Check it immediately after any launch or migration.
Add it to your launch checklist.
THE BETTER APPROACH FOR DEVELOPMENT
Password protect the development site instead.
That prevents access entirely and does not rely on a setting you might forget.
