Archive pages (author, date, category, and tag listings) can duplicate your main content and dilute your SEO, especially on smaller sites. This screen lets you set title and description templates for archives you keep, and disable or redirect the ones you do not want search engines to index.
Nexter → Content SEO → On-Page → Archive Pages.
How To Control Archive Pages SEO?
- Build the Archive Title Template from variable chips. The defaults include Term Title and Site Name. The counter targets /60 characters.
- Build the Archive Description Template. The default uses the Term Description chip. The counter targets /160.
- Decide which archive types to switch off using the disable toggles (Author, Date, Category, Tag).
- If you disable an archive type, decide what visitors see when they hit that URL by setting the Redirect to Homepage toggle (see the section below).
- Click Save.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Archive Title Template | Default title for archive pages, built from chips such as Term Title and Site Name. Counter targets /60. |
| Archive Description Template | Default description for archive pages, using chips like Term Description. Counter targets /160. |
| Disable Author Archives | Turns off author listing pages. On single-author sites these duplicate your blog and dilute SEO. |
| Disable Date Archives | Turns off the month and year archive pages WordPress creates. These often add little value and can create duplicate content. |
| Disable Category Archives | Turns off category listing pages. Useful when your categories duplicate other listings. |
| Disable Tag Archives | Turns off tag listing pages, which can create thin, duplicate content. |
| Redirect to Homepage | Sends visitors from disabled author, date, category, and tag archives to your homepage instead of showing a 404 page. |
| Save | Stores the archive settings. |
How Disable And Redirect Work Together
The disable toggles and the Redirect to Homepage toggle are two halves of one decision:
- Disable an archive, redirect off. The archive URL stops serving its listing and returns a 404 (Not Found). This tells search engines the page no longer exists.
- Disable an archive, redirect on. The archive URL performs a 301 (Moved Permanently) redirect to your homepage. This passes visitors and link signals to your homepage instead of dead-ending on a 404.
Use 404 when you simply want the thin archive gone from the index. Use the 301 redirect when those archive URLs may still get traffic or links you want to capture.
Good To Know
- On a single-author site, disabling author archives is almost always the right call. The author archive is a near-duplicate of your blog.
- Only disable category or tag archives if they genuinely duplicate other listings. On content sites, category archives are often useful landing pages worth keeping and optimizing.
- The title and description templates apply to the archives you keep enabled, so it is worth setting them even if you disable a few types.
Troubleshooting
- My disabled archive shows a 404 and I did not want that. Turn on Redirect to Homepage so the URL 301-redirects to your homepage instead.
- The archive is still indexed after disabling it. Give search engines time to re-crawl. A 404 or 301 signals removal, but re-indexing is not instant. You can also submit the change through your sitemap and indexing tools.
- My category pages disappeared but I use them as landing pages. Turn off Disable Category Archives. That toggle removes all category listings.
Related: Meta Title & Description Templates · Homepage SEO · Image SEO
This is how you can control archive pages SEO with Nexter SEO.
