Creating bonus pages for your website is a fantastic way to deliver exclusive content, especially if you’re an affiliate marketer looking to provide added value to your audience. Preventing search engines from indexing your bonus page is crucial to maintaining its exclusivity. A well-crafted bonus page can build trust, enhance customer loyalty, and even boost conversions by offering downloadable bonuses like eBooks, workbooks, or exclusive tools. These pages act as a private space for your audience to access unique rewards they can’t find elsewhere, which makes them a cornerstone of your affiliate marketing strategy.
However, search engine visibility poses a challenge. If your bonus page gets indexed, it could appear in public search results, making it accessible to people outside of your intended audience—perhaps even competitors! This not only undermines the exclusivity of your offer but also reduces the perceived value of the bonuses you’re providing.
Luckily, there are simple methods to block search engines from indexing your page. In this article, we’ll guide you through three easy techniques: using HTML meta tags, WordPress settings, and cPanel tools. Whether you’re coding the page yourself, using a CMS like WordPress, or managing your site via a hosting panel, you’ll find actionable steps to secure your bonus page in no time.

Step 1: Preventing Search Engines Using HTML
If you’re building your bonus page manually with HTML, here’s how you can ensure it’s hidden from search engines:
- Add the Robots Meta Tag In the
<head>
section of your HTML code, insert the following line:
html<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
Explanation:
noindex
stops search engines from indexing the page.nofollow
prevents search engines from following links on the page.
Example:
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
<title>Bonus Page</title>
</head>
2. Test Your Page After adding the meta tag, upload your HTML file to your server and test it by visiting the URL. Most search engines will respect the directive.
Step 2: Preventing Search Engines in WordPress
If you’re using WordPress for your website, follow these steps to hide your bonus page:
- Use WordPress Settings
- Log into your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Go to Settings > Reading.
- Under “Search Engine Visibility,” check the box that says Discourage search engines from indexing this site.
- Save changes.
- Install an SEO Plugin
- Install a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math.
- Edit the bonus page from the WordPress dashboard.
- Scroll down to the plugin’s SEO settings.
- Under the “Advanced” section, set Meta Robots to
noindex, nofollow
.
- Publish and Verify After saving your changes, your bonus page will be excluded from search results.
Step 3: Using cPanel for Robots.txt
For broader control, you can use a robots.txt
file in your website’s root directory to block search engines from crawling specific pages.
- Log into cPanel
- Access your web hosting control panel (cPanel).
- Navigate to the File Manager.
- Create or Edit Robots.txt
- Open the
public_html
directory. - If a
robots.txt
file exists, edit it; otherwise, create a new file namedrobots.txt
. - Add the following lines:
User-agent: * Disallow: /bonus-page.html
Replace/bonus-page.html
with the path to your bonus page.
- Open the
- Save and Test Upload the changes and use a tool like Google’s robots.txt Tester to verify the setup.
Final Thoughts
Blocking search engines from indexing your bonus page ensures exclusivity for your users while maintaining control over your content. Whether you’re using HTML, WordPress, or cPanel, the steps above will help you achieve your goal.
If you find coding challenging, don’t hesitate to seek assistance. Tools like Microsoft Copilot or other AI-powered coding assistants can simplify the process for you. Just share your code and clearly explain what you need—whether it’s adding functionality like opening links in new tabs or troubleshooting errors. With a little guidance, you’ll be able to achieve your desired results effortlessly.
By following these guidelines, your bonus page will stay secure and hidden from prying search engines. Happy coding!