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Blogger gives you real, professional-grade SEO controls — you just have to know where they live. This guide walks through every setting that affects how Google crawls, indexes, and ranks your blog: from the basics, to custom robots.txt, to robots header tags, meta descriptions, sitemaps, and Google Search Console. Every code snippet has a one-tap Copy button so you can paste it straight into your dashboard.
1. Basic SEO Settings
Before touching robots.txt or header tags, make sure these foundational settings are correct — they matter as much for SEO as anything more "technical."
Blog title and description
Your blog title and description appear in Settings > Basic. Google often uses your blog description as a fallback snippet when a page has no meta description, so write it like real ad copy — clear, specific, and under 150 characters.
HTTPS
Blogger enables HTTPS by default for both blogspot.com blogs and custom domains, and offers an HTTPS redirect toggle under Settings > Basic. Turn this on so visitors and crawlers are always sent to the secure version of every URL — mixed HTTP/HTTPS versions of the same page can split your ranking signals.
Custom domain
If you're using a custom domain, set it once and stick with it. Switching between a blogspot.com subdomain and a custom domain (or back again) changes every URL on your site and can cause a temporary dip in rankings while Google re-crawls everything.
Permalinks (post URLs)
When you write a post, Blogger lets you customize the URL slug before publishing (under Post settings > Permalink). Keep it short, readable, and close to your target keyword instead of accepting an auto-generated slug built from the full title.
Favicon
A custom favicon (under Settings > Basic > Favicon) doesn't move rankings directly, but it improves brand recognition in browser tabs and bookmarks — a small trust signal that supports your overall SEO effort.
2. Custom robots.txt
Every Blogger blog already has a default robots.txt file, but enabling a custom one gives you full control over which pages Google crawls, which helps you avoid duplicate-content issues from your search and label pages.
Where to find it
- Open your Blogger dashboard and select your blog.
- Go to Settings > Crawlers and indexing.
- Turn on Enable custom robots.txt.
- Click the Custom robots.txt link that appears and paste in your code.
- Click Save.
Note: On older versions of the Blogger interface this same setting is labeled Settings > Search preferences instead of "Crawlers and indexing" — the toggle does the same thing either way.
A safe starting template
Replace yourblog.blogspot.com with your actual domain (or your custom domain, if you have one) before saving:
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google Disallow: User-agent: * Disallow: /search Allow: / Sitemap: https://yourblog.blogspot.com/sitemap.xml Sitemap: https://yourblog.blogspot.com/sitemap-pages.xml
What each line does
| Line | What it does |
|---|---|
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google | Targets Google's AdSense crawler specifically, so ads can still be matched to your content. |
User-agent: * | Applies the rules that follow to every crawler, not just Google. |
Disallow: /search | Blocks Blogger's internal search-result and label-archive URLs, which usually duplicate content that's already indexed elsewhere. |
Allow: / | Explicitly allows crawling of everything else on the blog. |
Sitemap: | Points crawlers directly to your sitemap files so new posts get discovered faster. |
Be careful: Don't add a blanket Disallow: / under User-agent: * — that blocks your entire blog from every search engine.
3. Custom Robots Header Tags
While robots.txt controls crawling, robots header tags control indexing — telling Google whether a page is allowed to appear in search results at all, and how it should be treated once it does.
Where to find it
Same screen as above: Settings > Crawlers and indexing > Enable custom robots header tags. Once enabled, you'll see three separate tag groups to configure.
| Tag group | Recommended setting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home page tags | all, noodp | Lets your homepage be fully indexed and followed; noodp stops old third-party directory descriptions from overriding your own. |
| Archive and search page tags | noindex, noodp | Keeps label pages, date archives, and search-result pages out of Google's index, since they duplicate your real posts. |
| Post and page tags | all, noodp | Makes sure every individual post and static page is indexable — this is your actual content, so it should never be blocked. |
Be careful: The most common self-inflicted indexing problem on Blogger is accidentally setting Post and page tags to noindex. Double-check this group specifically if your posts stop appearing in search.
4. Meta Description
The meta description is the snippet of text Google often shows under your title in search results. Blogger lets you set one at the blog level and a different one for each individual post.
Enable it at the blog level
- Go to Settings > Meta tags (sometimes shown under Crawlers and indexing on newer interfaces).
- Turn on Description.
- Enter a description for your blog as a whole, under 150 characters.
- Click Save.
Set it per post
Once enabled, open any post's editor and look for Search description in the Post settings panel on the right. This overrides the blog-level description for that specific post — always fill it in, since a unique, specific description usually earns a better click-through rate than one Google auto-generates from your first paragraph.
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Tip: Keep meta descriptions around 150–155 characters. Longer descriptions often get cut off in search results with an ellipsis (…).
5. Sitemap Submission
Blogger automatically generates a sitemap for you — you don't need a plugin or manual file. Understanding the URL pattern helps you submit it correctly to Search Console.
Your sitemap URLs
https://yourblog.blogspot.com/sitemap.xml
https://yourblog.blogspot.com/sitemap-pages.xml
The first covers your blog posts, the second covers static pages. If you're on a custom domain, swap in your own domain in place of yourblog.blogspot.com.
Large blogs: Blogger paginates sitemap.xml once you pass a few hundred posts, splitting it into additional files like sitemap.xml?page=2. Submit the base sitemap.xml URL and Search Console will follow the pagination automatically.
6. Google Search Console Setup
Search Console is where you tell Google your blog exists, monitor indexing status, and spot problems before they hurt your rankings.
- Go to Google Search Console and sign in with the same Google account you use for Blogger.
- Add a property — the URL prefix option (rather than "Domain") is simplest for most Blogger users.
- Verify ownership. If your blog is already linked to the same Google account, Blogger often verifies it automatically; otherwise use the HTML tag method and paste the provided meta tag into Theme > Edit HTML, just after the opening
<head>tag. - Once verified, open Sitemaps in the left menu and submit
sitemap.xml. - Check the Pages (indexing) report regularly to see what's indexed, excluded, or blocked.
Tip: Use the URL Inspection tool to request indexing for an individual post right after you publish it, instead of waiting for Google to crawl it naturally.
7. Common SEO Mistakes
Blocking /search but leaving label links everywhere
Disallowing /search in robots.txt stops crawling, but if your theme still links heavily to label pages, you're wasting crawl budget and diluting internal link equity. Keep label use minimal and intentional.
Accidentally setting posts to noindex
This happens most often when experimenting with robots header tags. Always double-check the Post and page tags group is set to all after making any change.
Duplicate or missing meta descriptions
Leaving every post's search description blank means Google writes its own snippet — usually your first sentence, which is rarely optimized for click-through. Write a unique one for every post.
Changing permalinks or domains without redirects
Switching a custom domain on and off, or manually editing a published post's URL, breaks existing backlinks and search rankings tied to the old URL.
Ignoring mobile page speed
Heavy embedded widgets, oversized images, and excessive custom scripts slow down mobile load times — a direct ranking factor. Compress images before uploading and keep third-party widgets to a minimum.
Never checking the Search Console coverage report
Indexing issues (soft 404s, crawl anomalies, blocked resources) often go unnoticed for months simply because nobody looks. Check the Pages report at least monthly.
8. FAQ
Does Blogger support real SEO, or is it too limited compared to WordPress?
Blogger supports all the fundamentals — custom robots.txt, robots header tags, meta descriptions, sitemaps, HTTPS, and custom domains. It has fewer built-in tools than WordPress plugins offer, but everything needed for solid on-page and technical SEO is available natively.
Where exactly are Blogger's SEO settings?
Most of them live under Settings > Crawlers and indexing (robots.txt and robots header tags) and Settings > Meta tags (blog description). Per-post descriptions are set in each post's own editor.
Note: Blogger has renamed and reorganized these settings screens more than once over the years, so exact labels can vary slightly by account. If a setting mentioned here isn't in the exact spot described, check nearby sections in Settings — the toggle is almost always there under a similar name.
What should my Blogger robots.txt actually block?
At minimum, block /search to prevent Blogger's internal search and label-archive pages from being indexed as duplicate content. Avoid blocking anything else unless you have a specific reason — most posts and static pages should stay fully crawlable.
What do the custom robots header tag options mean?
all allows full indexing and link-following; noindex keeps a page out of search results entirely; noarchive stops Google from showing a cached copy; noodp tells Google to ignore old third-party directory descriptions in favor of your own.
How do I submit my Blogger sitemap to Google?
Verify your blog in Google Search Console, then submit sitemap.xml under the Sitemaps section. Blogger generates and updates this file automatically — you never need to build one manually.
Why are some of my Blogger posts not getting indexed?
Common causes include an accidental noindex tag on posts, thin or duplicate content, a robots.txt rule that's too broad, or simply not having submitted your sitemap yet. Check the Pages report in Search Console — it usually names the exact reason for each excluded URL.
Do I need both robots.txt and robots header tags?
Yes — they do different jobs. Robots.txt tells crawlers where not to go; header tags tell Google whether a page it already crawled should be indexed. Most indexing problems come from misconfiguring one while ignoring the other.
