Restrict data/fields shown in google results

This topic contains 5 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Dirk 6 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #436459

    Simon Smith
    Buyer
    Post count: 12

    We’d like to restrict certain data/fields shown in google results.

    We use GeoDirectory for a directory of funeral celebrants. They do not want to publish their full work addresses as many of them work from home.
    So in their pages we display only Town and County – and hide Address line 1 & 2 and postcode. this works well.

    However, recently a celebrant pointed out that if they search for themselves on Google, their full address appears. This is not consistent – I cannot see their details, unless I enter part of the first line as ‘required’ (i.e. in quotes).

    So is there a way of hiding this information (address 1 and postcode) from search engines?

    I think I have found a work around by entering “Private address” in the Post_Address field, deleting the Postcode and just using the map to locate the celebrant or ‘Place’.

    With thanks
    Massimo

    #436463

    Alex Rollin
    Moderator
    Post count: 27815

    The only way to truly hide the address is to not enter it or to check all the outputs and remove that address line from every output.

    https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs/faqs/how-do-i-change-how-the-addresses-display/

    The address field is required but does not need to be accurate. In most cases where a directory might contain business addresses that are also home addresses it is advised to give instructions to users to put the map point near the correct location and then o hide the address output as you have done.

    You can also translate the core plugin to customize the text such that your users are given the best advice about how to fill the fields to make their use of the site most enjoyable.

    #436821

    Simon Smith
    Buyer
    Post count: 12

    Alex
    thank you for your quick response.
    I understand what you say and as I stated in my message we will implement what you suggest.

    Regards
    Massimo

    #436835

    Dirk
    Full Member
    Post count: 390

    Google crawler does not care about a css-code “display:none”. It will always crawl and store the information. You have to disable the rendering (echo) of the address at all on what the crawler will see.

    BTW: Hiding text by CSS is a bad practice and can influence your SEO score!

    #436841

    Alex Rollin
    Moderator
    Post count: 27815

    Inside the page I linked above is another link to remove the address with PHP so it is not hidden with CSS but instead never printed at all: https://wpgeodirectory.com/docs/changing-the-layout-of-addresses/

    #436842

    Dirk
    Full Member
    Post count: 390

    Sorry, I was too fast 😉

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