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My websites generally include a page where you can publicly see what are the latest search terms used by the users of the web. I know it's not a good security practice to allow this since you can find undesired content. On the other hand it boosts the number of pages indexed since every new search can provide a link on Google and people can find you with related keywords that you are not using on your web page.

What is the rationale behind including or excluding this results in search engines index ?

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You shouldn't simple add an extra page simply for an additional index, Google cares about quality not just quantity, so if the page offers nothing special and useful for your visitors then you should remove the page, however if the page is helpful then keep it.

You should put your visitors first and the search engines last, with this logic its hard to fail.

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  • I definitely agree with this. I can't see what value this would add to your users. If you were only using one page and updating it on a regular basis, I could see it being all right, though probably not too worthwhile, but more than a single page? That starts to sound spammy and not too helpful. – Drew Nov 13 '13 at 14:39
  • I completely understand your point, but sometimes users are looking for a product with keywords you have not previously thought about, so this keywords are valuable to you despite not being used on your website. By allowing these results to be indexed you get the benefit of those "new" to you keywords. – drcelus Nov 14 '13 at 13:37
  • There are dozens of ways of obtaining keywords, no need to display these keywords on a page. – Simon Hayter♦ Nov 14 '13 at 13:39
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Google indeed wants quality, and a good user experience. If this page has nothing to do with what your site ranks for, it looks spammy and is probably going to hurt you in the long run. Replace that page with a blog, or article section, and write about what you wish to be an authority on. The traffic gained from quality content over the long run will prove more fruitful. Plus, what good is random non targeted traffic anyway? It certainly wont help conversion goals.

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