Does title and description matter if a page is not to be indexed?

Question

Does a meta-description and a title tag has any significance in a page that is marked to not be indexed (either via a rel=canonical pointing to another URL or noindex)?

For example, I have a tutorial section for a photo collage editor that I want users to only access it from within the editor page since the pages of the tutorial are meant to be accessed in a certain order. I don't want the tutorial indexed by search engines because that could throw a new user right off if they want to learn something.

Is it safe that on all my tutorial pages on my site, I can declare the title as "Tutorial" and the description as "Tutorial page" just because I indicated to search engines that I don't want those pages indexed? Or will Google come after me claiming I have duplicate content and give me a hidden penalty?

Answer 1

The meta-description will not have significance, but title will show up in the titlebar of the user's browser:

But in terms of a Google penalty, it shouldn't be an issue if they aren't indexed.

I'd take the opportunity to use your tutorial titles to guide the user. If they're supposed to be accessed in a specific order why not number them in that order.