Content Rules & Thin Content Control
Automatically exclude low-quality URLs from your sitemaps — thin pages, noindex posts, and drafts — while auditing exactly what was removed and why.
Before you start
The Content Rules tab helps you keep sitemaps clean by filtering out pages that search engines should not prioritize — especially thin content with very few words. Excluded URLs are tagged with clear reasons so you can fix them instead of guessing.
You’ll need:
- WordPress Administrator access
- Published posts and pages with real body content (word counts are calculated from post content)
- XML sitemap enabled (see our Indexing & Sitemaps guide)
Open Content Rules
Navigate to:
SEO Rank Genius → Indexing & Sitemaps → Content Rules
The tab URL parameter is …&tab=content-rules. The screen has two cards: Content Rules (settings) and Excluded Content Details (audit table).
Content Rules
Thin content filtering & automatic exclusions
Thin Content Control
Content Rules tab — thin content toggle and minimum word count threshold.
Thin content settings
The top card controls how SEO Rank Genius evaluates page quality before adding URLs to your sitemap.
Exclude Thin Content Automatically
When enabled, any published post or page whose body content falls below the minimum word count is removed from XML and HTML sitemaps. The page still loads normally for visitors — only sitemap inclusion changes.
Minimum Word Count
Set the threshold from 0 to 1000 words (default 100). Word counts strip HTML tags and count visible text only. Short landing pages, contact forms, and placeholder posts are common offenders.
Ignore word count for
- Pillar Pages — posts marked as cornerstone/pillar content in the SEO metabox
- Legal Pages — Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and similar utility pages
Automatic exclusions
Below thin content controls, two additional toggles protect sitemap quality regardless of word count:
Automatic Exclusions
Smart Exclusion Reasons
Each excluded URL is tagged automatically:
Thin content No internal links Duplicate intent Low authorityAutomatic exclusions and smart reason tags applied to filtered URLs.
Excluded content table
The Excluded Content Details card below the settings loads a live audit of every URL currently filtered out of sitemaps. Click Refresh after changing thresholds or publishing new content.
Excluded Content Details
Posts & pages excluded from sitemaps with reasons
| Content | Words | Exclusion Reasons | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Us page · Mar 12, 2025 | 42 42% of 100 | Thin content | Edit |
| Old Promo Landing post · Jan 4, 2024 · NOINDEX | 68 | Thin content No internal links | Edit |
| FAQ Stub page · Feb 18, 2025 | 31 | Thin content Duplicate intent | Edit |
Excluded Content Details — Content, Words, Exclusion Reasons, and Actions columns.
Reading the Words column
Each row shows the actual word count plus a progress bar indicating how close the page is to your minimum threshold. Red numbers are well below the limit; amber is borderline. Click Edit to open the post in WordPress and expand the content.
Content types
Content Rules apply to all public post types included in your sitemap — typically posts, pages, and custom post types. The audit table shows the post type badge on each row.
Posts & pages
Standard blog posts and static pages are evaluated by default. Short announcement posts and thin category landing pages are the most common exclusions.
Custom post types
If a CPT is enabled in the XML Sitemap tab, its entries are subject to the same thin content rules. Portfolio items with only an image and title often trigger exclusions — add descriptive copy or mark as pillar content.
Page builders
Word counts include text from Elementor, Divi, and other builder content stored in post meta. The table shows a builder badge when detected so you know where to edit.
Save & troubleshooting
Saving your settings
Click the blue Save button in the Content Rules card header. Settings apply immediately to the next sitemap regeneration. Use Regenerate on the Overview tab to rebuild the sitemap with new exclusion rules.
Excluded table won't load
Click Refresh. If the error persists, verify you have admin permissions and that no security plugin is blocking AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php.
Page excluded but has enough content
Check whether the post is marked noindex, still a draft, or uses a page builder that stores content outside the main post body. Increase content in the block editor or enable the pillar page exemption.
Thin page still in sitemap
Confirm thin content filtering is enabled and saved. Regenerate the sitemap from Overview. Clear any CDN or caching plugin that serves a stale sitemap.xml.
Legal page incorrectly excluded
Enable Ignore Word Count For: Legal Pages or raise the minimum threshold. Privacy policies are often short but valuable — they should stay indexable even with fewer words.