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What to Do If Your Website Pages Are Not Getting Indexed

  • Writer: hardeep kaur
    hardeep kaur
  • 2 days ago
  • 4 min read

Getting your website pages indexed by search engines is a crucial step for visibility and ranking. If your pages aren’t being indexed, it means they won’t show up in search results - which ultimately leads to no traffic and no conversions. 


But don’t worry - in this comprehensive guide, we’ll explain why your website pages may not be getting indexed and exactly what you can do to fix it.



What to Do If Your Website Pages Are Not Getting Indexed


What Does Indexing Mean?


Indexing is the process by which search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo collect, analyze, and store data from web pages so they can appear in search results.


When your site is “indexed,” it means search engines have crawled your page and added it to their database. If a page isn’t indexed, it simply won’t show up on search engine result pages (SERPs).


Why Your Website Pages Are Not Getting Indexed


There could be several reasons why your pages aren’t being indexed. Let’s break them down:


1. The Page Is Blocked by Robots.txt

The robots.txt file tells search engine bots which pages they can or cannot crawl. If your pages are disallowed here, they won’t be indexed.


2. Noindex Meta Tag Present

If your web page has a <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> tag, it tells search engines not to index the page.


3. Poor Internal Linking

Search engines use links to discover content. If your page isn’t linked internally from other indexed pages, bots may not find it.


4. Low-Quality or Thin Content

Pages with very little content or content that doesn’t add value are often ignored by Google.


5. Duplicate Content

If multiple pages on your site have the same or very similar content, search engines may ignore one version in favor of another.


6. Crawl Budget Limitations

For large websites, search engines allocate a crawl budget - i.e., how many pages they crawl in a given time. Unimportant pages might get skipped if the crawl budget is exceeded.


7. Broken Links or Server Errors

If search engines encounter broken links or server errors (like 404 or 5xx status codes), they may stop indexing that page.


8. New Website or Page

If your site is new or you’ve just published a page, it may simply take some time before it’s indexed.


9. No Backlinks or Authority

Pages without any backlinks may not appear important or trustworthy to Google and may be skipped.


10. Technical SEO Issues

Unoptimized sitemaps, incorrect canonical tags, or JavaScript-heavy pages can prevent indexing.


 How To Find Indexed Pages on Google

Here are 5 effective methods to check which of your pages are indexed by Google:


Use the “site:” Search Operator

The simplest way to check is through a Google search.


🔧 How to Do It:

Type this into Google:site:yourdomain.com

For example:site:cleaningtactics.com


🎯 What You’ll See:

A list of all pages from your site that Google has indexed.

💡 Pro Tip: Add specific URLs to check if individual pages are indexed:site:yourdomain.com/blog/seo-tips

What You Can Do to Fix Indexing Issues


Here’s a step-by-step action plan you can follow to make sure your web pages get indexed.


1. Check Google Search Console


Go to Google Search Console (GSC) and:

  • Click on “URL Inspection Tool”

  • Enter the URL of the page

  • It will tell you if the page is indexed or not and what’s blocking it


Pro Tip: If it's not indexed, click "Request Indexing" after fixing the issue.


2. Fix Robots.txt and Meta Tags


Check your robots.txt file:


Then check your <head> section in HTML:

  • Remove any <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> tags from pages you want indexed


3. Submit a Sitemap


Submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console:

  • Go to GSC → Sitemaps → Enter your sitemap URL (yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml)

  • A sitemap helps search engines understand your site structure and discover new content


4. Improve Internal Linking


Make sure all important pages are linked from your homepage or main navigation. Use anchor text that includes relevant keywords. This signals to search engines that the page is valuable.


5. Update Content Quality


Review the page:

  • Does it offer value?

  • Is it at least 600–1000+ words?

  • Does it include helpful media like images, videos, or infographics?


Make sure it's unique, well-written, and relevant. Avoid filler content.


6. Use Canonical Tags Correctly

Use the <link rel="canonical" href="URL" /> tag correctly to avoid duplication issues. Point each page to itself unless you're purposely consolidating similar pages.


7. Fix Technical Errors


Use tools like:

  • Google Search Console (Coverage Report)

  • Screaming Frog SEO Spider

  • Ahrefs or Semrush Site Audit


Look for:

  • 404 errors

  • 500 internal server errors

  • Redirect chains

  • Crawl anomalies


Fix these to ensure smooth crawling.


8. Generate Backlinks


Promote your content to get backlinks from reputable websites. Even a few good links can help Google notice and prioritize your content.


You can:

  • Guest post on related blogs

  • Share content on social media

  • Submit to niche directories

  • Use digital PR tactics


9. Avoid Overloading JavaScript

If your site uses a lot of JavaScript, search engines might struggle to crawl and render your pages.


Use server-side rendering or tools like Google's Mobile-Friendly Test and URL Inspection to verify what Google sees.


10. Be Patient – But Monitor Progress

If everything looks good, give Google time. Indexing isn’t instant, especially for new or updated sites.


Monitor your progress in Google Search Console:

  • Use the “Coverage” tab

  • Track how many URLs are indexed

  • Keep an eye on errors and warnings


Bonus Tips to Improve Indexing Speed

  • Post consistently: Frequent updates signal freshness

  • Ping Google: Use GSC’s “Request Indexing” after publishing

  • Share on social media: Triggers bots to crawl your links

  • Add a blog: Regularly updated blogs help with faster indexing

  • Install RankMath or Yoast SEO (for WordPress): Helps manage indexing settings


Final Thoughts

If your website pages aren’t getting indexed, don’t panic. It’s a common issue with clear solutions. The key is to approach it methodically: check for technical issues, ensure content quality, fix any crawl blocks, and monitor progress in Search Console.


Once you’ve resolved the blockers and optimized your page structure, Google will eventually index your site - and your visibility will improve as a result.


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