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Packet 05 · Indexing fixesExample sowing: September–October

Fixing what Google can’t index

Open Search Console’s Page indexing report, read the reason given for each group of unindexed pages, and fix only the ones that are pages you want in Google. Google says not to expect every URL to be indexed: the goal is the canonical version of every important page.

First, do you need the report?

Google’s own guide to the report says a site with fewer than 500 pages can probably manage without it. Instead, it suggests three Google searches:

  • site:example.com to see a sample of the pages Google knows about;
  • site:example.com followed by words from your most important pages, to see whether those subjects show up;
  • site: followed by the exact address of a key page, to see whether that page is indexed.

Only if those come back empty does Google suggest working through the report. For one page’s status, it points to the URL Inspection tool instead, because the Page indexing report can’t be searched or filtered by URL.

Weeds and seedlings

A gardener thinning a row has to tell a weed from a seedling before pulling anything. The report is the same: Google stresses that an unindexed page isn’t automatically a problem. A page marked as a duplicate or alternate usually means things worked: Google found the main (canonical) version and indexed that one instead.

Each reason also has a Source: Website or Google. In general, you can fix only the issues where the source is Website. The table sorts the common reasons Google lists. The tag in the middle column is this guide’s sorting, based on Google’s note for each.

Close-up of small seedlings coming up through dark, crumbly soil
Before thinning a row, tell what you sowed from what blew in. Photo by Elly M on Unsplash
Common reasons in the Page indexing report, with what Google says to do
Reason shownSortWhat Google says
Alternate page with proper canonical tagSeedlingNothing to fix: the page points to its canonical, and the canonical is indexed.
Duplicate without user-selected canonicalSeedlingNot an error: Google chose another page as canonical. If it chose the wrong one, mark the canonical yourself.
Page with redirectSeedlingA non-canonical URL that redirects; it won’t be indexed, and the target may be.
URL marked ‘noindex’Seedling if meantIf you don’t want the page indexed, “congratulations!” If you do, remove the noindex tag or header.
Not found (404)Seedling if removedNot necessarily a problem if the page was removed with no replacement. If it moved, use a 301 redirect.
Crawled - currently not indexedLook closerGoogle fetched it but left it out of the index for now. It might be indexed later, and resubmitting it isn’t needed.
Discovered - currently not indexedLook closerFound but not crawled yet, typically because crawling then was expected to overload the site, so Google rescheduled it.
Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than userLook closerGoogle thinks another URL is a better canonical than the one you declared. Inspect the URL to compare the two.
Soft 404WeedA “not found” message without a 404 code. Return a 404 for pages that are truly gone.
Server error (5xx)WeedGooglebot couldn’t get the page. Check the Crawl Stats report for availability problems, and that a firewall or protection system isn’t blocking Googlebot.
Redirect errorWeedThe redirect is broken: the chain runs too long, loops, ends at an address that is too long, or contains a bad or empty URL.
URL blocked by robots.txtLook closerBlocking crawling doesn’t guarantee the page won’t be indexed. To keep it out, remove the block and use noindex.
Indexed, though blocked by robots.txtLook closerIndexed from links on other pages despite the block. robots.txt is not the way to keep a page out of search; use noindex instead.

Fixing a reason, in order

  1. Open the reason. Select its row to see the affected URLs. The example list is capped at 1,000 rows and may not show every URL with that issue.
  2. Inspect one example. Open it in the URL Inspection tool and select Test live URL to check the current version of the page. The live test doesn’t check everything: duplicate and canonical conditions, for one, aren’t tested live.
  3. Fix every instance. If you miss one, validation stops when Google finds it.
  4. Select Validate fix, once. Google says not to select it again until validation has passed or failed.
  5. Allow time. Google puts a typical validation at up to about two weeks, occasionally far longer, and emails you about its progress and the final result.

You can fix issues without validating: Google updates the count whenever it crawls an affected page. Validation adds the email updates and a log of each URL checked.

A drop with no errors to explain it

When the indexed total falls but errors don’t rise to match, Google’s first suspect is a block on pages that used to be open: a robots.txt rule, a noindex, or a login. It suggests lining the drop up against a jump in non-indexed URLs.

Questions Google answers on the page

Why does Google keep crawling a page I removed?
Google keeps returning to a known URL for a while after it starts failing with a 4XX error, in case the failure is temporary. The report lists only the past month’s 404s.
Why hasn’t my site been reindexed lately?
How often Google recrawls depends partly on how often it expects a page to change. Its advice: request a recrawl only for an important change that Google still hasn’t picked up after a week or more.
My page is indexed. Why doesn’t it show for my search?
Each person’s results depend on their search history, location and other factors, so an indexed page won’t show for every search, nor always in the same spot.

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