Pages Not Getting Indexed
Your pages are crawlable but not appearing in Google's index. This is one of the most common technical SEO problems.
Quick Diagnosis
Start with these three checks. They resolve the majority of pages not getting indexed cases.
- 1Check robots.txt for accidental Disallow rules
- 2Verify no noindex meta tag or X-Robots-Tag header
- 3Confirm canonical URL points to self (not a different page)
Common Symptoms
If you recognize these signs, this problem likely applies to your site.
URL Inspection in Search Console shows "URL is not on Google"
New pages take weeks to appear in search results
site:yourdomain.com returns fewer pages than expected
Sitemap shows "Discovered - currently not indexed" status
Complete Diagnostic Checklist
Work through these in order. Each check includes why it matters and how to verify.
Check robots.txt for accidental Disallow rules
Why this matters: A single Disallow: / can block your entire site from crawling.
Verify no noindex meta tag or X-Robots-Tag header
Why this matters: Even one noindex directive prevents indexing regardless of other signals.
Confirm canonical URL points to self (not a different page)
Why this matters: This check helps identify a common root cause for this problem.
Check for soft 404s (page returns 200 but looks like error)
Why this matters: This check helps identify a common root cause for this problem.
Verify page has unique, substantial content (>300 words)
Why this matters: This check helps identify a common root cause for this problem.
Check for redirect chains or loops
Why this matters: Chains waste crawl budget; loops prevent crawling entirely.
Diagnostic Tools
Use these free tools to automate the checks above and get specific, actionable results.
Solution Guides
Step-by-step guides to fix the root causes identified by the diagnostics.
Tools for Ongoing Prevention
Integrate these into your workflow to prevent this problem from recurring.
When to Escalate Beyond This Guide
These situations typically require deeper technical investigation or professional help:
- Pages still not indexed after 2-3 weeks with all checks passing
- Large-scale indexing drops (many pages at once)
- Manual action or security issue in Search Console
Fix the Root Cause, Not the Symptom
Use the diagnostic tools to identify the exact issue, follow the solution guides to fix it, and integrate the prevention tools into your workflow.