Troubleshooting Page Indexing in Google Search Console – GSC

As a website owner, your pages must be indexed by Google to be visible in search results. Google Search Console (GSC) is a valuable tool for understanding how Google crawls and indexes your website. However, it can be frustrating when pages are not indexed despite being correctly optimized. In this blog post, we’ll explore some common page indexing issues in GSC and how to troubleshoot them.

Why Pages Aren’t Indexed

There are several reasons why Google might not index a page. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Robots.txt blocks: The robots.txt file tells search engines which pages on your website they should crawl and index. If you have a robots.txt file that blocks certain pages, Google will not index them.
• 404 errors: A page with a 404 error cannot be found. This can happen for various reasons, such as a missing file or a broken link. Google will not index pages with 404 errors.
• Content quality issues: Google wants to index high-quality and relevant pages to user searches. If your pages are not well-written or do not provide valuable information, they may not be indexed.
• Slow loading times: Google favours websites with fast loading times. If your pages take too long to load, Google may not index them.

Troubleshooting Page Indexing Issues

If you’re having trouble getting your pages indexed, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Use GSC’s Page Indexing report: This report will show you all of the pages on your website that Google does not index. This can help you identify the specific pages causing the problem.
2. Inspect individual URLs: Use URL inspection to check the crawl and index status of specific pages on your website. This can help you to isolate any technical issues that may be preventing the page from being indexed.
3. Check your robots.txt file: Make sure that you have not blocked any pages from being crawled by Google in your robots.txt file.
4. Fix 404 errors: If you have any pages with 404 errors, create a 301 redirect that sends users to the correct page.
5. Improve content quality: Ensure your pages are well-written, relevant to user searches, and provide valuable information.
6. Optimize for speed: Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix any performance issues affecting your page loading times.

Submitting Pages for Indexing

If you have new or updated pages that you want to be indexed, you can submit them to Google using the Indexing tool in GSC. This will notify Google that you want the page to be crawled and indexed.

Conclusion

Following the troubleshooting tips in this blog post can increase the chances of your pages being indexed by Google. Remember that indexing is an ongoing process, and your pages may take some time to index. Be patient and keep working on improving your website’s content and technical SEO.