Common Google Indexing Issues and How to Fix Them

17 common Google indexing issues: How to identify and fix them

SEO and Content Marketing Expert at SE Ranking specializing in industry research around SEO and AI trends.

Key takeaways

Page indexing issues prevent search engines from finding and including webpages in their search index. These webpages therefore cannot show up or rank in SERPs.

Still, there is a list of pages that shouldn’t be indexed. These include duplicate/alternate content pages, private pages (login pages/account pages/pages with confidential information), sorting/filtering pages, and so on.

Possible causes of indexing issues:

Common indexing issues:

SEO pros detect indexing issues by using Google Search Console (GSC) along with dedicated SEO tools like SE Ranking.

Understanding website indexing problems

Let’s begin with the basics and explore the ins and outs of the indexing process.

Indexing is how search engines discover, analyze, and store information about your website’s content. Google’s web crawlers follow external links from existing web pages and check the sitemaps website owners provide on those sites. This ensures Google can build an index of web pages across the web.

If you haven’t set up a sitemap yet (or aren’t sure if yours is optimized), check out our guide to creating a sitemap.

If your website has indexing problems, it becomes invisible to search engines. This means potential visitors will not be able to find your website through organic searches.

When deciding whether to index a page, Google’s algorithms analyze each webpage for relevancy and quality, including the content’s goal, freshness, clarity, and alignment with E-E-A-T criteria.

Content quality is a major factor. Low-quality content is the most likely to be ignored. Some examples of low-quality content include:

You can improve indexability by creating high-quality content that aligns with E-E-A-T criteria and has backlinks from relevant websites.

Technical SEO issues also cause Google indexing problems. Robots.txt files that block important pages and incorrectly configured sitemaps can confuse search engines and affect their ability to crawl and index your site.

Why some pages shouldn’t be indexed

Not all pages need to be indexed by search engines. In fact, some pages will benefit more if they are intentionally hidden. Here are some page types that you can exclude from indexing:

  1. Pages hidden behind a login.
  2. Duplicate or alternate pages.
  3. Website search.
  4. Administrative pages.

Possible causes of indexing issues

Duplicate content

Having identical or similar content on multiple pages leads to ranking and traffic losses. Google can’t tell which pages are most relevant.

Low-quality content

Content lacking originality or relevance is less likely to rank well.

Blocked by robots.txt

The primary function of the robots.txt file is to instruct search engines which parts of your site they can and cannot crawl.

Blocked by noindex tag or header

You can instruct search engines not to index a specific page using a noindex tag.

Incorrect canonical tags

Canonical tags tell search engines which page to prioritize for indexing purposes.

HTTP status code issues

HTTP status codes in the 4xx and 5xx classes indicate problems accessing content.

Internal linking issues

A solid website structure with good internal linking helps Google crawl and index the site’s pages.

Slow-loading pages

Slow loading times frustrate users and increase bounce rates.

Blocked JavaScript, CSS, and image files

Blocked resources can prevent Google from fully rendering the page.

Exceeded crawl budget

Each site has a dedicated crawling budget. Large websites are the most likely to face this problem.

Brand new website

Google needs time to crawl and index new websites.

Suspicious code

If you intentionally or unintentionally make it difficult for Google’s bots to access your files, this could discourage indexing.

Manual action penalty

Severe manual actions can cause temporary or permanent de-indexing.

Google index problems

Technical glitches on Google’s end can delay indexing.

How to detect website indexing issues

Google Search Console

GSC provides information about your website’s indexing status. The index coverage report helps you track which URLs have been crawled and indexed and outlines issues preventing indexing.

SE Ranking

Using tools like SE Ranking’s Website Audit provides an in-depth indexing report within minutes.

Indexing errors in Google Search Console (+ simple fix tips)

Server error (5xx)

Server errors occur when Googlebot fails to access a webpage.

How to fix: Use the GSC Inspect URL tool.

Redirect error

Here is a list of redirect errors Google might detect on your website:

How to fix: Use dedicated tools like SE Ranking’s Free Redirect Checker.

URL blocked by robots.txt

How to fix: Confirm that only the intended pages are listed for blocking.

URL marked “noindex”

How to fix: Remove any “noindex” tags for important pages.

Soft 404

Check if the URLs are missing content and return a proper 404 code if so.

Blocked due to unauthorized request (401)

How to fix: Make the pages publicly accessible.

Not found (404)

How to fix: Restore the original content or use a 301 redirect.

Blocked due to access forbidden (403)

How to fix: Grant access to all public users or just Googlebot.

URL blocked due to other 4xx issue

How to fix: Investigate the cause of the error.

Crawled – currently not indexed

How to fix: There’s no need to ask for reindexing; just wait.

Discovered – currently not indexed

How to fix: Wait for Google to crawl and index your webpage.

Alternate page with proper canonical tag

How to fix: Nothing needs to be done; it’s a duplicate.

Duplicate without user-selected canonical

How to fix: Specify the canonical URL.

Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user

How to fix: Use the URL Inspection Tool.

Page with redirect

How to fix: Analyze the indexing status of the canonical URL associated with this webpage.

Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt

How to fix: Add a “noindex” tag to prevent showing up in SERPs.

Page indexed without content

How to fix: Use the URL Inspection Tool.

How to ask Google to validate fixed indexing issues

To sum up

Understanding which pages should and shouldn’t be indexed is key. If you encounter indexing issues, follow the fix tips described in this guide to resolve them quickly.