Indexation
Last updated: March 2025
Definition
Whether Google has stored your page in its index and can show it in search results. A page can exist on your site but not be indexed. Common causes: noindex tags, crawl blocks, thin content, or the page simply being too new. If it's not indexed, it can't rank.
Why It Matters
You can write the best content on the internet and it won't matter if Google hasn't indexed it. Indexation is the prerequisite for all organic visibility. Checking indexation status should be step one in any SEO troubleshooting workflow.
How to Improve
- Search site:yourdomain.com/page-url in Google. If it doesn't show, it's not indexed.
- Use Google Search Console's URL Inspection tool to check indexation status and see why a page might be excluded.
- Remove accidental noindex tags. These are more common than you'd expect, especially after site migrations.
- Build internal links to important pages. Orphan pages with no internal links often don't get crawled or indexed.