There are several reasons why Google might not index a page, and not all of the pages you submit will be included. You can find these restricted sites if you’ve already confirmed your website and checked it’s rank with Google Search Console by going to Coverage > Excluded in your Search Console account. One of the explanations listed in this section for webpages being excluded is Crawled – currently not indexed. We’ll learn what this status signifies in this skill set post and how to improve your chances of indexing your content.
What Is it?
Crawled – currently not indexed denotes that Google has visited your page but has not yet indexed it. Given that Google does not index every URL we provide, it is reasonable to discover some URLs with this status. To be clear, Google hasn’t removed the page(s) from its index for this reason rather than because of an error.
Despite how the Search Console portrays it, we appreciate that this situation appears concerning. That is, a page must be indexed before it can appear in search results and generate organic visitors to your website.
Why Doesn’t Google Index These Pages?
Google’s algorithms are constantly changing and adapting. That means that what works today might not work tomorrow. Here are a few reasons why Google may not index your site:
Google is Still Processing New Data
It takes time for Google to process the information it gathers when it initially crawls a website or a specific page. There are several aspects to consider, but the website’s size is the most important.
Google must choose which web pages it should index first and limit the number of pages it will index if a website has thousands of pages and adds new pages daily. Other pages may ultimately be indexed if additional requirements are satisfied.
Lack of Relevance
The Google algorithm can determine if a certain page may be significant to users or not. If Google chooses not to index a certain page, it has simply determined that it is not now significant or relevant to people, but it will reassess the page when it crawls it the following time.
Weak Content
If a page’s content is too sparse or what we refer to as thin content, Google may opt not to index it. A website with scant content is seen as not serving visitors. As was already noted, Google aims to make the best use of its resources; therefore, it will prioritize crawling other helpful pages to visitors. Note that even long form content can be deemed thin if it is simply fluff.
How to resolve the “Crawled but not yet indexed” problem?
Google doesn’t explicitly explain why a particular page was crawled but not indexed; however, there are a few potential explanations for the situation. The following steps will show you how to resolve this problem.
Deliver a high standard when creating content
As a website owner, you must ensure that the content on your site is of the highest calibre. Examine whether it will likely suit the needs of your users and, if necessary, add high-quality content. To assist you in assessing the worth of your content and not making unforgivable mistakes, Google provides a set of questions.
Strengthen internal linking
If your site has a bad internal framework or the webpage has no internal links, Google may consider that it isn’t good enough to justify indexing the page. Orphan pages are those that have no links leading to them. Choose a portion of a current page on your website that is pertinent to the topic page you need Google to index and add a link. This will assist you in resolving orphan pages or enhancing the internal linking structure.
Search Intent
A discrepancy in the search intent could be another reason for such sites. This indicates a discrepancy between your content and the information in the search results. Rewrite or modify the content on the page to address it due to a mismatch in search intent.
Near-duplicate content on the page
As we saw in our “Discovered – presently not indexed” approach, Google aims to make the most of the resources and funds allocated for crawling. Content duplication is one issue that Google has. Situations in which there may be duplicate content:
- eCommerce platforms that offer numerous versions of a single product with succinct product descriptions;
- websites with a large amount of user-generated material;
- pages with similar content on a website.
Structured data inconsistency
Structured data aids search engines in comprehending a page’s content. This is crucial for eCommerce websites that sell tangible goods. When there are adjustments to the availability of products, eCommerce websites are one situation when this is useful. You must update the structured data to match the current resource condition if you modify it to show that the item is either available or out of stock. When there are conflicting signals, Google may crawl the pages but not index them.
Audit of the content
A website will always contain some content that is out of date. You can find pages that don’t add value with a content audit, and ideally, you can improve the page. When it would be undesirable to add extra content to the page, you might take into account alternatives like:
- deleting the page completely
- redirecting users to a more useful page
- Inserting the noindex meta tag
Difference between Discovered and Crawled Not Indexed
Some people may find the terms “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed” and “Discovered – Currently Not Indexed” extremely confusing. The primary distinction between the two is that Google already found the page and crawled it before deciding not to index it.
Google could find the “Discovered – Currently Not Indexed” page by crawling beneath pages but chose not to crawl it at this time, preventing it from being indexed. This indicates that Google gives less weight to pages of the first type than the latter ones.
Conclusion
Although crawled – currently not indexed is typically connected with page quality, it can also point to a wide range of issues, such as a complicated responsive website or duplicate content. It’s easy to overlook crucial pages and links or become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data you have to deal with. The tips above should be invaluable if you want to get the most out of your crawling.
