Google Search Console page indexing issues

[barato23]

I am just started up with Google Search Console as I set it up with my website. I discovered an issue in Indexing. It shows 1.89K pages are not indexed and 513 pages indexed. I am totally new in this. I tried resolving on my own but couldn't. Please anyone help me fixing this up?

[Moira · Accepted solution]

Hey @barato23,

Great question! The issue you are facing with your Google Search Console is related to indexing. Let's go through some steps to address this problem.

First, it's important to understand that not all pages on your website need to be indexed. However, if you believe that a significant number of your pages should be indexed and they are not, we should investigate further. Here are some possible reasons why your pages may not be indexed:

• Robots.txt issues: Start by checking your website's robots.txt file. This file may contain instructions that prevent search engines from crawling and indexing certain pages. Make sure that there are no rules blocking important pages from being indexed.
• Noindex tags: Check whether any "noindex" meta tags have been added to your pages. These tags instruct search engines not to index the page. If you find any such tags, remove them from the pages where you want indexing.
• Crawling errors: Google may have encountered errors when crawling your pages, which can prevent indexing. In your Google Search Console, navigate to "Coverage" and check for any errors or warnings. Resolve these issues to ensure proper crawling and indexing.
• Low-quality content: Pages with thin or duplicate content may not get indexed. Ensure that your pages have unique, valuable content. This includes clear and descriptive titles, engaging meta descriptions, and relevant keywords.
• Manual action: In rare cases, Google can penalize a website and manually remove its pages from the index. Check the Manual Actions section in your Search Console to see if your website has any penalties. If there are any issues, follow the instructions provided to rectify the problem.
• Recent changes: If you have recently made changes to your website, it may take some time for Google to crawl and index the updated pages. Be patient and give it some time before expecting all pages to be indexed.

Once you have addressed any issues or made necessary changes, you can help the indexing process by:

- Submitting an updated sitemap in your Google Search Console, ensuring it includes all the pages you want to be indexed.
- Fetching and rendering specific pages within the Search Console to request indexing.
- Sharing your website's URLs through social media or other platforms, encouraging search engines to crawl and index them.

Remember that indexing every single page may not be necessary or desirable. Focus on ensuring that important pages, such as your product pages and informative content, are indexed properly.

Let me know how you get on!

[Moira · Accepted solution]

Hey @barato23,

Great question! The issue you are facing with your Google Search Console is related to indexing. Let's go through some steps to address this problem.

First, it's important to understand that not all pages on your website need to be indexed. However, if you believe that a significant number of your pages should be indexed and they are not, we should investigate further. Here are some possible reasons why your pages may not be indexed:

• Robots.txt issues: Start by checking your website's robots.txt file. This file may contain instructions that prevent search engines from crawling and indexing certain pages. Make sure that there are no rules blocking important pages from being indexed.
• Noindex tags: Check whether any "noindex" meta tags have been added to your pages. These tags instruct search engines not to index the page. If you find any such tags, remove them from the pages where you want indexing.
• Crawling errors: Google may have encountered errors when crawling your pages, which can prevent indexing. In your Google Search Console, navigate to "Coverage" and check for any errors or warnings. Resolve these issues to ensure proper crawling and indexing.
• Low-quality content: Pages with thin or duplicate content may not get indexed. Ensure that your pages have unique, valuable content. This includes clear and descriptive titles, engaging meta descriptions, and relevant keywords.
• Manual action: In rare cases, Google can penalize a website and manually remove its pages from the index. Check the Manual Actions section in your Search Console to see if your website has any penalties. If there are any issues, follow the instructions provided to rectify the problem.
• Recent changes: If you have recently made changes to your website, it may take some time for Google to crawl and index the updated pages. Be patient and give it some time before expecting all pages to be indexed.

Once you have addressed any issues or made necessary changes, you can help the indexing process by:

- Submitting an updated sitemap in your Google Search Console, ensuring it includes all the pages you want to be indexed.
- Fetching and rendering specific pages within the Search Console to request indexing.
- Sharing your website's URLs through social media or other platforms, encouraging search engines to crawl and index them.

Remember that indexing every single page may not be necessary or desirable. Focus on ensuring that important pages, such as your product pages and informative content, are indexed properly.

Let me know how you get on!

[barato23]

Appreciated! Thank You so much Moira. Let me go through this and I will let you know.

[Moira · Accepted solution]

Don't hesitate to reach back out if you require any further assistance as you continue to work on your store. 

All the best,

[Oluchikamsi]

I've been attempting to resolve this issue for three weeks, but I haven't been successful. Could you please provide me with your kind assistance?

[Moira]

Hey @Oluchikamsi,

Have you started the validation? Take a look at this Page Indexing report below:

• Page Indexing report

[Yellowshield]

Hi

I am having the same issues. I have a robots.txt file, i have a sitemap, i have good redirects that are still working but still getting lots of errors

the domain is yellowshield.co.uk

[Moira]

Hey @Yellowshield,

What errors are you seeing? Google Search Console should give you specific errors that are causing the indexing issues. These could be server errors, redirect errors, URL errors, or blocked by robots.txt errors. Understanding the specific errors will help us know where to focus.

You can also test your robots.txt file in Google Search Console using the robots.txt Tester.

Look forward to hearing from you!

[Yellowshield]

The only issues i'm seeing is "crawl delay 10"  this is on the standard robots.txt file. should i remove this?

• also here is my report. So many of these fail when i try and validate them. the links that are blocked by robots.txt are filtered product results on the collection pages. Should i allow these?
  How do i fix the following? when i validate them it fails
• "Alternative page with proper canonical tag"
• "Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag"

[Emm_]

Hi @Yellowshield ,

Perhaps you've already fixed this, but as a web designer here would be my advice:

• Alternative page with proper canonical tag: you don't need to worry about this. Each variant of your products has a different URL even though they're on the same page, so Google chooses to index only 1, which makes sense. 
• Not found (404): I would fix this urgently as it can hurt your SEO. Look at each page individually and:
  • if the page doesn't exist anymore -> ask Google to remove it ("Removals" in Google Search Console)
  • if the page has moved -> set up a 301 redirect to the correct URL
• Soft 404: this should also be fixed. It could be caused by an empty page for example. Review each page, fix the problem and validate.
• Blocked by .txt: these are pages that we don't want to be indexed (e.g. cart pages). However you do have a lot pages in there, have you amended the robots.txt file? If not then you probably don't need to worry.
• Excluded by 'noindex' tag: you have a lot of pages affected. I would try and identify where the 'noindex' information is coming from and whether this needs to be changed or not.

That would be the most urgent things to look at, I hope it helps.

Emmanuelle.

[diversi]

hi

i have problem with page index on GSC , most of pages not indexed and cant fix them so i have no traffic from google

[Moira]

Hey @diversi,

How long ago did you index? After the scan of your store, Google will push your pages into the queue for indexing later. It can take weeks before your pages can be indexed.

Otherwise, do you see any fail errors? 

I also recommend tools like IndexGuru or similar, which can pretty much index your pages immediately and automatically for you.  

[diversi]

tnx for ur reply

page was indexed for few months and i try few times but failed, also resubmit sitemap but didnt solved

indexguru not work

[EliskaM]

Hello @diversi 
I'm in exactly the same situation now, and to be honest, I still somehow don't understand what is being asked of me and what steps I should take. Did you manage to move forward in the process? Or do you still have it rejected?

[EliskaM]

Hello @Moira 

Thank you for your response! I'm completely new to this and still don't understand a lot of things in this sector. But thank to you I'm reassured by your explanation that not all pages need to be indexed. Here I am glad that it is not as critical as I thought 🙂

Even so, I would say that I have a lot of pages that are not and should have been indexed and here I would like to ask you for a little more explanation.
I understand that there are some errors that need to be fixed, but it is not clear to me how exactly to fix them.
I am sending you screenshots of these problems. I'm sorry, but I can't change the language settings from czech language to english, but I hope you can understand 🙂
The biggest problem seems to be with "canonical pages". I have tried many times to delve into the problem, but even after spending a day, I simply do not understand what I should do and where 😞 Would you please be so kind as to advise me on what steps I should take? Thank you very much in advance. 

Eliska 

[EliskaM]