Resolving Crawled but Not Indexed Issue in Google Search Console (GSC) Guide

Addressing the “Crawled But Not Indexed” issue in Google Search Console is crucial for enhancing your website’s visibility. This guide delves into effective strategies to resolve this status.

Short Summary:

• Understanding the “Crawled But Not Indexed” status
• Essential techniques to improve content quality and structure
• Steps to manually request indexing in Google Search Console

Resolving “Crawled But Not Indexed” Issue in Google Search Console

As a tech enthusiast and writer, I, Vaibhav Sharda, aim to shed light on the “Crawled But Not Indexed” issue that many webmasters face. This status in Google Search Console means that while Google has crawled your page, it decided not to include it in its index, impacting your organic search visibility.

Understanding the Status

The “Crawled But Not Indexed” status signifies that Googlebot has visited the URL but has not decided to index it for various possible reasons. This differs from the “Excluded by ‘Noindex’ Tag” error, as the latter is more straightforward while the former involves multiple factors.

Common Causes and Solutions

Several reasons contribute to Google choosing not to index your pages. Here, we explore these reasons and suggest comprehensive solutions:

1. Thin or Low-Quality Content

Pages with sparse content may be deemed unworthy by Google’s quality standards. It’s essential to ensure your content is robust, informative, and more comprehensive than competing pages.

“Quality content is indispensable for ranking high on Google. Thin content with insufficient information often results in exclusion from the index,” says John Mueller of Google.

To enhance content quality:

• Ensure your articles cover topics thoroughly.
• Incorporate related keywords and detailed explanations.
• Provide unique value that distinguishes your content from competitors.

2. Internal Linking Structure

Poor internal link architecture can hamper the indexing of your pages. Pages isolated without internal links (orphan pages) are less likely to be indexed.

To resolve this:

• Review your internal linking strategy by connecting related pages.
• Use site-based searches to identify and link to orphan pages.
• Enhance the overall link structure to improve page relevance.

3. Duplicate Content

Duplicated content can confuse search engines, leading to some pages not being indexed. Google tries to avoid indexing multiple similar pages to promote a better user experience.

“There are no penalties for duplicate content, but Google prefers to index only the most relevant version,” mentions Mueller.

Strategies to handle duplicate content:

• Use canonical tags to tell Google the preferred version of a page.
• Audit and remove or merge similar content.
• Regularly check your performance report for potential duplicate issues.

4. Search Intent Mismatch

Divergence between user intent and your content can cause a page not to be indexed. Ensure your content aligns with the search intent of your target audience.

Consider these steps:

• Analyze top-ranking pages for your target keywords to understand their content type and structure.
• Rewrite your content to better match user intent.

5. Structured Data Issues

Errors in structured data can prevent a page from being indexed. Structured data helps search engines comprehend your page content better.

To maintain correct structured data:

• Regularly check structured data in the Google Search Console Enhancements tab.
• Fix any errors and warnings in your structured data to avoid misinterpretations.

6. Expired Products and 301 Redirects

For eCommerce sites, product pages marked as out of stock may not be indexed. Similarly, URLs recently redirected might appear in the “Crawled But Not Indexed” list until Google reassesses and indexes them.

Recommended actions:

• Ensure available products are correctly displayed on product pages.
• Use a temporary sitemap to resubmit URLs that were redirected.

Implementing Solutions

Manual Indexing Request

Once issues are resolved, request Google to re-crawl and index your pages via the URL Inspection Tool. This ensures Google is aware of the changes you’ve made.

“You can’t force pages to be indexed, but understanding Google’s evaluation criteria can significantly improve your chances,” asserts John Mueller.

Temporary Sitemap.xml

Creating a temporary sitemap.xml file for pages that need re-indexing can help Google prioritize and process them faster. Use tools like ScreamingFrog for this purpose.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

Exclusion Differentiation

Briefly, the “Discovered – Currently Not Indexed” status indicates the URL was found but not crawled, while “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed” means it was crawled but not included in the index. Understanding this difference is crucial.

For detailed insight into each status, explore our guide on Pros and Cons of AI Writing.

Wrapping Up

Resolving the “Crawled But Not Indexed” issue involves a multifaceted approach focusing on content quality, internal linking, and structured data. Here are key takeaways:

• Produce high-quality, unique content to replace thin pages.
• Ensure robust internal linking to enhance page discoverability.
• Review and eliminate duplicate content effectively.
• Align your content closely with user search intents.
• Correct structured data mismatches periodically.
• Use the URL Inspection Tool to request re-crawls after resolving issues.

Regularly monitoring and updating your site’s content can help you navigate the complexities of Google’s indexing process more effectively. Explore advanced AI tools like our AI Article Writer on Autoblogging.ai to streamline your content creation and optimization processes with intelligent automation.