What is Indexing?

Indexing is the process in which Google stores a page it has found in its index, the huge database of pages that can appear in the search results. Only once a page has been indexed does it stand a chance of being found. Indexing follows crawling and is a precondition for any form of SEO.

Crawling versus indexing

First Google crawls a page: it discovers and reads the content. Then Google decides whether and how the page is indexed. So a page can be crawled and still not be indexed, for example because of quality or duplication issues.

Why is a page not indexed?

Common causes are a noindex instruction, blocks in robots.txt, duplicate content or content that is too thin. In Google Search Console you check the indexing status and see why pages may be left out of the index.

Improving indexing

Make sure you have a clear site structure, internal links to important pages, an up-to-date sitemap and enough unique, valuable content. That way you help search engines find and include the right pages.

How long does indexing take?

Anything from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on the authority of your site and how often it is crawled.

How do I know whether a page is indexed?

Search Google for site:yoururl or use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console.