Optimizing Pages Won’t Matter When…

Up to 30% of your site might not be in Google

Despite your best efforts in creating sitemaps and optimizing individual pages, it’s not uncommon for up to 30% or more of your website’s pages to remain unindexed by Google. Various factors can contribute to this issue, ranging from technical glitches and content quality to structural problems within your site. Understanding why this happens is crucial for improving your site’s visibility and ensuring that all your valuable content reaches your audience.

We specialize in identifying and resolving these indexing issues. Through a comprehensive audit, we can pinpoint what’s missing and implement effective solutions. Whether it’s optimizing your crawl budget, fixing server errors, adjusting your robots.txt file, or enhancing your content quality, our team is equipped to improve your site’s indexing status. Additionally, we handle submissions to ensure that Google accurately indexes all your pages, maximizing your site’s potential and search engine performance.

By leveraging our expertise, you can ensure that your entire website is indexed correctly, ultimately improving your search rankings and online visibility.

Google may not index all website pages for several reasons, which can be broadly categorized into technical issues, content quality, and structural problems:

Technical Issues

1. Crawl Budget: Google allocates a specific crawl budget to each site, determining how many pages it can crawl and index. If your site has many pages, Googlebot might not crawl all of them within a given timeframe​ (Onely)​​ (DevriX)​.
2. Server Errors: Server issues like slow response times or downtime can prevent Googlebot from accessing pages. Persistent server errors can lead to pages being dropped from the index​ (Onely)​.
3. Robots.txt Restrictions: If pages are disallowed in the robots.txt file, Googlebot won’t crawl them. Misconfigurations can inadvertently block important pages​ (Onely)​.
4. Noindex Tags: Pages with noindex meta tags are explicitly instructed not to be indexed by Google. These tags can sometimes be added accidentally during development​ (Onely)​.
5. Redirect Loops: Incorrectly configured redirects can create loops, preventing Googlebot from accessing the content​ (Search Engine Journal)​.

Content Quality

1. Duplicate Content: Pages with content duplicated elsewhere on the site or across the web might be ignored to avoid redundancy​ (DevriX)​.
2. Low-Quality or Thin Content: Pages with very little or poor-quality content may be deemed unworthy of indexing. Google prefers pages that provide substantial and valuable information​ (Infidigit)​​ (Onely)​.
3. Lack of Authority: Pages on sites with low domain authority or lacking high-quality backlinks may struggle to get indexed​ (DevriX)​.

Structural Problems

1. Lack of Internal Links: Pages that aren’t linked to internally within the site can be harder for Googlebot to discover​ (Onely)​.
2. Sitemaps: An incomplete or poorly defined sitemap can lead to pages being missed during the crawling process​ (Infidigit)​.
3. Mobile-Friendliness: Pages that aren’t optimized for mobile devices might be excluded from indexing, as mobile usability is a significant ranking factor for Google​ (Infidigit)​.
4. Complex Coding: Using outdated or overly complex coding languages can create barriers for Googlebot, especially with heavy JavaScript usage that isn’t well-optimized​ (Infidigit)​.

To improve indexing, ensure your website is technically sound, with a well-structured sitemap, high-quality content, and proper internal linking. Regularly audit your site for issues and use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix indexing problems.