Top Google Indexing Issues: Why Getting Indexed Has Become Difficult in 2022

What is Google Indexing Anyways?

The Google search index works in the same way a library does and is an inventory of websites that the algorithm goes to in order to provide users with search results. Google indexing is when new sites are added and its “spiders” crawl sites on the web. Only indexed websites will appear on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) which is why this process is vital for businesses.

Top Google Indexing Issues

Despite being such an important process, various sites are not indexed by Google and could be due to the following:

Crawled but Not Indexed

A popular Google indexing issue is when Google has crawled and visited a page but it was not indexed. With the web saturated with businesses, Google is set on providing users with only the most relevant content. If this is your site’s issue, you may need to have more unique and high-quality content (e.g., product descriptions.)

No Domain Name

You may also come across a Google indexing problem because you don’t have a domain same. Without a domain name, you can’t be found so check on your URL and if your IP address shows up instead, utilize 301 redirects to your site with its proper domain name. 

Website is Not Optimized for Mobile

With Google’s Mobile-First indexing initiative, having mobile-friendly versions of your site is vital for organic traffic and SERP ranking. You can solve this Google indexing problem using the Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool and optimizing the elements of your site so that users can easily navigate through it on their mobile devices. 

Coding Language Isn’t Google-Friendly

Another issue that can be solved with the same Google resource above is when you are using any code in a complicated manner. Google is more likely not to index your website if you are using certain settings that result in complex code. 

Slow Loading Site

One of the Google indexing issues you may be facing can be because your site speed is not up to the search engine’s standard. Having a fast-loading site means that users are getting the information they need much quicker and Google rewards websites for that. You may want to run your site through Google’ PageSpeed Insights and optimize content (e.g., images) so that it does not slow down your site. 

Poorly Written or Duplicate Content

Your Google indexing issues can also stem from the actual content of your site. If you have the same content across multiple versions of your site (duplicate content) or if your content has not been search engine optimized, you’ll experience Google crawl errors. Make sure that you have  one-of-a-kind, relevant, and high-quality content so that Google can suggest your site to its users.

Not a User-friendly Site

Is Google indexing not working? You may want to check how user-friendly your website is. If your site is not engaging or users have a hard time navigating through it, Google will not want to put you at the top of their SERP.

Redirect Loops

Fix the Google Indexing bug by dealing with your redirect loop. You can look for 404s, 302, or 301 redirects and direct users back to your main site or a specific page related to specific keywords and phrases.

Plugins

A website can also come across a Google indexing problem if certain plugins send signals to the search engine not to crawl your site. If you have a robots.txt plugin, make sure that it looks like this:

User-agent: *

Disallow:

If there is a / after Disallow:, simply remove it.

Noindex, Nofollow Metatags

Google indexing issues can also occur if your metatags are set to noindex, nofollow. Change your metatags to index, follow right away and avoid any Google crawl errors.

No Sitemap

If you have no sitemap, it’s no wonder that Google indexing not working is a normal occurrence for you. Having a sitemap is the best way for Google to know exactly what kind of content you have and what every page is about. Use an XML Sitemap instead of an HTML Sitemap to fix this Google indexing problem. 

No Technical SEO

Most Google indexing issues can be attributed to your non-existent technical SEO strategy. Following technical SEO best practices is one of the best ways for Google to deeply understand a website.

Getting Indexed

Getting your website indexed does not have to be a challenge. If your website is still not indexed by Google, it may be time to contact our team to perform an in-depth analysis of your site. Get indexed by Google today!