Technical SEO FAQ · Indexing, Canonicalization & Duplicate Content
How do you determine why an important page isn't indexed?
Use a layered diagnosis:
- Does the URL return 200?
- Is crawling allowed?
- Is there a noindex directive?
- Is the page canonicalized elsewhere?
- Is it discoverable through internal links or sitemap?
- Is the content substantially unique?
- Does Search Console classify it as crawled/discovered but not indexed?
- Is Google selecting another canonical?
- Is the page newly published and simply awaiting processing?
Do not assume "not indexed" means a technical error. Google evaluates pages for suitability for the index after crawling.
Sources
Related questions
- How do you investigate "Crawled - currently not indexed"?
- How do you investigate "Discovered - currently not indexed"?
- How do you validate whether an indexation fix actually worked?
- How would you identify index bloat?
- How would you manage indexation on a large e-commerce website?
- What happens when canonical and noindex signals conflict?
- What is the difference between crawling, rendering, indexing, ranking and serving?
- What signals influence Google's canonical selection?
- When should a page be canonicalized instead of noindexed?