How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google

What Is the Google Index?

The Google scale is simply a database of each the webpages the hunt motor has crawled and stored to usage successful hunt results.

It acts similar a massive, searchable room of web content. And stores the substance from each webpage, on with important metadata similar titles, headers, links, images, and more.

All of this information gets compiled into a structured scale that allows Google to instantly scan its contents and lucifer hunt queries with applicable results. 

So erstwhile users hunt for thing successful Google, they're searching its almighty scale to find the champion webpages connected that topic.

Every leafage that appears successful Google's hunt results has to beryllium indexed first. If your leafage isn’t indexed, it won’t amusement successful hunt results.

Here's however indexing fits into the full process (assuming determination aren’t issues on the way):

• Crawling: Googlebot crawls the web and looks for caller oregon updated pages
• Indexing: Google analyzes the pages and stores them successful its database
• Ranking: Google’s algorithm picks the champion and astir applicable pages from its scale and shows them arsenic hunt results

Predetermined algorithms power Google indexing. But determination are things you tin bash to power indexing.

How Do You Check If Google Has Indexed Your Site?

Google makes it casual to find retired whether your tract has been indexed—by utilizing the site: search operator. 

Here’s however to check:

1. Go to Google
2. In the hunt bar, benignant successful the site: hunt relation followed by your domain (e.g., “site:yourdomain.com”)
3. When you look beneath the hunt bar, you’ll spot an estimation of however galore of your pages Google has indexed

If zero results amusement up, nary of your pages are indexed.

If determination are indexed pages, Google volition amusement them arsenic hunt results.

That’s however you rapidly cheque the indexing presumption of your pages. But it’s not the astir applicable way, arsenic it whitethorn beryllium hard to spot circumstantial pages that haven't been indexed.

The alternate (and preferable) mode to cheque if Google has indexed your website is to usage Google Search Console (GSC). We'll instrumentality a person look astatine it and however to scale your website connected Google successful the adjacent section.

How Do You Get Google to Index Your Site?

If you person a caller website, it tin instrumentality Google immoderate clip to scale it due to the fact that it has to beryllium crawled first. And crawling tin instrumentality anyplace from a fewer days to a fewer weeks. 

(Indexing usually happens close aft that, but it’s not guaranteed.)

But you tin velocity up the process. 

The easiest mode is to petition indexing successful Google Search Console. GSC is simply a escaped toolset that allows you to cheque your website's beingness connected Google and troubleshoot immoderate related issues. 

If you don't person a GSC relationship yet, you'll request to:

1. Sign successful with your Google account
2. Add a caller spot (your website) to your account
3. Verify ownership of the website

Need help? Read our elaborate usher to assistance you acceptable up Google Search Console.

Then, travel these steps:

Create and Submit a Sitemap

An XML sitemap is simply a record that lists each the URLs you privation Google to index. Which helps crawlers find your main pages faster.

It looks thing similar this:

You'll apt find your sitemap connected this URL: “https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml”

If you don't person one, work our usher to creating an XML sitemap (or this usher to WordPress sitemaps if your website runs connected WordPress).

Once you person the your sitemap URL, spell to “Sitemaps” successful GSC. You'll find it nether the “Indexing” conception successful the near menu. 

Enter your sitemap URL and deed “Submit.”

It whitethorn instrumentality a mates of days for your sitemap to beryllium processed. When it’s done, you should spot the nexus to your sitemap and a greenish “Success” presumption successful the report. 

Submitting the sitemap tin assistance Google observe each the pages you deem important. And velocity up the process of indexing them. 

Use the URL Inspection Tool

To cheque the presumption of a circumstantial URL, usage the URL inspection tool successful GSC. 

Start by entering the URL successful the hunt barroom astatine the top.

If you spot the “URL is connected Google” status, it means Google has crawled and indexed it. 

You tin cheque the details to spot erstwhile it was past crawled and besides get different adjuvant information.

If this is the case, you're each acceptable and don't person to bash anything. 

But if you spot the “URL is not connected Google” status, it means the inspected URL isn’t indexed and can’t look successful Google’s search motor results pages (SERPs).

You'll astir apt spot the crushed wherefore the leafage hasn't been indexed. And you'll request to code the contented (see adjacent conception for however to bash this).

Once that’s done, you tin petition indexing by clicking the “Request Indexing” link.

Common Indexing Issues to Find and Fix

Sometimes, determination whitethorn beryllium issues with your website's technical SEO that support your tract (or a circumstantial page) from being indexed—even if you petition it.

This tin hap if your tract isn’t mobile-friendly, loads excessively slowly, has redirect issues, etc.

Perform a technical SEO audit with Semrush's Site Audit to find retired wherefore Google has not indexed your pages.

Here’s how:

1. Create a escaped Semrush account (no recognition paper needed)
2. Set up your archetypal crawl (we person a elaborate setup guide to assistance you)
3. Click the “Start Site Audit” button

After you tally the audit, you'll get an in-depth presumption of your site's health.

You tin besides spot a database of each the problems by clicking the “Issues” tab:

The issues related to indexing volition astir ever look astatine the apical of the list—in the “Errors” section. 

Let's instrumentality a look astatine immoderate communal reasons wherefore your tract whitethorn not beryllium indexed and however to hole the problems. 

Mistakes with Your Robots.txt File

Your robots.txt file gives instructions to search engines astir which parts of a website they shouldn’t crawl. And it looks thing similar this:

You'll find yours astatine “https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt.”

(Follow our usher to create a robots.txt file if you don't person one.)

You whitethorn privation to usage directives to artifact Google from crawling duplicate pages, backstage pages, oregon resources similar PDFs and videos. 

But if your robots.txt record tells Googlebot (or web crawlers successful general) that your full tract shouldn’t beryllium crawled, there's a precocious accidental it won't beryllium indexed either.

Each directive successful robots.txt consists of 2 parts:

• “User-agent” identifies the crawler
• The “Allow” oregon “Disallow” acquisition indicates what should and shouldn’t beryllium crawled connected the tract (or portion of it)

For example:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

This directive says each crawlers (represented by an asterisk) shouldn’t crawl (indicated by “disallow:”) the full tract (represented by a slash symbol).

Inspect your robots.txt to marque definite there’s nary directive that could forestall Google from crawling your tract oregon pages/folders you privation to person indexed.

Accidental Use of Noindex Tags

One mode to archer hunt engines not to scale your pages is to usage the robots meta tag with a “noindex” attribute.

It looks similar this:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex">

You tin cheque what pages connected your website person noindex meta tags successful Google Search Console:

1. Click the “Pages” study nether the “Indexing” conception successful the near menu
2. Scroll down to the “Why pages aren’t indexed” section
3. Click “Excluded by ‘noindex’ tag” if you spot it

If the database of URLs contains a leafage you privation indexed, simply region the noindex meta tag from the root codification of that page. 

Semrush’s Site Audit volition besides pass you astir pages that are blocked either done the robots.txt record oregon the noindex tag.

It'll besides notify you astir resources blocked by the x-robots-tag, which is usually utilized for non-HTML documents (such arsenic PDF files).

Improper Canonical Tags

Another crushed your leafage whitethorn not beryllium indexed is that it mistakenly contains a canonical tag.

Canonical tags archer crawlers if a definite mentation of a leafage is preferred. To forestall issues caused by duplicate content appearing connected aggregate URLs.

If a leafage has a canonical tag pointing to different URL, Googlebot assumes there’s a preferred mentation of that page. And volition not scale the leafage successful question, adjacent if determination is nary alternate version.

The “Pages” study successful Google Search Console tin assistance here. 

Scroll down to the “Why pages aren’t indexed” section. Click the “Alternate leafage with due canonical tag” reason.

You'll spot a database of affected pages to spell through.

If there’s a leafage you privation to person indexed (meaning the canonical is utilized incorrectly), region the canonical tag from that page. Or marque definite it points to itself. 

Internal Link Problems

Internal links assistance crawlers find your webpages. Which tin velocity up the process of indexing. 

If you privation to audit your interior links, spell to the “Internal Linking” thematic study successful Site Audit.

The study volition database each the issues related to interior linking.

It would assistance to hole each of them, of course. But these are immoderate of the astir important issues to code erstwhile it comes to crawling and indexing:

1. Outgoing interior links incorporate nofollow attribute: Nofollow links mostly don't walk authority. If they’re internal, Google whitethorn take to disregard the people leafage erstwhile crawling your site. Make definite you don't usage them for pages you privation to person indexed. 
2. Pages request much than 3 clicks to beryllium reached: If pages request much than 3 clicks to beryllium reached from the homepage, there's a accidental they won't beryllium crawled and indexed. Add much interior links to these pages (and reappraisal your website architecture).
3. Orphaned pages successful sitemap: Pages that person nary interior links pointing to them are known arsenic “orphaned pages.” They’re seldom indexed. Fix this contented by linking to immoderate orphaned pages.

To spot pages affected by a circumstantial problem, click the nexus stating the fig of recovered issues adjacent to it.

Last but not least, don't hide to usage interior linking strategically:

• Link to your astir important pages: Google recognizes that pages are important to you if they person much interior links
• Link to your caller pages: Make interior linking portion of your contented instauration process to velocity up the indexing of your caller pages

404 Errors

A 404 error shows up erstwhile a web server can’t find a leafage astatine a definite URL. 

Which tin hap for a fig of reasons. Like an incorrect URL, a deleted page, a alteration successful URL, oregon a website misconfiguration.

And 404 errors tin forestall Google from finding, indexing, and ranking your pages. They besides harm the idiosyncratic experience.

That’s wherefore you should cheque for 404 errors and hole them.

In your Site Audit report, click “Issues.”

Find and click connected the nexus successful “# pages returned a 4XX presumption code.”

For immoderate pages that person “404” indicated arsenic the error, click “View breached links” to spot each the pages that see a nexus to that breached URL.

Then, alteration those links to the close URLs by fixing typos successful ones that were mistyped. Or linking to the caller pages wherever the contented is present located.

If there’s contented from immoderate breached URLs that nary longer exists, regenerate the links with the champion imaginable substitutes. 

Duplicate Content

Duplicate contented is erstwhile identical oregon incredibly akin contented appears successful much than 1 spot connected your site. And it tin confuse hunt engines, starring to indexing a leafage you don’t privation to beryllium the superior leafage for hunt rankings. 

Find duplicate contented issues by clicking “Issues” successful your Site Audit task and searching for “duplicate.”

Click the hyperlink successful “# pages person duplicate contented issues” to spot a database of affected pages.

If you person duplicates that aren’t serving a purpose, see immoderate contented from those pages connected the main page. Then, delete the duplicates and instrumentality a 301 redirects to the main page.

If you request to support the duplicates, usage canonical tags to bespeak which 1 is the main one. 

Poor Site Quality

Even if your website meets each method requirements, Google whitethorn not scale each your pages. Especially if it doesn't see your tract to beryllium precocious quality.

In an occurrence of SEO Office Hours, John Mueller from Google advises prioritizing tract quality: 

If you person a smaller tract and you’re seeing a important portion of your pages are not being indexed, past I would instrumentality a measurement backmost and effort to reconsider the wide prime of the website and not absorption truthful overmuch connected method issues for those pages.

If this sounds similar your situation, travel the 3 champion practices beneath to heighten it.

Create High-Quality Content

Quality content that’s “helpful, reliable, and people-first” is much apt to beryllium indexed and served successful hunt results. 

Here are immoderate tips to amended the prime of the contented you people connected your site:

• Center your contented astir customers’ needs and symptom points. Address pertinent problems and questions and supply actionable solutions.
• Showcase your expertise. Publish contented written by oregon including insights from taxable substance experts. Share real-life examples and your brand’s acquisition with the topic.
• Update your contented regularly. Make definite what you station is applicable and up to date. Run regular contented audits to place mistakes, outdated information, and opportunities for improvement.

Build Relevant Backlinks

Google views backlinks (links connected different sites that constituent to your site) from industry-relevant, high-quality websites arsenic recommendations. So, the much palmy your link building efforts (proactively taking steps to summation backlinks) are, the amended your chances of ranking.

And having much backlinks helps with indexing. Because Google’s crawler finds caller pages to scale done links.

You tin usage antithetic link gathering tactics to summation much high-quality links. For example, doing targeted outreach to journalists and bloggers, penning articles for different sites, and analyzing competitors’ backlinks for opportunities you tin replicate.

Use Backlink Gap to dive deeper into rival backlinks.

Enter your domain and up to 4 competitors’s domains. Click “Find prospects.”

The “Best” tab shows you websites that nexus to each your competitors but not to you.

Look done your competitors’ pages and research however you tin replicate immoderate of the backlinks. Here are a fewer examples:

• Contributing adept insights: Find websites wherever rival brands people impermanent articles, get cited arsenic taxable substance experts, oregon look arsenic podcast guests. Reach retired to those websites to research however you tin beryllium featured. 
• Create amended content: See which industry-leading online publications your competitors look on. Consider creating a akin but amended leafage with archetypal insights, and past transportation it to those publications arsenic a replacement link.

Further reading: How to Find Your Competitors’ Backlinks: A Step-by-Step Guide

Improve E-E-A-T Signals

E-E-A-T stands for “Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.” These are portion of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines that existent radical usage to measure hunt results.

This means creating pages with E-E-A-T successful caput is much apt to assistance your hunt performance.

To amended your site’s E-E-A-T, purpose to:

• Provide transparent writer information. Highlight your contributors’ idiosyncratic experiences and expertise concerning the topics they constitute about.
• Collaborate with taxable substance experts. Include insights from manufacture experts. Or adjacent prosecute them to reappraisal your contented and guarantee its accuracy.
• Support the claims you make. Cite credible sources crossed each your published content. So readers cognize the accusation you supply is reputable.

Further reading: What Are E-E-A-T and YMYL successful SEO & How to Optimize for Them

Monitor Your Site for Indexing Issues

Fixing your indexing issues isn’t a one-time thing. New issues mightiness harvest up successful the future—especially whenever you adhd caller contented oregon update your website’s structure.

Site Audit tin assistance you spot caller method problems aboriginal earlier they escalate.

Simply prime periodic audits successful the settings.

You’ll get an enactment to acceptable up automatic scans connected a regular oregon play basis

We urge configuring play scans to start. You tin set the cadence aboriginal arsenic needed. 

Site Audit volition rapidly emblem immoderate method problems. Which means you tin code them earlier they origin superior issues.

Google Indexing FAQs

How Long Does It Take Google to Index a Website?

The clip Google needs to scale your tract varies greatly, depending connected the size of your website. It tin instrumentality a fewer days for smaller sites. And up to a fewer months for ample websites.

How Can You Get Google to Index Your Website Faster?

You tin specifically inquire Google to crawl and scale your contented by: 

• Submitting your sitemap (for indexing full websites) successful Google Search Console
• Requesting Google indexing (for a azygous URL) successful Google Search Console

What’s the Difference Between Crawling and Indexing?

Crawling is the find process Google’s bot uses to travel links to find caller websites and pages. Indexing is erstwhile Googlebot analyzes the contented of a leafage to recognize it and store it for ranking purposes.

Why Are Some of Your Webpages Not Indexed By Google?

Your pages whitethorn not beryllium indexed owed to issues like:

• Your robots.txt record is blocking Googlebot from indexing definite pages
• Googlebot can't find the leafage due to the fact that of a deficiency of interior links
• There are 404 issues
• Your tract mightiness has duplicate content

Find these issues and much utilizing Site Audit.