Question: Why is my site crawled by Google but not indexed?

Google crawling a website but not indexing its pages is a common issue that can arise due to various factors. Understanding these reasons and addressing them can help in getting your pages indexed. Here's what you need to know:

1. Robots.txt File Restrictions

Google respects the instructions in a robots.txt file. If this file explicitly disallows Googlebot from indexing certain parts of your website, those parts won't be indexed. Check your robots.txt file for any lines like:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

This line tells all web crawlers, including Googlebot, not to crawl the entire website.

2. Meta Tags

Pages may contain meta tags that instruct search engines not to index them. Look for the following HTML tag on your webpage:

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

If this tag is present, remove it to allow indexing.

3. Canonical Issues

Sometimes, web pages are not indexed because they are considered duplicates of other pages. This often happens due to canonical tags pointing to different URLs. Ensure that the canonical tags on your pages correctly reference the URL you want indexed:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page-url">

4. Low Content Quality or Thin Content

Google aims to provide the best user experience, which means prioritizing high-quality, relevant content. Pages with low word count, duplicate content, or spun articles might not get indexed. Improving content quality and providing unique and valuable information can encourage indexing.

5. Website Not Mobile-Friendly

With mobile-first indexing, Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, it might not be indexed properly. Use responsive design practices to ensure compatibility.

6. Crawl Budget Constraints

If your site has a vast number of pages, Google might choose not to index some pages due to crawl budget limitations. Optimizing your site structure and improving internal linking can help Googlebot discover and index important pages more effectively.

7. Technical Issues

Technical problems like server errors (5xx errors), long loading times, or security issues like hacking can prevent pages from being indexed. Regularly monitor your site's health using tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix such issues.

8. Manual Actions or Penalties

Sometimes, if Google detects spammy behaviors or violations of their guidelines, it might place a manual action on your site. Check Google Search Console under 'Security & Manual Actions > Manual Actions' to see if any actions have been applied.

Conclusion

Ensuring that your site is accessible, free of blockers, technically sound, and filled with high-quality content are key steps towards getting your pages indexed by Google. Regularly use Google Search Console to monitor the status and health of your site.