What is Indexation?
Indexation is the process of Google adding your page to its searchable index. A page must be crawled, deemed valuable, and pass duplicate-content checks before it's indexed. GSC's Coverage report shows every indexation state — indexed, discovered-not-indexed, crawled-not-indexed, and excluded.
How Indexation works
- "Discovered — currently not indexed" means Google knows about the URL but hasn't crawled it. Usually a crawl-budget or authority issue.
- "Crawled — currently not indexed" means Google crawled it and chose not to index. Usually a content-quality or duplicate issue.
- Force indexation attempts: request indexing in GSC URL Inspection, ping IndexNow (Bing + Yandex), and add strong internal links from indexed pages.
- New sites take 4-12 weeks to reach full indexation coverage — patience beats gaming.
- Track the funnel: URLs in sitemap → URLs discovered → URLs crawled → URLs indexed → URLs ranking. Each stage has different fixes.
Example
A site with 2,000 URLs in sitemap but only 300 indexed has a discovery or quality funnel leak. Fix by: internal linking from high-authority pages, tightening thin content, and pinging IndexNow every 6 hours for new URLs.
Run it on your own keyword
If a URL is not in the top 100 for its own target term, start with indexation.
Check if the page ranks at allFrequently asked questions about Indexation
Why are my pages not being indexed?
Most common reasons: thin content, duplicates, blocked in robots.txt, noindex tag present, low authority, or slow page speed. Check GSC → Pages → "Why pages aren't indexed" for the exact reason per URL.
How long does it take Google to index a new page?
Anywhere from minutes to weeks. Requesting indexing in GSC + strong internal links usually gets a new page indexed within 3-7 days on established sites, 2-4 weeks on new sites.
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is an open protocol (backed by Bing + Yandex + Naver) that lets you push new or updated URLs to search engines instantly, without waiting for the next crawl.
Related terms
Crawl Budget
Crawl budget is the number of URLs Googlebot will request on your site in a given period. It's a function of your site's host load capacity and Google's "crawl demand" (how important + fresh your content appears). Small sites rarely hit the limit; sites over ~10k URLs must manage it actively.
XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a machine-readable list of the URLs on your site that you want search engines to crawl and index. Submitted via Google Search Console (or discovered through robots.txt), it accelerates discovery of new pages and communicates freshness with per-URL lastmod dates.
Noindex Tag
A noindex meta tag or X-Robots-Tag HTTP header tells search engines to crawl a page but exclude it from their index. It's the correct way to remove pages from Google — unlike robots.txt (which blocks crawling but not indexation of already-known URLs).
Canonical URL
A canonical URL is the "master" version of a page you tell Google to index when the same or similar content is reachable from multiple URLs. Declared via <link rel="canonical" href="…" /> in the <head>, it consolidates ranking signals and prevents duplicate-content dilution.