Site not indexed vs single URL
Before debugging, confirm scope: is your entire site missing from Google, or only specific pages? Search site:yourdomain.com — zero results usually means a site-wide blocker; partial results point to page-level issues.
10 common reasons websites are not indexed
1. Site-wide noindex
A single setting in CMS, theme, or staging config can block the entire site. Check homepage meta robots and HTTP headers.
2. Robots.txt blocks Googlebot
Verify User-agent: Googlebot is not disallowed from /.
3. New domain with no authority
New sites need time. Google must discover and trust the domain first. See New website indexing checklist.
4. Thin or duplicate content
Pages with little unique value get crawled but not indexed — Crawled – currently not indexed.
5. No sitemap and weak internal linking
Orphan pages Google never finds. Fix with Do sitemaps speed up indexing? and internal link architecture.
6. Server errors and downtime
Frequent 5xx responses reduce crawl frequency and trust.
7. Incorrect canonical tags
Canonicals pointing elsewhere tell Google to index a different URL.
8. Manual actions or security issues
Check Search Console for manual actions and security warnings.
9. Blocked by password or geo restrictions
Googlebot cannot access login-walled content without proper setup.
10. Crawl budget exhaustion
Very large sites with low-quality URL bloat may see slow or partial indexing. Prioritize important URLs via How to submit URLs to Google and Bulk URL indexing workflow.
Diagnostic workflow
- Run
site:yourdomain.comand URL Inspection on homepage - Review Search Console → Pages → Why pages aren't indexed
- Fix technical blockers first (noindex, robots)
- Improve content and internal links
- Submit priority URLs via indexing service
- Track with Check Index
For single URL issues, see What to do when a URL is not indexed. Understand indexing fundamentals in What is Google Index?.
Recovery priority matrix
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix priority |
|---|---|---|
| Zero site: results | Site-wide noindex or robots block | Critical — fix today |
| Homepage indexed, inner pages not | Weak internal links or thin content | High — week 1 |
| Random pages not indexed | Template or CMS issue | Medium — audit by folder |
| Sudden de-indexation drop | Migration, canonical, or security issue | Critical — investigate immediately |
Document your baseline index count before making site-wide changes. After migrations, run Bulk URL index checks on all previously indexed URLs to catch regressions early.
FAQ
See below for penalty vs filter differences and recovery timelines.
