Have you ever wondered why your web page may be crawled by Google but not indexed? Back in May, Google’s Gary Illyes shared some insights during an interview at the SERP Conf 2024 conference in Bulgaria that shed some light on this issue.
Despite the interview taking place a few months ago, the video went largely unnoticed until recently when Olesia Korobka (@Giridja) brought it to our attention in a Facebook post.
Understanding “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed”
When Google crawls your page but doesn’t index it, you may see an error report in the Google Search Console Page Indexing report. One participant in the interview asked if this could be due to the page’s similarity to existing content already indexed.
Gary Illyes confirmed that this could be one reason, citing duplicate content as a potential cause. However, he also mentioned that there are other factors at play.
The Impact of Site Quality
Illyes highlighted the importance of site quality as a determining factor in whether Google chooses to index a page. He mentioned that a high number of “crawled but not indexed” URLs could signal underlying quality issues on the site.
Additional Reasons for Crawled Not Indexed
In addition to duplicate content and site quality issues, Illyes pointed out that Google’s perception of the site could change over time, leading to pages not being indexed. He also mentioned technical issues as another possible explanation.
Insights and Solutions
Illyes’ responses offer valuable insights for diagnosing and resolving the “crawled but not indexed” issue:
- Content duplication with already indexed pages
- Same content existing on a site with better signals
- General site quality concerns
- Technical errors
While Illyes didn’t delve into the specifics of “better signals,” it’s likely referring to scenarios where syndicated content outranks the original publisher. To hear Illyes’ full explanation, check out the 9-minute mark of the interview recording.
Don’t miss out on this valuable information to enhance your site’s indexing potential!
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi