Definition
Indexing is the step that follows crawling in the process of referencing pages by search engines. Once a crawler has discovered and downloaded a page, the search engine analyzes its content, structure, and metadata to store it in its index. Only indexed pages can appear in search results. Indexing is not automatic: Google may choose not to index certain pages if it deems them low-quality, duplicate, or if technical directives prevent it (noindex, robots.txt). Google Search Console allows you to check the indexation status of your pages and request manual indexation.
Key Points
- Only indexed pages can appear in Google search results
- Google Search Console is the main tool for monitoring and managing indexation
- Noindex tags and robots.txt allow control over which pages are indexed
Practical Examples
Indexation verification
A webmaster uses the 'site:mysite.com' command in Google to check how many pages of their site are indexed. They discover that only 50 out of 200 pages are in the index, revealing a technical issue to resolve.
Fast indexation request
After publishing an article on breaking news, an editor uses the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to request immediate indexation, making the page visible in Google within hours instead of days.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can check your page's indexation in two ways: by typing 'site:your-full-url' in the Google search bar, or by using the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. The latter provides detailed information about indexation status, any errors, and the date of the last crawl.
Google may refuse to index a page for several reasons: duplicate or low-quality content, noindex directive in meta tags, blocked by robots.txt, technical errors (404, 500 errors), excessive load time, or simply because the crawler hasn't yet discovered the page. A technical audit helps identify and fix these issues.
Go Further with LemmiLink
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Last updated: 2026-02-07