Last Updated on 11 months ago by School4Seo Team
📘 Introduction
When you create a new webpage, how does it show up on Google?
Before a page can rank, it must first be indexed.
Indexing is the process by which search engines store your website pages in their database so they can appear in search results.
If your pages are not indexed, they won’t show up — even if they’re perfectly optimized.
🧠 What Does Indexing Really Mean?
Pages of your website are discovered by search engine crawlers like Googlebot, which visit, scan, and evaluate them. If a page is eligible and useful, Google saves its copy in its search index — a vast digital library.
This saving process is called indexing.
There may be hundreds of pages on your site, but not all are guaranteed to be indexed.
To check whether a page is indexed, you can use the command:
site:example.com📘 This is useful not only for checking indexation but also for verifying your keyword mapping.
🔍 Why Is Indexing So Important?
Until your page is indexed:
- It won’t appear on Google
- It can’t rank for any keyword
- No traffic can be gained from search
“A page is indexed by Google if it has been visited by the Google crawler (‘Googlebot’), analyzed for content and meaning, and stored in the Google index.”
— Google Search Central
🔎 How to Check Indexed Pages
You can check indexing status in two ways:
✅ 1. Google Search Console
Go to Pages > Indexed in Search Console. It shows:
- Which pages are indexed
- Which are excluded (and why)
✅ 2. Google Search Operator
Use the site: command directly in Google:
site:example.comReplace example.com with your domain to see indexed pages.
“A
site:query is a search operator that allows you to request search results from the particular domain, URL, or URL prefix specified in the operator.”
— Google Developer Documentation
🚫 How to Restrict Pages from Indexing
Not every page should appear in Google Search.
You may want to block:
- Archive or tag pages (WordPress)
- Cart, checkout, or thank-you pages (eCommerce)
- Login and user settings pages
You can prevent indexing using the noindex directive in the HTML <head> section.
🧩 Syntax of Robots Tag
Add this meta tag to block Googlebot from indexing a page:
<!-- To restrict Googlebot -->
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">
<!-- To restrict all bots -->
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">“You can prevent a page from appearing in Google Search by including a
noindexmeta tag or HTTP header. Once detected, the page will be dropped entirely from the index.”
— Google’s Guide on Blocking Indexing
📝 Assignment – Check Your Understanding
Use the tools mentioned above to check if:
- Your homepage is indexed
- Your most important service/blog pages are indexed
- Any unnecessary pages are showing up in search
Also, test indexing status of your competitors using:
site:competitor-domain.com