Why Some of
Your Blog Pages Aren’t Getting Indexed (and How to Fix It)
If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve probably
had this experience: you publish a new post, sit back, and wait for Google to
pick it up… but nothing happens. Days or even weeks later, the page is still
not showing up in search results. It feels frustrating, right?
You’re not alone. Many bloggers and website owners run
into this issue. The good news is, unindexed pages aren’t the end of the world and
there are clear reasons why it happens. Better yet, there are steps you can
take to improve your chances of getting those pages indexed.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the most common
reasons your pages might not be indexed and the practical steps you can take to
fix them.
1. Low-Quality or Thin Content
Let’s start with the most common culprit: thin
content. Google’s mission is to serve valuable, relevant, and trustworthy
information to users. If a page doesn’t really add much value maybe it’s just a
few lines of text, or it repeats things that can be found elsewhere it may not
get indexed.
Think of it like this: Google has billions of pages to
crawl. If your page doesn’t stand out with something unique, why would Google
bother showing it to people?
How to fix it:
- Aim for
at least 600–800 words for most blog posts. Longer isn’t always
better, but you want enough substance to actually help someone.
- Make
your content actionable and unique—share personal insights,
examples, or experiences that can’t be found elsewhere.
- Use visuals,
subheadings, and lists to make the content easier to digest.
2. Noindex Tag or Robots.txt
Blocking
Sometimes the problem isn’t content at all it’s a
technical setting that’s accidentally telling Google not to index your page.
This can happen if:
- You’ve
added a “noindex” tag in your page’s HTML.
- Your robots.txt
file is blocking Google from crawling certain parts of your site.
These settings are useful when you want to hide
certain pages (like admin dashboards or thank-you pages), but you definitely
don’t want them applied to your main blog posts.
How to fix it:
- Check
your page’s HTML source code to make sure there isn’t a <meta
name="robots" content="noindex"> tag.
- In
Google Search Console (GSC), use the URL Inspection tool to see if
the page is marked as “noindex.”
- Review
your robots.txt file (yourdomain.com/robots.txt) to confirm it
isn’t blocking important pages.
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3. Duplicate Content
Another big reason Google might skip indexing your
page is because it looks too similar to something else on your site or even on
the wider web. Duplicate content doesn’t always mean copy-paste plagiarism; it
can also happen unintentionally.
For example:
- You
have multiple versions of the same page (like with and without “www”).
- Your
product descriptions are the same as the manufacturer’s.
- Blog
posts repeat a lot of the same information without adding new value.
If Google thinks your page is just a repeat, it may
choose to index only one version.
How to fix it:
- Use canonical
tags to tell Google which version of a page is the “main” one.
- Rewrite
content so it offers a fresh angle or extra details.
- Avoid
posting the exact same article across multiple sites (even if you own
them).
4. Crawl Errors
Sometimes Google actually tries to visit your page but
runs into roadblocks. These roadblocks are called crawl errors. They can happen
if:
- The
page loads too slowly.
- The
server times out.
- There
are broken internal links.
- The URL
structure is confusing.
If Google can’t properly crawl a page, it can’t index
it.
How to fix it:
- Open
the Coverage report in GSC and check for any crawl errors.
- Make sure
your website loads quickly aim for under 3 seconds.
- Fix
broken links (internal and external).
- Use a
clean, descriptive URL structure (e.g., yourdomain.com/seo-tips instead of
yourdomain.com/?p=123).
5. New Pages
Sometimes, the reason is actually very simple: your
page is just new, and Google hasn’t gotten around to it yet.
Google’s bots crawl the internet constantly, but they
don’t discover every new page instantly especially if your site is small or
doesn’t have many backlinks. In some cases, it can take a few days or even
weeks for new pages to appear in the index.
How to speed things up:
- Submit
your new URL in GSC using the URL Inspection tool and click
“Request Indexing.”
- Share
your post on social media to generate traffic and signals.
- Build
internal links from older, already-indexed posts to the new one.
Next Steps: How to Tackle Unindexed
Pages
Now that you know the possible reasons, here’s a quick
checklist to help you move forward:
1. Check Coverage Report in GSC – This will tell you exactly why a
page isn’t indexed.
2. Improve Content Quality – Add depth, detail, and uniqueness
to thin pages.
3. Ensure Accessibility – Double-check that pages aren’t
blocked by noindex tags or robots.txt.
4. Fix Crawl Errors – Repair broken links, improve
loading speed, and simplify URLs.
5. Resubmit Pages – After making improvements,
request indexing again in GSC.
Final Thoughts
Having unindexed pages is frustrating, but it’s also a
normal part of running a blog or website. The key is not to panic but to treat
it as a learning opportunity. Every time you fix a thin post, clean up
technical issues, or improve your site structure, you’re making your blog
stronger in the long run.
Think of indexing like getting invited to the party.
If your content is useful, original, and easy to access, Google is far more
likely to give it a spot on the guest list. So keep creating great content,
keep optimizing, and your pages will have a much better chance of showing up
where they belong right in front of your readers.
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