Website Indexability Check: Easy-to-follow instructions for everyone You did a fantastic job creating a website! It could be a small business website, portfolio, or blog. Now, when someone searches for Google, you want them to actually find it *. The most significant obstacle, however, is indexability.
It would be like hosting a party without sending out invitations if search engines like Google are unable to *index * your website. If people are unaware that the website exists, nobody will visit, regardless of how awesome it is.
This article explains the meaning of indexability, its importance, and how to determine if your website is indexable (technically or not). Let’s begin!
How to Check if Your Site is Indexable
Alright, so how do you actually check this? There are several ways—from simple methods anyone can use to more detailed technical checks. Let’s start with the easiest.
1. The Google “Site:” Search Trick
Open Google and type this into the search bar:
makefileCopyEditsite:yourwebsite.com
(Replace yourwebsite.com with your actual domain.)
Example:
If your website is sunshinebakery.com, type:
makefileCopyEditsite:sunshinebakery.com
What you’ll see:
Google will show a list of pages it has indexed from your site. If you see results, that means some of your pages are being indexed. Yay!
If you don’t see any results, something might be preventing Google from indexing your site.
2. Use Google Search Console (GSC)
This is a free tool from Google, and it’s super helpful. If you haven’t already set it up, you can do it at search.google.com/search-console.
Once your site is verified:
- Click on “Pages” in the left-hand menu.
- You’ll see a breakdown of:
- Indexed pages
- Pages with issues
- Pages excluded from indexing
You can also paste a specific URL into the URL Inspection Tool to see if that exact page is indexable.
3. Check Your Robots.txt File
This file tells search engines which pages they can or can’t crawl.
To view it, type:
bashCopyEdityourwebsite.com/robots.txt
If it says something like:
makefileCopyEditUser-agent: *
Disallow: /
…that’s bad. It tells all search engines not to crawl anything on your site.
Make sure your robots.txt isn’t accidentally blocking important pages. If you’re unsure, tools like https://www.robotstxt.org/ can help.
4. Look at Meta Tags in Your HTML
There’s a little bit of code in your website’s header that can block indexing. It looks like this:
htmlCopyEdit<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
If that’s on a page, it’s telling Google NOT to index it.
You can check for this by right-clicking on a page, choosing “View Page Source,” and searching for the word noindex. If it’s there, that page won’t be indexed.
5. Use Online SEO Tools
There are tons of free and paid tools that check indexability. Some of the most popular include:
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (free)
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free version for up to 500 pages)
- SEMrush
- Ubersuggest
- Sitebulb
These tools can scan your site and point out indexability problems like blocked pages, noindex tags, redirect loops, and more.
Common Reasons Why a Page Isn’t Indexed
If you discover some of your pages aren’t being indexed, don’t panic. It happens! Here are some common causes:
❌ Robots.txt Blocking
As we mentioned earlier, your robots.txt file might be telling Google to stay away.
❌ Meta Noindex Tags
These tags could be set intentionally—or accidentally—on your pages.
❌ Password-Protected Pages
If your page requires a login, search engines can’t access it.
❌ Duplicate Content
Google may skip indexing if it thinks your page is a copy of another.
❌ Slow Site or Server Errors
If your site is too slow or crashes when Google tries to visit, it may get skipped.
❌ Not Enough Internal Links
If no other pages link to a certain page, Google might never find it.
Fixing Indexability Issues
Here’s a basic roadmap:
- Fix robots.txt and meta tags
Make sure your important pages aren’t being blocked or tagged with “noindex.” - Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console
This helps Google find all the pages you want indexed. - Use internal links
Link to your key pages from your homepage or blog posts to help Google discover them. - Build external backlinks
If other websites link to you, Google will be more likely to crawl and index your pages. - Improve page speed and reliability
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to make sure your site loads quickly.
Final Thoughts
Checking your website’s indexability isn’t just for tech wizards or SEO pros. It’s something every website owner should know how to do—even if it’s just a basic check now and then.
Think of it like maintaining your car. You don’t need to know how to rebuild the engine, but you should know how to check the gas gauge and change a tire. Same goes for your website!
With a little attention and the right tools, you can make sure your site is fully indexable—and ready to shine in search results.