If your website isn’t showing up in Google search results, indexing is almost always the problem. Google can’t rank pages it hasn’t crawled and added to its index, which means your content might be invisible, no matter how good it is.
Fortunately, you don’t have to sit around hoping Google eventually finds your pages. There are concrete steps you can take to help Google discover your content much faster.
Let’s walk through the most reliable ways to speed up indexing and diagnose what’s going wrong when Google gets stuck.
In This Article:
- What Is Google Indexing?
- How to Check if a Page is Indexed by Google
- How to Get Google to Index Your Site (8 Ways to Speed Up the Process)
- Request Indexing in Google Search Console
- Make Sure You’re Not Accidentally Blocking Crawlers
- Remove Accidental Noindex Tags
- Create and Submit an XML Sitemap
- Fix Technical Indexing Issues in One Place
- Strengthen Your Internal Linking
- Don’t Use “Nofollow” on Important Internal Links
- Build High-Quality Backlinks
- Monitor Your Search Visibility Over Time
- Frequently Asked Questions About Google Indexing
What Is Google Indexing?
Google’s index is basically a massive database of every page Google has discovered and stored. When someone searches for something, Google pulls results from this index rather than scanning the live web in real time.
If your page isn’t in the index, three things happen:
- It will never appear in search results
- It won’t generate any organic traffic
- Google can’t evaluate or rank it
Before you start troubleshooting, it’s worth confirming whether your pages are actually indexed or not.
How to Check if a Page is Indexed by Google
There are several ways you can check your website’s indexing on Google. Let’s go over them.
Perform a Google Search
To check if Google is indexing your webpages, you can start by simply performing a Google search. Just enter the URL of your website or webpage and see if it appears in the results.
You can also narrow down your search using Google search operators. Let’s say you want to check if your new blog post is indexed.
Enter site:www.yourwebsite.com/my-blog-post in Google and if it appears in the search engine page results, then it means Google has indexed your webpage.
If nothing shows up, Google probably hasn’t indexed that page yet.
Use Google Search Console
Another way to check if Google is indexing your website is to use Google Search Console. It’s a free tool that shows how your site is performing on search engines.
In your Google Search Console, go to URL Inspection from the options on your left.
Then enter the URL of your website or blog post. If you get a message saying URL is not on Google, then it means the search engine hasn’t indexed your webpage.
Diagnose Issues Directly in WordPress
If you’re using WordPress and All in One SEO (AIOSEO), there’s an Index Status Report that gives you a visual breakdown of your site’s indexing health.
You can see which pages are:
- Indexed
- Crawled but not indexed
- Discovered but not crawled
- Blocked by robots.txt
- Having canonical URL issues
This helps you quickly figure out why specific pages aren’t getting indexed and what needs to be fixed.
How to Get Google to Index Your Site (8 Ways to Speed Up the Process)
Here are the most effective methods for getting your pages indexed faster.
1. Request Indexing in Google Search Console
If your website isn’t appearing on Google then you can use the Request Indexing option in Google Search Console. This tells Google that you’ve published a new blog post and it should take a look. This is perhaps the easiest and quickest way of getting your pages indexed.
And the steps are straightforward. All you have to do is enter the URL in the URL Inspection option and if it says URL is not on Google, just click the button saying Request Indexing.
Google will then queue your webpage for indexing, and you should see a confirmation message.
However, there is a possibility that there is a deeper problem causing the indexing issue. So, if this doesn’t work, keep making your way through this list.
2. Make Sure You’re Not Accidentally Blocking Crawlers
This happens more often than you’d think. Many sites accidentally tell Google to stay away through hidden settings.
Check WordPress’s search visibility setting:
If you’re using WordPress, I recommend checking your visibility settings. Go to Settings » Reading and make sure “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked.
If that box is checked, nothing on your site will get indexed.
Check your robots.txt file:
Your robots.txt file is a simple text file that tells search engines which parts of your site they can and cannot access. Every website can have one, and it lives at the root of your domain (yourwebsite.com/robots.txt).
Visit yourwebsite.com/robots.txt in your browser to see what yours contains. You shouldn’t see rules like:
You shouldn’t see rules like:
Disallow: /
This blocks Google from crawling your entire site. Unless you have a specific reason to block certain sections, remove these rules.
If manually editing robots.txt makes you nervous, AIOSEO includes a Robots.txt Editor that gives you a safer, visual way to control what gets crawled.
This is great for non-technical users.
3. Remove Accidental Noindex Tags
A noindex tag is essentially a “do not index” instruction. Pages with this tag won’t appear in Google results, period.
These tags often get left behind after:
- Site migrations
- Pushing content from staging to live
- Theme changes
- Plugin updates
How to check for noindex tags:
The easiest way is to view your page’s source code. Right-click anywhere on the page and select “View Page Source” (the exact wording varies by browser). Then search (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for “noindex” to see if it appears.
Look for this in your page’s <head> section:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
You might also see variations like:
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
If you find a noindex tag on a page that should be indexed, you have two options:
Option 1: Use your SEO plugin (recommended)
Most SEO plugins like AIOSEO have a simple toggle for indexability in the page editor. Look for settings labeled “Robots Meta” or “Allow Search Engines” and make sure the page is set to be indexed.
This is much safer than editing code manually.
Option 2: Remove it from your theme code
If the noindex tag is hard-coded into your theme or website, you’ll need to edit your theme files (usually in header.php). If you’re not comfortable editing theme files, ask a developer or use Option 1 instead.
4. Create and Submit an XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap tells Google which pages are important on your website and which aren’t. If a webpage isn’t indexing on search engines, then you can include them in the sitemap. This will tell Google that the page is valuable and it should appear in the search results.
A sitemap also helps search engine crawlers to find new content and index them. It provides a navigation path for the crawler, so it can easily go through your site.
A good sitemap should:
- Contain all your indexable pages
- Update automatically when you publish new content
- Exclude duplicate or thin content
Most SEO plugins generate sitemaps automatically.
AIOSEO builds a dynamic XML sitemap and keeps it updated whenever you publish or modify content. Once you have a sitemap, submit it through Google Search Console to help Google discover new pages faster.
If you don’t have a sitemap yet, then you can see our guide on how to make a WordPress sitemap.
5. Fix Technical Indexing Issues in One Place
Indexing delays usually come from technical problems like blocked crawl paths, missing sitemaps, incorrect canonical URLs, or orphaned content that nothing links to.
If you want a straightforward way to audit and fix these issues without leaving WordPress, AIOSEO brings all the key indexing tools together in one dashboard:
You’ll get all the following features to help ensure your pages are indexed as fast as possible:
- Index Status Report. As we mentioned earlier, this gives you a clear visual breakdown of your indexing health. You can see exactly which pages are indexed, which are crawled but not indexed, which are discovered but not crawled, which are blocked by robots.txt, and which have canonical URL issues. You can expand any URL to diagnose exactly what’s preventing it from getting indexed.
- XML Sitemap Tools. AIOSEO automatically builds and maintains your sitemap, then notifies search engines whenever content changes.
- Robots.txt Editor. This lets you manage Allow/Disallow rules safely without touching server files.
- Noindex/Nofollow Controls. Makes it easy to adjust visibility settings for individual URLs without accidentally blocking pages you want indexed.
- IndexNow Support. This instantly notifies search engines when you publish or update content so they can recrawl faster.
- Link Assistant. Helps you find orphaned pages and suggests internal links—one of the most important ways to get Google to crawl new content.
Having all of this in one place means you can understand what’s happening with your indexing and fix issues without digging through code or switching between tools.
6. Strengthen Your Internal Linking
Google discovers most pages by following links. If nothing on your site links to a new page, Google might not find it for weeks or even months.
Best practices:
- Link to new content from high-authority pages (like your homepage or popular blog posts)
- Use descriptive anchor text that tells Google what the page is about
- Make sure new content isn’t “orphaned” with zero internal links
Even a single well-placed internal link from a high-traffic page can speed up crawling significantly.
For more information, see our guide on how to use WordPress internal links for SEO.
7. Don’t Use “Nofollow” on Important Internal Links
If your internal links include a rel=”nofollow” attribute, Google won’t follow them. That means Google might never crawl or index the pages you’re linking to.
How to check for nofollow links:
Right-click on any link and select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element.” In the code that appears, look for rel=”nofollow” in the link tag.
A normal link looks like this:
<a href="/your-page">Link Text</a>
A nofollow link looks like this:
<a href="/your-page" rel="nofollow">Link Text</a>
Check your internal links, especially in navigation menus, footer links, and contextual links within content.
How to remove nofollow:
If you’re using a page builder or visual editor, look for link settings or attributes when editing the link. Most modern editors have a checkbox or toggle for “nofollow” that you can simply uncheck.
If the nofollow is hard-coded in your theme or template files, you’ll need to edit those files directly or ask your developer to remove the rel=”nofollow” attribute.
Remove nofollow from internal links unless there’s a specific reason to keep it (like on login pages, registration pages, or utility pages that shouldn’t be indexed anyway).
8. Build High-Quality Backlinks
While internal links are useful for your inner web pages, having high-quality backlinks can also get Google to index your site faster. Since Google works by following hyperlinks, backlinks also help search engine bots to discover your website and its content.
And if you can get backlinks from authoritative websites, then you have a higher chance of indexing your webpage quickly.
But do we mean by high authority websites?
Well, these are domains that have expertise in their subject area or they have high domain authority. For instance, news websites like CNN, sports websites like ESPN, or any governmental organization are examples of authoritative websites.
So, backlinks from such websites show that your content is trustworthy and useful. And Google will give importance to your pages and rank them higher.
Monitor Your Search Visibility Over Time
Fixing indexing issues is only half the battle. You also need to track whether your changes are actually working—whether they’re increasing impressions and clicks.
If you use ExactMetrics, you can see your Google Search Console data directly inside WordPress. This includes:
- Impressions and clicks
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Average position in search results
- Top keywords driving traffic
- Top landing pages
- Search visibility trends over time
This makes it easy to spot pages that gain or lose visibility and catch indexing problems early, before they hurt your traffic.
Get started with ExactMetrics today!
I hope this article helped you learn how to get Google to index your site faster.
You might also find these articles helpful:
- Our Proven Tactics To Increase SEO Rankings
- Mastering SEO Search Intent: A Guide to Higher Rankings
- Build an Effective SEO Content Strategy: Easy Steps
And don’t forget to follow us on X and Facebook to stay updated on the latest Google Analytics tips and tools.
Frequently Asked Questions About Google Indexing
How long does it take for Google to index a new page?
It typically takes anywhere from a few days to several weeks for Google to index a new page, depending on your site’s crawl frequency and authority. However, you can speed this up significantly by requesting indexing through Google Search Console, which often results in indexing within 1-2 days. Sites with strong backlink profiles and frequent updates tend to get crawled more often, which means faster indexing for new content.
Why is my website not showing up on Google?
If your website isn’t appearing in Google search results, the most common reasons are: Google hasn’t indexed your pages yet, your site has a noindex tag blocking indexing, WordPress’s “Discourage search engines” setting is enabled, your robots.txt file is blocking crawlers, or your pages are orphaned with no internal links pointing to them. Use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool to diagnose which issue is affecting your site.
How do I check if Google has indexed my website?
The fastest way is to search site:yourwebsite.com in Google. If your site appears, it’s indexed. For more detailed information, use Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool—paste any URL and it will show you the indexing status plus any issues preventing indexing. You can also use SEO plugins like AIOSEO that provide an Index Status Report showing which pages are indexed, crawled but not indexed, or blocked.
Can I force Google to index my site immediately?
You can’t force Google to index immediately, but you can strongly encourage it. Use the “Request Indexing” feature in Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool, which typically results in indexing within 1-2 days rather than weeks. You can also enable IndexNow (available in plugins like AIOSEO), which notifies search engines instantly when you publish or update content, helping them recrawl your pages faster.
What’s the difference between crawling and indexing?
Crawling is when Google’s bots visit your page and read its content. Indexing is when Google decides to store that page in its database and make it eligible to appear in search results. A page can be crawled without being indexed if Google determines it’s low quality, duplicate content, or blocked by technical issues. You can see both crawl and index status in Google Search Console.
Does submitting a sitemap guarantee my pages will be indexed?
No, submitting a sitemap doesn’t guarantee indexing—it simply helps Google discover your pages more efficiently. Google still evaluates each page and decides whether to index it based on content quality, technical factors, and whether it provides value to searchers. However, having a clean, up-to-date sitemap significantly improves your chances of faster indexing, especially for new content.