Index Status

Definition

Understanding index status requires understanding the three-stage pipeline Google applies to every URL: **Crawling** (Googlebot visits the URL and retrieves the HTML response), **Processing** (Google parses the HTML, renders JavaScript, extracts content, links, and structured data), and **Indexing** (Google adds the page to its search index if it meets quality thresholds). A page can be blocked at any stage. **Index status categories** (as reported in GSC\'s Indexing report): (1) **Indexed** — the page is in Google\'s index and can appear in search results. (2) **Crawled — currently not indexed** — Googlebot crawled the page but chose not to index it. Google doesn\'t provide specific reasons, but common causes: thin or low-quality content, duplicate of another indexed page, soft 404 (page returns 200 but has very little content), or low-quality assessment from Google\'s quality systems. (3) **Discovered — currently not crawled** — the URL is known to Google (found in sitemap or via links) but hasn\'t been crawled yet. This is usually a crawl budget or crawl priority issue — Google knows the URL exists but hasn\'t prioritised crawling it. (4) **Excluded by noindex** — the page has a `<meta name="robots" content="noindex">` tag or a `noindex` directive in the `X-Robots-Tag` HTTP header. Google respects this directive. (5) **Redirect** — the URL returns a redirect response (301, 302); Google follows the redirect and considers the destination URL for indexation instead. (6) **Blocked by robots.txt** — Google cannot crawl the URL because robots.txt Disallows it. Note: robots.txt blocking does NOT prevent Google from knowing the URL exists or from indexing it if it finds the URL via links — it only prevents crawling. Combine with noindex for complete exclusion. (7) **Not found (404)** — the URL returns a 404 status. Not indexed. (8) **Soft 404** — URL returns 200 but Google determines the page has no meaningful content (empty search result pages, placeholder pages). **Getting pages indexed**: submit the URL in GSC\'s URL Inspection tool > "Request indexing"; include the URL in the XML sitemap; add internal links from already-indexed pages (links are the primary discovery mechanism for new content).

Why it matters for SEO

A page that isn\'t indexed cannot rank. For new sites and new content, index status monitoring tells you whether Google is discovering and indexing your content — the prerequisite for any ranking. "Crawled — currently not indexed" is one of the most problematic statuses: it indicates Google has seen the page and decided not to index it, which usually signals a content quality issue that needs to be addressed before the page can rank. Large sites can have significant indexation gaps — only 60–70% of submitted pages indexed — often due to thin content templates (pagination pages, filter pages, empty category pages).

How DeepSEOAnalysis checks this

The audit checks all on-page signals that affect index status: noindex tag presence and accuracy (pages that should be indexed must not have noindex; pages that should be excluded — checkout, thank-you, admin — must have noindex); canonical tag consistency (self-referential canonicals prevent Google from choosing an alternative canonical from an off-site copy); sitemap inclusion of indexable pages (and exclusion of noindex pages); content depth (thin content pages are flagged as at risk for "Crawled — currently not indexed"); robots.txt Disallow accuracy; and 404/redirect status codes.

Useful tools and resources

• Free indexation and crawl coverage audit