What Is Indexation?
Indexation is the process by which a search engine analyses a crawled page and stores it in its index, the database it draws on to show search results. A page that is not indexed cannot appear in results for any query, so indexation is the step between a page being discovered and crawled and it being able to rank.
What Is Indexation?
Google describes search in three stages: crawling, where Googlebot discovers and downloads pages; indexing, where it processes those pages; and serving, where it returns relevant indexed pages for a query. Indexation is the middle stage. During it, Google parses the HTML, renders JavaScript where needed, reads the title, headings, text, images, links and structured data, detects the language, and groups duplicate or near-duplicate pages so it can choose a canonical version. Only the canonical is normally shown in results. Not every crawled page is indexed: Google states that it does not guarantee indexing, and it may leave out pages it considers duplicates, low in value or blocked by directives, or simply not worth storing yet. The word "indexation" is also used as a metric, meaning the proportion of a site's important URLs that are actually in the index, which is one of the first things to check in a technical SEO audit.
How Indexation Works
A URL first has to be discovered, usually through links from pages Google already knows or through an XML sitemap. Googlebot then checks robots.txt: a Disallow rule stops it crawling the page, although a blocked URL can still be indexed without its content if other pages link to it. If crawling is allowed, Google fetches the page and, if needed, renders it with an up-to-date version of Chromium so that content added by JavaScript can be seen. The page is then evaluated for indexing, and several signals can prevent or redirect this: a <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> tag or an X-Robots-Tag: noindex HTTP header keeps the page out of the index; a rel="canonical" pointing to another URL suggests that URL should be indexed instead; a 301 redirect transfers indexing to the target; and 404, 410 or soft 404 responses mean there is nothing to index. Finally, quality and duplication are assessed. Search Console's Page indexing report lists the outcome for each known URL, with reasons such as "Crawled - currently not indexed", "Discovered - currently not indexed", "Duplicate without user-selected canonical", "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" and "Blocked by robots.txt", and the URL Inspection tool shows the status of a single page and lets you request indexing after changes.
Best Practices for Indexation
Make every page you want indexed easy to find, crawlable and clearly the preferred version. Link to important pages from your navigation and from related content so none are orphaned, and keep an XML sitemap that lists only canonical, indexable URLs returning a 200 status; submit it in Search Console and reference it in robots.txt. Make sure robots.txt does not block the CSS and JavaScript files Google needs to render your pages. Send consistent signals: the canonical tag, internal links, sitemap entries and hreflang annotations should all agree on the same URL. Use noindex deliberately for pages that should not appear in search, such as internal search results, thank-you pages or thin tag archives, and remember that Google must be able to crawl a page to see its noindex, so do not also block it in robots.txt. Put the main content in the server-rendered HTML where possible rather than relying entirely on client-side JavaScript. Return real 404 or 410 status codes for removed pages instead of redirecting them all to the homepage, which Google may treat as soft 404s. Improve or consolidate pages reported as "Crawled - currently not indexed", since this often signals that Google sees little unique value in them. Check the Page indexing report monthly, and weekly after large launches or migrations until the numbers settle.
Indexation and Canvas Builder
Canvas Builder generates pages as HTML with the main content, semantic headings and SEO meta in the source, so search engines can read them without depending on client-side rendering. Once a site is published or deployed from the export, add it to Google Search Console, submit a sitemap and check the Page indexing report so you know every important page is actually in the index.
Start building freeFrequently asked questions
How do I check if a page is indexed by Google?
Use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console, which reports whether the URL is on Google and, if not, why. For a rough check without Search Console, search for site:example.com/page-url, although the site: operator is not a complete or precise measure of what is indexed.
Why is my page not indexed?
Common reasons are a noindex tag or header, a canonical tag pointing elsewhere, a robots.txt block, the page being a duplicate of another URL, thin content, or Google not having crawled it yet. Search Console's Page indexing report and URL Inspection tool show the specific reason for each URL.
How long does it take Google to index a new page?
It varies from a few hours to several weeks, depending on how often Google crawls the site, how well the page is linked and how important it appears. Adding the page to your sitemap, linking to it from existing pages and requesting indexing in the URL Inspection tool can help, but none of them guarantees indexing.
What is the difference between crawling and indexing?
Crawling is when a search engine bot fetches a page; indexing is when the search engine processes that page and stores it so it can appear in results. A page can be crawled but not indexed, for example if it has a noindex tag or Google considers it a duplicate.