Why My Pages Are Crawled but Not Indexed (Case Study)
Crawled-Currently Not Indexed: Meaning and Fixes
If you’ve ever checked Google Search Console and seen a “Crawled – Indexed: No” status, you know how frustrating it can be. Your content is out there, Google’s bots have visited the page, yet the URL still doesn’t appear in Google search results. This paradox crawled currently not indexed is a common roadblock for new blogs and small businesses that are just getting started with SEO.
In this post I walk you through exactly what “crawled but not indexed” means, why it happens so often with fresh sites, and most importantly how I solved the problem on my own blog. By the end of the case study, you’ll have a clear, step‑by‑step checklist you can apply to any of your pages that are stuck in limbo.
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| Crawled Currently not Indexed |
Let’s turn those invisible URLs into searchable assets!
What Crawled Currently Not Indexed Means
When Google’s crawler (Googlebot) reaches a URL, it adds the page to its crawl queue and records the request in the Crawl Stats report. If the crawl succeeds, Google evaluates the page to decide whether it deserves a spot in its index.
- Crawled – Googlebot was able to fetch the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and any other resources the page references.
- Not Indexed – After fetching, Google decided the page didn’t meet the quality, relevance, or technical criteria for inclusion, or it ran into an error that prevented indexing.
In Google Search Console, the “Coverage” report will list this status under “Crawled Currently Not Indexed” or “Submitted – Crawled – Indexed: No.” The difference matters: a crawled page is visible to Google’s bots, but something is blocking it from appearing in search results.
Key takeaway: “Crawled currently not indexed” is not a dead‑end; it’s a diagnostic signal that tells you where to look next.
Why This Happens to New Blogs
Below are the most common reasons why new blogs face the crawled currently not indexed issue in Google Search Console.
| Common Cause | How It Triggers “Crawled but Not Indexed” | Typical Symptom in Google Search Console |
|---|---|---|
| Thin or Duplicate Content | Google finds little or repeated information and sees no unique value. | Crawled – Submitted – Indexing Failed |
| Noindex Tag Present | A meta robots or X-Robots tag tells Google not to index the page. | Crawled – Discovered – Noindex |
| Wrong Canonical Tag | Canonical tag points to another URL, so Google ignores this page. | Crawled – Submitted – Duplicate |
| No Internal Links | Pages are orphaned; Google crawls them via sitemap but deprioritizes indexing. | Crawled – Submitted – Orphan Page |
| Slow Page Speed | Page takes too long to load, reducing Google’s indexing priority. | Crawled – Submitted – Page Load Issue |
| Robots.txt Misconfiguration | Important resources or URLs are blocked from proper rendering. | Crawled – Submitted – Blocked by robots.txt |
| Missing Structured Data | Google lacks clear context about page type and content. | Crawled – Submitted – No Structured Data |
My Real-Life Experience (Case Study)
Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of how I resolved the “crawled but not indexed” for My Blog
| Day | Action Taken | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Launched the blog and published the first 5 posts. Checked Google Search Console → “Crawled – Indexed: No” for every URL. | All pages invisible in Google. |
| Day 2 | Ran a URL Inspection on each URL. Google reported “Crawled – Submitted – URL is not on Google.” | Confirmed crawling, no indexing. |
| Day 3 | Reviewed the Coverage report. Primary error: “Page with ‘noindex’ tag detected.” | Discovered a stray meta tag causing the issue. |
| Day 4 | Removed meta name="robots" content="noindex" from the template and re-submitted URLs via URL Inspection tool. |
2 pages immediately indexed; rest still pending. |
| Day 5 | Checked robots.txt – found Disallow: /search unintentionally blocking pagination URLs. Updated to allow them. |
URLs now crawlable for pagination. |
| Day 6 | Ran Page Speed Insights – average load time was 12s. Implemented lazy loading and compressed images. | Load time dropped to ~4s, faster page rendering. |
| Day 7 | Added internal links from homepage to each blog post and created a “Related Posts” widget. | Improved crawl depth and internal linking structure. |
| Day 8 | Implemented Schema.org Article markup using JSON-LD and validated structured data. | No errors in structured data; Google understands content better. |
| Day 9 | Submitted updated sitemap in Search Console. | All URLs now show “Crawled – Indexed: Yes.” |
| Day 10 | Monitored rankings | Soon Page will index and rank. |
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| Indexed URL |
Mistakes I Found
Below are the specific missteps that caused the "crawled but not indexed" problem on my site. Knowing these will help you avoid the same pitfalls.
1. Forgotten noindex Meta Tag
The blog’s default template contained a noindex tag that was meant only for draft pages. Because it was placed in the global header, every published post inherited it.
2. Over‑Restrictive Robots.txt
A rule intended to block the search results page (/search) mistakenly blocked all URLs beginning with /search/, which included my pagination links. This prevented Google from accessing the full article archive.
3. Thin Content & Duplicate Snippets
The first posts were short (≈300 words) and reused the same introductory paragraph. Google flagged them as low‑value, reducing the likelihood of indexing.
4. No Internal Links
The homepage only linked to the “About” page, leaving the blog posts orphaned. Google could crawl the URLs because they were in the sitemap, but without internal links it deprioritized them for indexing.
5. Slow Page Load
Uncompressed images and no lazy loading caused page‑load times to exceed Google’s 10‑second threshold for indexing new pages.
6. Missing Structured Data
Without Article schema, Google had less context about the content type, making it harder to classify the pages as authoritative blog posts.
By correcting each of these errors, the indexation bottleneck disappeared.
Step-by-Step Fixes
Follow these steps to fix “crawled but not indexed” issues:
1. Remove Unwanted Noindex Directives
- Meta tag: <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> → Delete or change to index, follow.
- X-Robots-Tag: Ensure your server isn’t sending X-Robots-Tag: noindex.
- Canonical tag: Verify <link rel="canonical"> points to the correct page, not a different URL.
- Tip: After editing, use URL Inspection → Test Live URL → Request Indexing.
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| Noindex Tag |
2. Audit and Clean Up Robots.txt
User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Allow: /search/*
- Test the file using Robots.txt Tester in Google Search Console.
- Ensure CSS, JS, and image files are not unintentionally blocked.
3. Strengthen Content Quality
- Word count: Aim for at least 300+ words of unique, valuable content per post.
- Avoid duplication: Ensure each article has original body content.
- Add value: Include actionable tips, examples, or data that match user intent.
4. Improve Internal Linking
- Add a “Recent Posts” widget on your sidebar.
- Insert contextual links to at least two relevant posts inside each article.
- Ensure your homepage menu includes a link to the blog index.
4. Optimize Page Speed
- Use Page Speed Insights to compress images, enable lazy loading, and minify CSS/JS.
- Implement responsive images for better loading.
- Apply efficient caching policies using Web development recommendations.
5. Resubmit Sitemap & Request Indexing
Generate a fresh sitemap (most platforms have a /sitemap.xml endpoint).
In Search Console, go to Sitemaps → Add/Test Sitemap → submit the URL.
For any particularly important pages, use URL Inspection → Request Indexing.
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| Sitemap on GSC |
6. Monitor Progress
Coverage report: Check daily for changes from “Not Indexed” to “Indexed.”
Performance report: Look for impressions and clicks after the pages appear.
Search results: Perform a site search: site:malaikaseopractice.blogspot.com "crawled but not indexed"
Typical timeline: Most fixes show up within 24‑48 hours, but full ranking improvements may take 2‑4 weeks.
Final Advice for Beginners
💡Start with a clean foundation – Before publishing, run a quick audit of your robots.txt, meta tags, and sitemap.
💡Prioritize quality over quantity – A few well-written, thoroughly linked articles will always outperform dozens of thin posts.
💡Leverage Google Search Console early – The Coverage and URL Inspection tools are your first line of defense against indexing issues.
💡Keep an eye on page speed – Faster pages help indexing, improve user experience, and support better rankings.
💡Document every change – Maintain a simple record of URL, issue, fix, and date to speed up future troubleshooting.
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