Definition

Indexing is the process by which search engines store and organize crawled pages in their database — making them eligible to appear in search results.

Detailed Explanation

Flow: Crawl → Render → Index → Rank. A page can be crawled but not indexed (noindex, duplicate, low quality). The Search Console Pages report (formerly Coverage) shows indexing status per URL.

Request indexing via URL Inspection after publishing important pages. Sitemaps help discovery but don’t guarantee indexing.

Nepal Context

New .com.np sites often show “Discovered — currently not indexed” for weeks. Publish quality content consistently, build internal links, and avoid thin auto-generated pages.

Practical Examples

  • A new blog post appears in search two days after publishing because it is linked from the homepage and listed in the sitemap.
  • Fifty near-identical location pages sit in “Crawled – currently not indexed” because Google sees little unique value in them.
  • A page that accidentally carries noindex drops out of results after its next crawl.

How to Check It

  1. Search Console URL Inspection shows whether a specific URL is indexed and which canonical Google chose.
  2. The Pages report groups non-indexed URLs by reason; review the reasons, not just the totals.
  3. A site:yourdomain.com search gives a rough picture but is not an accurate count.

Key Takeaways

  • Indexed = eligible to rank; not indexed = invisible in search
  • Check GSC Pages report weekly
  • Fix blockers before creating more content

Common Mistakes

  1. Assuming published = indexed
  2. Mass-submitting low-quality pages that dilute crawl budget
  3. Ignoring “Crawled — currently not indexed” URLs