Understanding how a site is indexed at Google

Have you ever published quality content on your site, But can't find it on Google? Caused by bad indexing of a website, this problem is more common than you think. However, it often takes just a few adjustments to unblock the situation.

Being correctly indexed by Google is indeed essential to exist on the leading search engine. Without indexing, unable to appear in search results, even for your best keywords. In other words, your visibility is reduced to nothing...

Fortunately, by following best practices, you can optimize and speed up the indexing of your website by Google. By applying these recommendations, you will maximize the indexing of your site and significantly boost your visibility on Google. Follow the guide!

What is website indexing?

Website indexing is the process by which search engines, such as Google, analyze and store pages on a website in their database, also called an index. When a search engine indexes a website, it crawls and analyzes the content of each page, including text, images, meta tags and other elements. Indexing allows search engines to understand the content of a website and rank it in their search results. This means that when users search for relevant topics, the indexed pages that best match their query may appear in search results.

Indexing is a crucial step to ensure the visibility of a website in search engines. Without proper indexing, a website will not be listed and cannot be found by users when they search.

It is important to note that indexing is not guaranteed for all websites. Certain factors such as content quality, technical optimization, inbound links and other relevance criteria can influence how a search engine indexes a website. Therefore, it is essential to have a solid SEO strategy in place to maximize the chances of effective indexing and better online visibility.

How does the Google indexing process work?

Indexing follows a 4-step process orchestrated by Googlebot:

🎯 Discovery of new pages

The discovery of new pages on a website consists of implementing techniques to give visibility to new content and encourage Internet users to consult it. The objective is to give maximum exposure to new content so that it is quickly discovered by visitors already present on the site and also to attract new readers thanks to these quality pages.

This is an important issue for any site that seeks to keep its audience engaged by regularly publishing new products and implementing an effective strategy to introduce them. Googlebot discovers URLs to crawl in different ways:

• Inbound backlinks pointing to site pages
• Declaration in Google Search Console
• Links in already indexed pages
• Sitemap XML

🎯 Website crawling

Crawling refers to the process by which search engines explore and analyze pages of a website to reference them. Crawlers automatically browse and index content. The crawling frequency depends on several factors: popularity of the site, frequent updates or not, time required to crawl all the pages, etc. Important sites are crawled continuously.

Googlebot visits and crawls all pages, analyzing their text content and outgoing links. Tools like Google Search Console allow you to monitor crawling: number of pages indexed, HTTP status of URLs, possible errors, etc. They provide valuable information to detect and resolve problems.

🎯 Page indexing

Optimize the title tag with the main keywords and avoid it being too long. Write an attractive, concise meta description that includes secondary keywords. Reduce page weight, minimize requests, improve the server. Make the site mobile-friendly for a comfortable consultation on mobile.

Link the contents together with relevant text links. Balance links on each page. Build a network of backlinks from trusted partner sites. Aim for diversity of sources and avoid buying links. Monitor your engine positions, traffic, bounce rate. Analyze the competition. Set monthly objectives and KPIs.

After crawling, Googlebot adds the site pages to its enormous index of several hundred billion web pages. Googlebot returns to crawl the site to detect new features, update the index and dereference old pages. Indexing is therefore a permanent process managed automatically by Google robots.

What factors influence the indexing of a website?

Many technical and qualitative elements affect indexing by Googlebot:

🎯 Crawl budget

The crawl budget refers to the number of pages that a search engine like Google can crawl and index on a website during a given period. This budget is limited. Several factors influence the crawling budget allocated to a site: its popularity, the number of updates, the size of the site, the interest of its content for Internet users. Tools like Google Search Console allow you to have an estimate of your site's crawling budget by Google and to see the most crawled pages. To improve your crawling budget and be better indexed, you have to gain popularity, improve its internal structure, offer engaging content that is frequently updated.

Duplicate pages, of low quality or providing little added value are given lower priority in the Google's crawling budget. Googlebot has limited crawling capability. A site that is too slow will only partially indexed.

🎯 robots.txt file

Le robots.txt file is a text file used to tell search engine crawlers which pages they are allowed to crawl on a website. It is located at the root of the website and may contain instructions for different crawlers. The robots.txt file is used to block access to pages that you do not want indexed by search engines. This may include test pages, login pages, shopping cart pages, or other pages that are not intended to be indexed.

The robots.txt file can also be used to limit how often crawlers access your website. This can help reduce the load on your server and avoid bandwidth issues. It is important to note that the robots.txt file does not guarantee that blocked pages will not be indexed by search engines. Crawlers may ignore instructions in the robots.txt file or index pages that are not included in the file.

It is also important to ensure that the robots.txt file is correctly configured. Improper configuration can cause indexing issues, such as important pages being indexed or important pages being excluded.

🎯 Speed ​​and technical quality of the site

A fast site, in HTTPS, without 404 errors will be better indexed. Start by identifying the URLs returning these 404 errors in analytics and tracking tools like Google Search Console. This allows you to see the missing pages.

Redirect when possible. If the URL no longer exists, set up a 301 redirect to a similar page still online when possible. This conserves SEO capital.

Remove dead links. Remove all internal links pointing to 404 URLs. These broken links harm the user experience.

Ne pas leave URL orphaned. Any URL must lead either to an active page or to a redirect. You should not leave a permanent 404 URL unresolved.

Create a custom 404 page. Set up an attractive 404 page explaining to the user that the page cannot be found and offering links to other content.

🎯 Other factors

More a site receives traffic and backlinks, the more quickly and widely it will be indexed. Googlebot prioritizes unique, updated, and keyword-optimized texts. The HTML and CSS must be valid and clean to facilitate the robot's work. Furthermore, make your site responsive. With mobile-first, smartphone indexing has become a priority. Anything that improves user experience also improves Googlebot indexing.

How to precisely monitor the indexing of your web pages?

Several methods exist to monitor the indexing status of your site. First you have Google Search Console This is the reference tool provided by Google to monitor the indexing of each page in detail.

It is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor the indexing of your website. It provides information on indexed pages, crawl errors, search statistics and much more. You can check the indexing status of your individual pages and submit new URLs for crawling. Do searches on Google using the mention “Site:” followed by the link (site:www.monsite.com) that you want to know if it is already indexed on Google.

Although Google Analytics doesn't directly track page indexing, it can give you indirect insights into organic search activity. You can look at organic traffic data to see if your pages are indexed and generating traffic from search engines. Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz or Serpstat to monitor your keyword rankings and how your visibility is changing in search results. If your pages rank well for relevant keywords, this indicates that they are likely indexed.

Perform manual searches on search engines using specific keywords to check if your pages appear in search results. Make sure to use private browsing or a offline browsing window to get non-personalized results. Monitor backlinks (links from other websites to yours) using tools like Majestic, Ahrefs or SEMrush. If your pages are linked from other websites, this indicates that they are probably indexed.

How to speed up the indexing of your site by Google?

Speeding up Google's indexing of your site is essential to ensure that your new pages and updates are quickly reflected in search results. Here are some effective strategies to achieve this.

Submit an XML sitemap

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site, making it easier for crawlers to crawl. Submitting your sitemap through Google Search Console helps Google quickly discover your new and updated pages. Make sure your sitemap is up to date and contains only the URLs you want to index.

In addition to submitting your sitemap, you can ask Google to index specific pages. Use the “URL Inspection” feature to manually submit pages that you’ve just published or updated. This can help speed up their indexing.

Create quality content

Quality content not only attracts visitors, but it also encourages search engines to return to your site more often. Publish original and relevant content regularly, and make sure it meets the needs of your audience. The more active your site is, the more frequently Google bots will visit it.

Optimize internal links

Internal links help establish a clear structure on your site and make it easier for crawlers to navigate. By linking to your new pages from existing content, you increase the chances of them being discovered and indexed quickly. Make sure that each important page is well-linked to other relevant pages on your site.

Promote your content

Promoting your content on social media and other platforms can drive traffic to your site, which attracts the attention of crawlers. Share your articles, videos, or other content on social media, forums, or newsletters to increase their visibility. The more your content is shared, the more likely it is to be indexed quickly.

Improve loading speed

A fast site promotes a better user experience and encourages Google to index it faster. Optimize your images, reduce the size of your files, and use caching techniques to improve loading times. A high-performance site is appreciated not only by users, but also by search engines.

Indexing errors to avoid on your site

Indexing is a crucial process to ensure your website’s visibility on search engines. However, there are several mistakes that can hinder indexing, leading to decreased traffic and poor user experience. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid.

1. Misuse of robots.txt files

The file robots.txt is an essential tool for controlling access to certain parts of your site by crawlers. A common mistake is to inadvertently block important pages, so it's crucial to check this file regularly to make sure it's not blocking content you want to appear in search results from being indexed.

2. Duplicate Content

Duplicate content can seriously affect your search engine rankings. When multiple pages on your site display the same content, search engines can have a hard time determining which one to index. To avoid this, use canonicals to indicate the preferred version of a page and make sure to create unique content for each page on your site.

3. Poorly structured internal links

A well-thought-out internal linking structure is essential for indexing. If your pages aren’t properly linked to each other, crawlers may have a hard time navigating your site. Make sure every important page is accessible via internal links, and avoid creating orphan pages that aren’t linked to any other pages.

4. Pages with high loading time

Page load speed is a key factor for user experience and indexing. Search engines favor sites that load quickly. If your site is slow, it can lead to poor indexing. Optimize images, reduce unnecessary scripts, and consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to improve load times.

5. Ignore meta tags

Meta tags, especially the <meta> tag title and the beacon description, play an important role in indexing. They help search engines understand the content of your pages. Neglecting these tags can lead to poor indexing and lower click-through rates. Make sure every page has a tag title unique and descriptive, as well as a tag description attractive.

Conclusion

Understanding the process of Google indexing websites is essential to improving a site's visibility and online presence. Indexing is the mechanism by which Google crawls, analyzes and stores web pages in its index, so that they can be displayed in relevant search results. By understanding how indexing works, website owners can take steps to optimize their site and maximize their chances of being indexed and ranked appropriately.

This includes practices such as creating unique and high-quality content, using relevant meta tags, avoiding duplicate content, fixing crawl errors, and troubleshooting technical issues. Using tools such as Google Search Console, Google Analytics and keyword tracking tools, it is possible to monitor the indexing of your website, identify potential problems and take necessary steps to improve visibility in search results.

FAQ

Q: What is website indexing at Google?

A: Website indexing at Google is the process by which Google crawls, analyzes and stores web pages in its index, so that they can be displayed in relevant search results.

Q: How do I know if my website is indexed by Google?

A: You can check if your website is indexed by Google by searching “site:yoursite.com” in the Google search bar. This will display the pages on your site that are currently indexed.

Identify potential issues such as technical problems, duplicate content, or low-quality backlinks. Then, take steps to resolve these issues and improve your site’s optimization.