Are You Ignoring What Google is Telling You?
So, once again I am going to address an issue that always prompt a debate - that of indexing.
I have seen that many of you are still having problems with getting your posts indexed.
The first thing to know, is that Google does not index every post.
Of course, it is quite disheartening to know that you have time and effort in creating a post that may not be indexed.
Bearing in mind that literally billions of blog posts are published every day, Google couldn't possibly index them all and can afford to pick and choose the best.
Does your content index by itself or do you have to put it through Google Search Console?
(And even then, it might still not be indexed.)
Here's a harsh truth - your content may not be good enough!
If Google considers right from the outset that your content is unlikely to rank, then why should it bother indexing it?
So, if your content is not indexing, Google is trying to tell you its not good enough!
Here's what John Mueller of Google has to say -
"If Google will not pick up your pages to be indexed without you using the request indexing feature in Google Search Console, then you have bigger site quality issues."
In other words, if your content won't index unless you submit it through Search Console, you are ignoring the main problem, and just sticking a band-aid on it!
Why try and push something into Google's index if the post won't rank well anyway?
Surely you should take a step back and examine what's wrong with it?
Take a look at your competitors on page 1 for the keyword you are targeting.
Why does Google think your content won't beat them?
Thanks for reading!
Recent Comments
42
Hi Diane,
You make a great point. I stopped the practice of submitting my URL’s through GSC about a year ago.
I just publish my posts and go from there. I focus on quality content: When I do that (and if I do a good job), then Google will rank them.
That’s what I focus on: Quality content that’s helpful and answers the search user’s
question. Just like that.
Thanks for sharing :)
Regards,
-Eric
Absolutely true. There is many of people that would rather argue the point instead of fixing the problem. I am a creative writer. I love to write. 📝.The truth is that as well as I write and keep it interesting, there's lot more better then me. I am comfortable with that fact. It doesn't matter how well you are at anything. Somebody out there is better. History has proved that time and time again. I would hate to try to make google index something I had written. If Google liked it you wouldn't have to force it on them. I just wanted to get my say 💭 so in.
Thank you
Barry boyd
A question on this.
If Google doesn't index a page, is it worth the time to tweak it or best to spend time elsewhere? I ask as I wonder if they ever actually come back and look at it again.
About half my pages not indexed, and not to concerned about it as they were written or folks coming to the site and not Google. I doubt I could rank for years as competitive as the keywords are. Yet would still be good to know if it's worth tinkering with pages/posts not indexing.
I've never requested indexing (didn't know that was a thing) through the console and not sure I will.
Any insight you could give would be appreciated.,
Jason
Hi - yes, Google will revisit your site and look for new or updated content.
And ideally, you should have internal links criss crossing the site, taking Google from posts that are already indexed, to those that aren't.
Thank you, I have been adding internal links, although I haven't spent time understanding at what point one might be going overboard with them. Is there such a point where it's to much, and if so would creating a banner describing the linked page be ok if one uses a no follow tag?
Once I begin the actual blogging I plan to use those posts as funnels into the pages and am concerned on doing it in a way that doesn't penalize me.
I don't believe there is a limit to how many internal links you can have in a post.
And as for how many internal links lead to one particular post, then definitely as many as you like.
It can signify to Google that it is an important page, a "pillar" post that deserves attention.
Thank you for clarifying. I was concerned as it is a large part of my structuring plan.
Regards,
Jason
Hi Diane, It's funny that your post should pop up now. I had a two month break from working my website due to my dad not being well and then he passed away. I just had too many other concerns to think about during that time. I've come back to it and i'm writing new content each week and trying to get my google score looking better, I'm still working through the training and not yet at the point of Adsense i tried but its a bit too soon at the minute and i need to improve my Google ranking. At the same time i also received two emails to say my most recent articles had been indexed. I thought to myself that there is a definite improvement in my content than when i first started out so i must go back through and get my older articles up to scratch. I changed my theme and my website looks more professional. Amended my About Me and updated meta tags. Tonight i'm going to start going through my other content. I recognised there was a problem so i want to put it right. I'm going to take your advice thank you :)
Hi Diane
Sometimes we don't want to hear the hard truth that our posts might not be good enough. But we have to accept that possibility and then learn to rewrite them.
We need to learn to understand the reasons our posts are not ranking rather than get upset that they are not.
Google doesn't play favorites with blog posts it just wants quality no matter who it is from.
Thanks for this great post.
Kevin
Hi Diane, you`re absolutely right, google does not index all of our posts, that`s why we`re told to keep posting. I don`t go to GSC to request indexing, if my post is of good quality and benefits the reader, it will get indexed. Have a wonderful weekend.
Yes, the same for me. I was indexed, but when I used GSC at that time, I had no intention of it can be used to index your pages; I used it to check clicks and meanings regarding my website. I heard about it from Jaymiller class, build website, GSC, Google Analytics
I was told once: ''You can only index your site on Google through the google console account. You will have to re-add the website in your account and submit the sitemap."
I copied and pasted the message as I received it.
The first time I knew, " Does your content index by itself or do you have to put it through Google Search Console?"
hhhh I'm learning. Thank you, Diane, for the Useful post. Keep up the excellent work.
I'm learning new things every day. When I started, I didn't know that I had to take the keyword to google to see the type of website ranking on the first page.
Thank you all
I always wonder after so much effort why my content is still not indexed, maybe that's the reason it's somehow lost in the sea. Or not up to the mark according to their standard. But Google created the standard and they are always right that's the harsh reality, because somehow after lots of research and personal work if you put in an article and then find it's not unique it's hard to understand. You always gather knowledge about something from somewhere it's quite hard to come up always unique content (at least for me).
Maybe I'm wrong!
Thanks, Diane,
When I write a blog post I always request indexing in Google Search Console straight away after publishing it and when I am happy with it
So should I be not doing this?
Thanks
Mairead
To be honest, I suspect most people do this, and it won't do any harm.
But it can be an interesting experiment occasionally not to do this and see what happens!
If it indexes naturally, then it's a welcome vindication from Google that your content is good.
Thanks again
I will definitely leave one or two of my next posts to see will they index naturally
See more comments
I do ignore what Google tells me when it comes to website problems. I have discovered that Google glitches.
It tells me there is a problem or problems. I go directly to Google console and press validate fix without doing anything.
Eventually, google tells me that the problem is fixed. Sometimes its a couple of days sometimes a week or two but the problem has always disappeared.