1. To Run a Live URL Inspection:

First, type the complete URL in the search bar of the Search Console. Then, click on the “TEST LIVE URL” box (currently in the upper right corner).

This will fetch the URL in real time, so the information shown may be different if this URL had previously been indexed, as you may have made changes since the time of indexing.

The purpose of the test is to confirm that Googlebot can access the URL for indexing, and to discover possible indexing errors. So, for re-indexing, you can test changes on a URL against it’s currently indexed version.

If the URL hasn’t been indexed yet, that’s fine. The Live Test will either tell you the URL can be indexed, or that there is an error or warning.

2. To Inspect any URL (page/post):

Simply type the complete URL in the search bar of the Search Console.

NOTE: There is a daily limit of inspection requests per property (website)!

Possible Responses:

• URL is on Google – that URL (page/post) IS indexed, and may appear in Google Search results. Great! (to check this, simply open a new Google browser and search for your URL)

• URL is on Google, but has issues - that URL IS indexed, but you will need to fix the issue(s) before it will appear as you intended. Read the provided error message, or warning, and fix using the suggested steps.

• URL is not on Google – that URL is NOT indexed, and Google assumes it is not meant to be due to the page content. Google thinks this may be a password-protected page, a noindex page, or an alternate version of a canonical page.

• URL is not on Google: Indexing errors – read the provided message to learn why. Fix the error(s) with the help of the provided instructions. After you have fixed the errors, click the link “REQUEST INDEXING.” After a minute, you should receive a message confirming the index request.

• URL is an alt version – Google has determined that this URL is one version of a pair, or set, of the same page. If this is the response, view the Index Coverage to see the listed Google-selected canonical URL.

* It is important NOT to duplicate content on your pages. Ensure that you are writing UNIQUE content for each post! If this happens, you may choose which version you want to be the canonical (authoritative) URL, but ultimately Google decides! So you may want to edit your post to change any duplicate content.




As you can see from my screenshot, I entered one of my pages that I knew was not indexed yet. The response was "URL is not on Google."


In the message box, to the right, there is a link "REQUEST INDEXING."




On the next page, we'll see what happens when I click on the link to request indexing...