Nayan Dhumal
If your blog does not show up on Google, the cause is usually one of a few things: the site is new, Google has not crawled your pages yet, something is blocking it, or Google crawled your pages and chose not to index them. This guide walks through each cause, how to check it in Search Console, and what to do about it.
I went through this with this very blog. For weeks, searching on Google showed my home page and almost nothing else. When I opened the Page indexing report in Search Console, only a small number of pages were indexed and many more were listed as not indexed.
The reasons turned out to be ordinary ones, and most of them had simple fixes. Here is the checklist I now use, in the order I would check things.
Key takeaways
- New sites can take weeks to appear. Google says so itself.
- Use the Page indexing report in Search Console to see why each page is not indexed.
- “Discovered, currently not indexed” usually needs time, links and a sitemap.
- “Crawled, currently not indexed” means Google saw the page but did not think it was worth indexing yet.
- Old URLs that now show errors should be redirected to the closest matching page.
- Check that nothing on your site blocks Google, such as a noindex setting.
First, check whether your page really is missing
Search Google for site:yourdomain.com to see a sample of indexed pages. Google warns that the site: search “doesn’t necessarily return all the URLs that are indexed”, so treat it as a rough check.
For an exact answer, use URL Inspection in Search Console. Paste the full URL of your post into the search bar at the top. It tells you whether the page is on Google and, if not, why.
If you have not set up Search Console, start with my Search Console guide for beginners.
Cause 1: Your site is new
Google’s guide to getting a site on Google says, “It can take a few weeks for Google to notice a new site, or any changes in your existing site.”
If your blog is only a few weeks old, being missing is normal. That does not mean doing nothing. Submit your sitemap, link your posts to each other and share them where your readers are, so Google has more ways to find them.
Cause 2: No other sites link to you
Google finds most new pages by following links. Its guide notes that a site with no links from other sites may not be found by crawlers for a long time.
- Link to your blog from your other websites and social profiles.
- Write posts that are worth referencing, such as clear guides and comparisons.
- Do not buy links. Google specifically warns against paying for them.
Cause 3: Something is blocking Google
This is rare but serious, so rule it out early.
- In WordPress, go to Settings, then Reading. Make sure “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is not ticked.
- In your SEO plugin, open the post and check that it is not set to noindex.
- Open the page in a private browser window. If it asks for a login, Google cannot see it either.
- Use the URL Inspection live test to confirm Google can fetch the page.
Cause 4: Discovered, currently not indexed
In the Page indexing report, this status means Google knows the URL exists but has not crawled it yet. On a new site with many new posts, this list can be long.
What helps:
- Submit your sitemap in Search Console. My guide on how to submit your sitemap to Google shows how.
- Link to the post from related posts and from your home page or category pages.
- Request indexing for your most important posts with URL Inspection. There is a daily limit, so prioritise.
- Keep publishing at a steady pace instead of in occasional huge batches.
Cause 5: Crawled, currently not indexed
This status means Google visited the page but decided not to index it, at least for now. On my blog, this was the biggest list, and the reason surprised me.
When I exported the list, most of the URLs were old posts that I had deleted months earlier. The new posts on the same topics had different URLs, and nothing connected the old addresses to the new ones. Google kept finding old URLs that no longer worked.
The fix was to add 301 redirects from each old URL to the closest matching new post, using the Redirections feature in Rank Math. Where there was no matching new post, I let the old URL return an error rather than redirecting it to an unrelated page.
For the remaining pages in this list, the usual causes are:
- Thin content: the page does not add much beyond what is already available.
- Near-duplicates: two of your posts cover almost the same thing.
- Weak internal linking: the page is hard to reach from the rest of your site.
- Site is new: Google is still deciding how much to trust it.
Improve the page where it is genuinely weak, link to it from related posts, and give it time.
Pro tip
Click any reason in the Page indexing report, then use the Export button at the top. You get the full list of affected URLs. Sorting that list often reveals a pattern, like old deleted posts or tag pages, that is easy to fix in one go.
Cause 6: Your post answers the wrong question
Sometimes a page is indexed but never appears for the searches you hoped for. Search your target phrase and look at what ranks. If the results are all a different type of page, such as product pages when you wrote a guide, your page does not match what searchers want.
My guide to keyword research explains how to check search intent before you write. For choosing the main phrase of each post, see what a focus keyword is.
After you fix things
In the Page indexing report, open the reason you have fixed and click Validate fix. Google then re-checks the affected pages over the following days and updates the status.
Be patient. Indexing changes on a new site are measured in weeks, not hours. Check the report every week or two and look for the “Indexed” number slowly going up.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a new blog to show up on Google?
Google says it can take a few weeks to notice a new site. Individual pages may take longer, especially without links from other sites.
Why is only my home page showing on Google?
On a new site, Google often indexes the home page first. Your posts may be discovered but not yet crawled or indexed. Check the Page indexing report for the reason.
What does “Crawled, currently not indexed” mean?
Google visited the page but decided not to index it for now. Check for thin or duplicate content, old URLs that no longer work, and weak internal links.
Will requesting indexing make my page appear?
It can speed things up, but Google says a request does not guarantee indexing. There is also a daily limit on requests.
Should I delete pages that are not indexed?
Not automatically. Improve useful pages, merge near-duplicates and redirect old URLs to their best replacement. Only remove pages that serve no purpose.