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·SEO Analytics Team·27 min read

How to Read the GSC Index Coverage Report: A Complete Guide to Fixing Indexing Issues

How to Read the GSC Index Coverage Report: A Complete Guide to Fixing Indexing Issues

How to Read the GSC Index Coverage Report: A Complete Guide to Fixing Indexing Issues

Meta Title: How to Read GSC Index Coverage Report (Fix Indexing Issues 2026)

Meta Description: Master the Google Search Console Index Coverage Report. Learn the four status categories, prioritize indexing issues, and ensure Google can find and index your content properly.

Introduction

Brilliant content that Google can't index doesn't exist in search results.

The Index Coverage Report, part of our complete GSC guide, answers: Which pages can Google index, and why can't it index the others? Complete GSC setup first.

Why this report matters:

Most site owners check this only after problems arise—losing weeks of potential traffic. Learn to read the Index Coverage Report, understand each status, prioritize fixes, and validate improvements.

Understanding the Index Coverage Report Dashboard

Located under Indexing → Pages in Google Search Console (rebranded from "Coverage" in 2021).

[Visual Placeholder: Screenshot of Index Coverage dashboard overview with labels]

What You See

Status Chart:

  • Stacked area chart showing indexing status over 90 days
  • Color-coded by category
  • Shows trends: more pages indexed or excluded?

Summary Numbers:

  • Total pages in each status
  • Quick indexing health snapshot

How to Use This Dashboard

Look for trends:

  • "Error" count increasing? (Red flag)
  • "Valid" count growing? (Good if publishing content)
  • "Excluded" pages increasing? (May be good or bad)

Quick health check:

  • Mature site: Errors under 5% of total pages
  • Growing site: Valid pages increase with content
  • Any site: Sudden error spikes need investigation

The Four Status Categories Explained

[Visual Placeholder: Screenshot showing each status category with example counts]

1. Valid: Successfully Indexed (Green)

Google indexed these pages. Eligible for search results.

Status details:

  • "Submitted and indexed" - Submitted via sitemap, indexed (ideal)
  • "Indexed, not submitted in sitemap" - Google found and indexed independently (fine, consider adding to sitemap)

What to do: Nothing. Working correctly.

Note: "Indexed" ≠ "ranking well." Google knows the page, considers it eligible. Ranking is separate.

2. Valid with Warnings: Indexed But With Issues (Orange)

Google indexed these pages with issues that might affect performance.

Common warnings:

  • "Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt" - Contradictory signals (confusing)
  • "Page indexed without content" - URL indexed, content inaccessible

What to do: Review. Most won't hurt drastically, but worth fixing. Priority: Medium.

Example: Disallow: /admin/ in robots.txt, but admin pages in sitemap. Google indexes, warns. Fix: Remove admin from sitemap.

3. Error: Not Indexed Due to Problems (Red)

Google tried to index, encountered errors. Cannot appear in search results.

Common errors:

  • Server error (5xx)
  • Redirect error
  • 404 (not found)
  • Soft 404
  • Blocked by robots.txt
  • Unauthorized (401)

What to do:

  • Priority fixes
  • Each error has different solution
  • Start with errors affecting most URLs
  • Validate fixes

Impact: Direct lost traffic.

4. Excluded: Not Indexed (Gray)

Google discovered but chose not to index. May be good or bad.

Common reasons:

  • "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" - Good if intentional, bad if accidental
  • "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical" - Duplicate, indexing different version
  • "Crawled - currently not indexed" - Quality/value concerns
  • "Discovered - currently not crawled" - Found URL, hasn't crawled yet
  • "Blocked by robots.txt" - Good if intentional, bad if accidental
  • "Page with redirect" - Good (redirects shouldn't be indexed)
  • "Duplicate without canonical" - Detected duplicate content
  • "Alternate page with proper canonical" - Good (canonical working)

What to do: Review each. Ask: "Should this be indexed?" If yes, fix. If no, working as intended.

[Visual Placeholder: Table showing exclusion reasons categorized as "Good," "Bad," or "Investigate"]

Common Indexing Issues: Detailed Explanations

Let's dive into the specific issues you'll encounter and what they mean.

Server Error (5xx)

What it is: Your server returned a 500-series error code when Google tried to crawl the page.

What causes it:

  • Server overload or downtime
  • Hosting issues
  • Plugin conflicts (common in WordPress)
  • Database connection problems
  • Broken server configuration

How to fix it:

  1. Check your server logs for the specific error
  2. Test the URL yourself: Does it load?
  3. If it's intermittent, check server capacity (might need better hosting)
  4. If it's specific pages, look for broken code or plugins
  5. Contact your hosting provider if server-side issue

Priority: Critical - These pages are completely inaccessible to Google

Validation: Once fixed, request validation in GSC. Google will re-crawl and confirm the error is resolved.

404 Error (Not Found)

What it is: The page doesn't exist, or the URL is wrong.

What causes it:

  • Page was deleted
  • URL structure changed without redirects
  • Broken internal links
  • Typo in sitemap
  • External sites linking to wrong URL

How to fix it:

  1. If the page should exist: Find why it's returning 404 (broken URL, deleted file, server issue)
  2. If the page was deleted intentionally: Set up a 301 redirect to a relevant page
  3. If it was never meant to exist: Remove from sitemap, let Google clear it naturally (or use Remove URL tool for faster removal)

Priority: High for pages that should exist, Low for legitimately deleted pages

Pro tip: Don't obsess over every 404. Old external links from years ago might point to deleted pages. That's normal. Focus on 404s from your own sitemap or important internal links.

Soft 404

What it is: The page returns a 200 status code (success) but displays "not found" or has minimal content, so Google treats it as a 404.

What causes it:

  • "Page not found" template that returns 200 instead of 404
  • Extremely thin content (one sentence, no value)
  • Redirect that doesn't properly set status code
  • Overly templated pages with no unique content

How to fix it:

  1. If it's a real "not found" page: Update your server configuration to return proper 404 status
  2. If it's thin content: Add substantial, valuable content or delete the page
  3. If it's broken redirect: Fix the redirect to use proper 301 status

Priority: High - These are indexing problems Google is actively warning you about

Why it matters: Soft 404s confuse Google and waste crawl budget. Google doesn't know if the page is real or not.

Redirect Error

What it is: The redirect chain is broken or creates a loop.

What causes it:

  • Redirect chain too long (A→B→C→D→E)
  • Redirect loop (A→B→A)
  • Redirect to an error page
  • Mixed redirect types (302 then 301)

How to fix it:

  1. Trace the redirect chain: Use a redirect checker tool or browser developer tools
  2. Simplify to single redirect (A→E directly)
  3. Ensure all redirects are 301 (permanent) unless you have reason for 302
  4. Break any loops

Priority: High - These prevent indexing entirely

Best practice: Never have more than 1 redirect in a chain. Update all internal links to point directly to the final destination.

Blocked by robots.txt

What it is: Your robots.txt file tells Google not to crawl these pages.

What causes it:

  • Intentional block (admin areas, private sections)
  • Accidental block (overly broad disallow rules)
  • Plugin/platform defaults (some CMS platforms block important folders by default)

How to fix it:

  1. Review your robots.txt file (yoursite.com/robots.txt)
  2. Check if the block is intentional
  3. If accidental, update robots.txt to allow crawling
  4. Test using GSC's robots.txt tester tool

Priority: Critical if accidentally blocking important pages, Low if intentionally blocking admin areas

Important nuance: Blocking with robots.txt prevents crawling but not necessarily indexing. Google might still index the URL (without content) if it finds links to it. If you want to prevent indexing, use noindex meta tag instead.

[Visual Placeholder: Example robots.txt file with annotations showing common blocking patterns]

Crawled - Currently Not Indexed

What it is: Google crawled the page, understood its content, but chose not to index it.

What causes it: This is Google's quality filter. Reasons include:

  • Thin content (low word count, low value)
  • Duplicate or similar content to other pages
  • Low quality by Google's standards
  • Page has no incoming links (internal or external)
  • Page is deep in site architecture (many clicks from homepage)
  • Site has crawl budget limitations

How to fix it: This is the most controversial status because the fix isn't always clear.

Options:

  1. Improve content quality: Add more depth, uniqueness, value
  2. Add internal links: Link to the page from relevant, important pages
  3. Consolidate: If it's truly thin, combine with related pages
  4. Accept it: If the page is low-priority, it might not matter
  5. Force the issue: Request indexing via URL Inspection tool (doesn't always work)

Priority: Medium - Evaluate on a case-by-case basis

Controversial opinion: Not every page needs to be indexed. If you have 1,000 products and Google only indexes 800, that might be fine if the unindexed ones are low-priority, out-of-stock, or similar to indexed products. Don't obsess over 100% indexation.

Discovered - Currently Not Crawled

What it is: Google found the URL (via sitemap or link) but hasn't crawled it yet.

What causes it:

  • New page (Google hasn't gotten to it yet)
  • Low-priority page (deep in site structure)
  • Crawl budget limitations
  • Too many URLs discovered at once

How to fix it:

  1. Wait: If it's a new page, give Google time (days to weeks)
  2. Request indexing: Use URL Inspection tool to request crawling
  3. Improve internal linking: Link to the page from high-authority pages on your site
  4. Check crawl budget: If you have thousands of pages, Google might be rate-limited

Priority: Low to Medium - This often resolves itself with time

When to worry: If pages remain in this status for weeks or months, it might indicate crawl budget issues or low site authority.

Duplicate Content Issues

What it is: Google found multiple pages with the same or very similar content.

Specific statuses:

  • "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user"
  • "Duplicate without user-selected canonical"
  • "Alternate page with proper canonical tag"

What causes it:

  • E-commerce: Product pages with only color/size differences
  • URL parameters (example.com/page vs example.com/page?ref=123)
  • HTTP vs HTTPS versions
  • WWW vs non-WWW versions
  • Printer-friendly versions
  • Multiple pages about the same topic

How to fix it:

  1. Set canonical tags: Tell Google which version is the "main" one
  2. Use 301 redirects: Permanently redirect duplicates to the main version
  3. Use noindex: Prevent duplicate pages from being indexed
  4. Consolidate content: Combine similar pages into one comprehensive page
  5. Use URL parameters tool: In GSC, tell Google which parameters to ignore

Priority: Medium - Duplicates waste crawl budget and dilute ranking signals

Important: The "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" exclusion is good. It means your canonical tags are working correctly.

[Visual Placeholder: Diagram showing canonical tag setup for duplicate product pages]

Prioritizing Index Issues: Which to Fix First

You might have hundreds or thousands of URLs with issues. Here's how to prioritize.

Priority Matrix

[Visual Placeholder: Table showing issue severity vs frequency matrix]

Issue TypeSeverityFrequency ImpactPriority
Server error (5xx)CriticalFix all1
Blocked by robots.txt (accidental)CriticalFix all1
404 on important pagesHighFix all2
Soft 404HighFix all2
Redirect errorsHighFix all2
Crawled - not indexed (key pages)MediumEvaluate & fix3
Duplicate (no canonical)MediumFix most common3
Discovered - not crawledLowMonitor, fix if persistent4
404 on old/deleted pagesLowLeave or redirect if possible5
Excluded by noindex (intentional)NoneLeave as-isN/A

The 80/20 Rule for Index Issues

Focus on:

  1. Errors affecting the most URLs: If "Server error" affects 200 pages, start there
  2. Errors on your most important pages: Homepage, top product pages, key blog posts
  3. Errors causing lost traffic: Check which error pages previously had traffic in Performance Report

Don't focus on:

  1. Excluded pages that should be excluded (admin, filters, tags)
  2. Old 404s from years-old deleted pages
  3. "Discovered - not crawled" if the pages are low priority

When "Excluded" Is Actually Good

These exclusion reasons are typically fine (even good):

  • "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" - If intentional (login pages, admin, thank-you pages, duplicate content)
  • "Blocked by robots.txt" - If intentional (admin, search results, filters)
  • "Page with redirect" - Redirects shouldn't be indexed (that's the point)
  • "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" - Your canonical tags are working correctly
  • "Duplicate, submitted URL not selected as canonical" - If Google chose the right canonical

These exclusion reasons need investigation:

  • "Crawled - currently not indexed" on important pages - Google doesn't think the page is valuable enough
  • "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user" - Google disagreed with your canonical choice (investigate why)
  • "Excluded by 'noindex' tag" on pages that should be indexed - Accidental noindex

How to evaluate: Ask yourself: "Do I want this page to appear in search results?"

  • Yes? Fix the exclusion
  • No? Leave it excluded (it's working correctly)

Understanding "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed" (The Controversial Status)

This is the most debated status in SEO communities. Here's what we know:

What it typically means: Google visited your page, analyzed the content, and decided it's not worth indexing (yet or ever).

Common reasons:

  • Content is too thin (few words, low depth)
  • Content is too similar to other pages (internal duplicate)
  • Page has very few links pointing to it (low internal link equity)
  • Site has indexation budget constraints (large sites)
  • Page was recently created (Google may index it later)

What to do:

For important pages:

  1. Improve content quality and depth significantly
  2. Add strong internal links from high-authority pages
  3. Request indexing via URL Inspection tool
  4. Monitor for 2-4 weeks to see if Google reconsiders

For unimportant pages:

  1. Consider if the page is truly necessary
  2. Consolidate with related content
  3. Or accept that not every page needs to be indexed

John Mueller (Google) has said: Not every page needs to be indexed. If you have thin content or many similar pages, Google will pick the best representatives to index.

Controversial take: If you're obsessing over getting every page indexed, you might be creating too many low-value pages. Quality > quantity.

Mobile vs Desktop Index Discrepancies

Since 2019, Google uses mobile-first indexing for most sites. This means:

  • Google primarily uses the mobile version of your content for indexing and ranking
  • Mobile and desktop index status should be the same

However, you might see differences:

Common Mobile vs Desktop Discrepancies

Issue #1: Mobile Usability Problems

  • Page loads too slowly on mobile → Not indexed on mobile
  • Content different on mobile vs desktop → Indexed differently
  • Mobile version has noindex tag but desktop doesn't → Not indexed on mobile

Issue #2: Blocked Resources on Mobile

  • CSS/JS blocked by robots.txt on mobile
  • Images not loading on mobile
  • Lazy loading issues preventing content access

Issue #3: Hidden Content on Mobile

  • Content collapsed or hidden behind tabs on mobile
  • Google can't always access hidden mobile content
  • May result in different indexing decisions

How to check for discrepancies:

  1. In Index Coverage Report, check if mobile/desktop show different numbers
  2. Use URL Inspection tool and check both mobile and desktop versions
  3. Test your pages on actual mobile devices
  4. Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool

How to fix:

  1. Ensure content parity (mobile and desktop should have same content)
  2. Don't hide important content on mobile (use responsive design, not separate mobile site)
  3. Test mobile page speed and usability
  4. Ensure all resources (CSS, JS, images) are accessible to Googlebot mobile

[Visual Placeholder: Side-by-side comparison showing mobile vs desktop indexing status]

The Validation Process: Confirming Your Fixes

Once you fix indexing issues, you need to tell Google and confirm the fixes worked.

[Visual Placeholder: Screenshot showing validation workflow in GSC]

How Validation Works

Step 1: Fix the issue

  • Resolve the technical problem (update robots.txt, fix server error, add canonical, etc.)
  • Test the fix yourself (check that the page loads, robots.txt is correct, etc.)

Step 2: Request validation

  • In Index Coverage Report, click on the issue type
  • Click "Validate fix" button
  • Google adds these URLs to a validation queue

Step 3: Google re-crawls

  • Google re-crawls the affected URLs (this happens gradually)
  • Google checks if the issue is resolved
  • This can take days to weeks (not instant)

Step 4: Track validation progress

  • GSC shows validation status: "Started," "Passed," "Failed"
  • You'll see how many URLs passed validation

Step 5: Monitor results

  • If validation passes: URLs move to appropriate status (usually "Valid")
  • If validation fails: Issue still exists, need to investigate further

Validation Statuses Explained

  • "Not started" - You haven't requested validation yet
  • "Started" - Google is in the process of re-crawling and checking
  • "Passed" - The issue is fixed! URLs now properly indexed (or properly excluded)
  • "Failed" - Issue still exists after re-crawl
  • "Other" - Issue changed to a different issue (e.g., from server error to 404)

How Long Validation Takes

Typical timelines:

  • Small batch (10-50 URLs): 3-7 days
  • Medium batch (100-500 URLs): 1-2 weeks
  • Large batch (1,000+ URLs): 2-4 weeks

Factors affecting speed:

  • Your site's crawl budget (higher authority sites = faster re-crawling)
  • Severity of issue (critical errors might be re-crawled faster)
  • Number of URLs affected

What you can do to speed it up:

  1. Request indexing for individual high-priority URLs via URL Inspection tool (limited quota)
  2. Update your sitemap to trigger re-crawling
  3. Add internal links to affected pages
  4. Be patient (you can't force Google to crawl faster)

What to Do If Validation Fails

Common reasons for validation failure:

  1. The fix wasn't complete

    • Check the URL yourself: Does the issue still exist?
    • Test with URL Inspection tool (use "Test live URL")

  2. Server still returning errors intermittently

    • Server might be unstable (Google hit it during a downtime)
    • Check server uptime and capacity

  3. Robots.txt or meta tags still blocking

    • Double-check your robots.txt file
    • Check for noindex meta tags

  4. Caching issues

    • Your server might be serving cached error pages
    • Clear your server cache, CDN cache, and browser cache

  5. Different issue appeared

    • Check the validation details: Did the status change to a different error?
    • Fix the new issue and request validation again

If validation fails repeatedly:

  • Use URL Inspection tool to test the live URL
  • Compare what Google sees vs what you see in a browser
  • Check mobile rendering (mobile-first indexing)
  • Post in Google Search Central community for help with specific cases

[Visual Placeholder: Flowchart showing validation decision tree - "Validation failed" → "Check live URL" → branches for different scenarios]

Step-by-Step: Using the Index Coverage Report

Here's a practical workflow for using the report.

Weekly Monitoring Routine

Step 1: Check for new errors (2 minutes)

  1. Open Index Coverage Report
  2. Look at the graph: Any spikes in errors?
  3. Check "Error" section: Any new error types?
  4. If yes, investigate immediately

Step 2: Review excluded pages (5 minutes)

  1. Click "Excluded" section
  2. Sort by "Number of pages" (descending)
  3. Review the top exclusion reasons
  4. Ask: "Should these pages be indexed?"
  5. Note any unexpected exclusions for investigation

Step 3: Track valid pages (2 minutes)

  1. Check "Valid" count
  2. Compare to last week: Growing, stable, or declining?
  3. If declining, investigate why pages are being de-indexed

Total time: ~10 minutes per week

Monthly Deep Dive

Step 1: Audit all error types (20 minutes)

  1. Click into each error type
  2. Export the affected URLs
  3. Categorize by importance (high-priority vs low-priority)
  4. Create a fix plan with priorities

Step 2: Investigate "Crawled - currently not indexed" (30 minutes)

  1. Export URLs in this status
  2. Sample 10-20 pages to review
  3. Evaluate content quality
  4. Decide: improve, consolidate, or accept

Step 3: Review validation progress (10 minutes)

  1. Check status of any pending validations
  2. Note what passed and what failed
  3. Plan next steps for failed validations

Total time: ~1 hour per month

After Making Site Changes

When you should check immediately:

  • After launching new content
  • After site migration or redesign
  • After changing robots.txt
  • After updating canonical tags
  • After fixing reported errors

What to check:

  1. URL Inspection for specific changed URLs (test live URL)
  2. Index Coverage for overall impact (wait a few days for data to appear)
  3. Request validation for fixed issues

[Visual Placeholder: Checklist graphic showing weekly, monthly, and post-change monitoring tasks]

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Panicking Over Excluded Pages

The mistake: Seeing 1,000 "Excluded" pages and thinking your site is broken.

Why it's wrong: Many exclusions are intentional and good. Not every URL should be indexed.

What to do instead: Review exclusion reasons. Focus only on pages that should be indexed but aren't.

Mistake #2: Requesting Indexing for Every Page

The mistake: Using URL Inspection tool to manually request indexing for hundreds of pages.

Why it's wrong:

  • You have a limited quota (exact limit unknown, but probably ~10-50 per day)
  • Google will naturally discover and index pages via sitemap and crawling
  • Wasting quota on low-priority pages

What to do instead:

  • Use URL Inspection for high-priority pages only (homepage, key product pages, new important content)
  • Let your sitemap do the heavy lifting
  • Focus on fixing systemic issues, not individual URLs

Mistake #3: Ignoring the Root Cause

The mistake: Manually fixing individual URLs without addressing why the issue exists.

Example: Adding 301 redirects for 50 individual 404 pages, when the real problem is a broken internal linking pattern.

What to do instead:

  • Ask: "Why are these 50 pages returning 404?"
  • Fix the source: broken link pattern, bad sitemap, CMS configuration
  • Then fix remaining individual cases

Mistake #4: Expecting Instant Results

The mistake: Fixing an issue and checking GSC 1 hour later, wondering why it's not resolved.

Why it's wrong:

  • GSC data lags 1-2 days
  • Google re-crawling takes days to weeks
  • Validation is a gradual process

What to do instead:

  • After fixing, wait at least 3-7 days before checking results
  • Request validation and be patient
  • Track progress weekly, not daily

Mistake #5: Over-Optimizing for 100% Indexation

The mistake: Obsessing over getting every single page indexed.

Why it's wrong:

  • Not every page adds value to your site
  • Google has quality filters for good reason
  • Some pages (filters, tags, search results) shouldn't be indexed

What to do instead:

  • Focus on indexing your important pages (90/10 rule)
  • Accept that some low-value pages might not be indexed
  • Quality > quantity

Mistake #6: Not Testing Your Fixes

The mistake: Making changes to robots.txt or canonicals without testing.

What to do instead:

  • Test robots.txt changes using GSC's robots.txt tester
  • View page source to confirm canonical tags are correct
  • Use URL Inspection tool to test the live URL before requesting validation
  • Test on both mobile and desktop

Mistake #7: Conflicting Signals

The mistake: Blocking a page with robots.txt but including it in your sitemap. Or using noindex but also canonical tags.

Why it's wrong: Sends contradictory signals to Google, causing confusion and warnings.

What to do instead:

  • Pages in sitemap should be crawlable (not blocked by robots.txt)
  • If using noindex, don't need canonical tags
  • If using canonical, don't use noindex
  • Keep signals consistent

[Visual Placeholder: Infographic showing 7 common mistakes with icons]

Advanced Topics

Handling Large Sites (10,000+ Pages)

Special challenges:

  • Crawl budget becomes a limiting factor
  • Google might not crawl/index all pages
  • Index Coverage report might be overwhelming

Strategies:

  1. Prioritize your most important pages:

    • Ensure critical pages (top landing pages, products, key content) are easy to crawl
    • Internal link structure should emphasize priority pages

  2. Use crawl budget wisely:

    • Block unimportant sections with robots.txt (admin, filters, search results)
    • Fix excessive redirects and errors (waste crawl budget)
    • Implement pagination correctly (use rel=next/prev or canonical)

  3. Segment your analysis:

    • Use GSC filters to focus on specific sections (e.g., /blog/, /products/)
    • Prioritize fixes for your most valuable sections
    • Accept that some low-priority pages might not be indexed

International and Multi-Language Sites

Special considerations:

  • Each language/country version may have different indexation status
  • Use hreflang tags to specify language/region targeting
  • Check Index Coverage for each property (different countries/languages)

Common issues:

  • Duplicate content across language versions (use hreflang)
  • Google indexing wrong language version
  • Geotargeting conflicts

Best practices:

  • Set up separate GSC properties for each country/language version
  • Use hreflang correctly
  • Ensure each version has unique, valuable content (not just machine translation)

JavaScript-Heavy Sites (SPAs)

Special challenges:

  • Google must render JavaScript to see content
  • Rendering is slower and more resource-intensive than crawling HTML
  • May result in indexation delays

Common issues:

  • Content not accessible until JavaScript runs
  • Links not discoverable in HTML (only generated by JavaScript)
  • Lazy-loading preventing content access

Best practices:

  • Test your pages with URL Inspection tool (check rendered HTML)
  • Implement server-side rendering (SSR) or static generation if possible
  • Ensure critical content is in the initial HTML (not just JavaScript)
  • Test mobile rendering (mobile devices have less processing power)

Key Takeaways

  1. Index Coverage Report shows which pages Google can and can't index - This directly impacts your potential search visibility

  2. Four status categories: Valid (good), Valid with warnings (monitor), Error (fix), Excluded (evaluate)

  3. Not all excluded pages are problems - Many exclusions are intentional and correct

  4. Prioritize fixes based on impact: Fix errors on important pages first, then address systematic issues

  5. Validation takes time - Days to weeks, not hours. Be patient.

  6. "Crawled - currently not indexed" is Google's quality filter - Improve content quality or accept that not every page needs indexing

  7. Mobile-first indexing is default - Ensure mobile and desktop versions have content parity

  8. Check the report weekly - Catch new errors early before they become big problems

  9. Fix root causes, not just symptoms - Address systemic issues (broken link patterns, server problems, configuration errors)

  10. Test your fixes before requesting validation - Use URL Inspection tool to confirm issues are resolved

Conclusion and Next Steps

The Index Coverage Report is your diagnostic tool for ensuring Google can find, crawl, and index your content. Unlike the Performance Report (which shows what's already working), the Index Coverage Report reveals what's not working—and gives you the power to fix it.

What you've learned:

  • How to interpret the four index status categories
  • Common indexing issues and their fixes
  • How to prioritize which issues to address first
  • When exclusions are good vs bad
  • The validation process and timelines
  • How to avoid common mistakes

Your action plan:

  1. Right now (10 minutes):

    • Open your Index Coverage Report in Google Search Console
    • Check the summary: How many errors do you have?
    • Click into the "Error" section and identify the top issue type

  2. This week (1 hour):

    • Export URLs for your top error type
    • Investigate the root cause (not just individual URLs)
    • Create a fix plan with priorities
    • Fix the highest-priority issues
    • Request validation

  3. Ongoing (weekly monitoring):

    • Check for new errors (spikes in the graph)
    • Monitor validation progress
    • Review excluded pages for unexpected exclusions

  4. Go deeper:

Remember: Your goal isn't 100% indexation—it's making sure every page that should be indexed, is indexed. Focus on quality, fix errors, and let Google's quality filters work for you by naturally excluding low-value pages.

Ready to dive deeper? Check out the Complete Guide to Google Search Console for comprehensive GSC mastery.

FAQ

Q: How often does the Index Coverage Report update? A: Data is typically 1-2 days delayed. The report updates continuously, but you won't see today's changes today.

Q: Why do I have pages in "Crawled - currently not indexed"? A: Google's quality filter. The content might be too thin, too similar to other pages, or lacks sufficient linking signals. Improve content quality or consolidate pages.

Q: Should I be worried if I have thousands of excluded pages? A: Not necessarily. Review the exclusion reasons. If they're intentional (noindex tags, blocked by robots.txt, proper canonicals), that's fine. If they're pages that should be indexed, investigate.

Q: How do I request indexing for a new page? A: Use the URL Inspection tool, test the live URL, then click "Request indexing." But also add it to your sitemap—that's how Google naturally discovers pages.

Q: Validation failed. What now? A: Check if the issue is actually fixed (test the live URL yourself). If it is, wait and request validation again. If not, fix the issue properly and re-test.

Q: Do I need to validate fixes? A: No, but it helps. Google will eventually re-crawl and discover your fixes on its own, but validation prompts faster re-crawling and gives you confirmation in GSC.

Q: Can I force Google to index a page? A: No. You can request indexing, but Google decides whether to index based on quality signals. If Google consistently refuses to index, it's a content quality issue.

Q: My competitor has more indexed pages. Is that why they rank better? A: Not necessarily. Quality > quantity. A site with 100 high-quality indexed pages can outrank a site with 10,000 low-quality indexed pages.

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