Understanding the Discrepancy: Google’s Indexed Pages Status and What It Means for Website Owners
In the ever-evolving world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), website owners often encounter conflicting information regarding their site’s indexing status on Google. A common scenario involves pages appearing as “crawled but not currently indexed,” yet still visibly ranking in search results and showing as indexed in Google Search Console (GSC). This can lead to confusion about the true state of a website’s SEO health and the implications for visibility.
The Scenario: Conflicting Signals from Google
Consider a typical case where a website owner notices that some pages have been marked as “crawled but not currently indexed” in GSC. Despite this, when inspecting individual URLs within GSC, the status shows “Page is indexed” along with recent crawl dates. Additionally, performing a manual search on Google confirms that the pages are still present and visible in search results.
This situation raises two key questions:
- Is Google accurately reporting the status, or is there a discrepancy?
- What does this mean for the actual visibility and SEO health of the pages?
Understanding Google’s Indexing Signals
Google’s indexing status system can sometimes cause confusion due to how it reports data:
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“Crawled – currently not indexed” in GSC indicates that Google has visited the page but currently does not include it in its index. This status can reflect ongoing evaluation or temporary exclusion.
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“Page is indexed” in GSC confirms that at least at the time of the last check, the page was part of Google’s index.
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Search visibility is determined by actual search results. If the page appears in search, it is indeed indexed and active.
The apparent contradiction arises because Google’s systems constantly update and may have a lag or inconsistency in reporting. Moreover, the status in GSC might reflect recent changes or temporary issues, whereas the live search results show the current indexing status.
Why Does This Happen?
Several factors can lead to such mismatches:
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Indexing Delays or Fluctuations: Google periodically revisits pages. Temporary issues (e.g., server errors, blocked content, or algorithmic filters) may cause a page to be de-indexed temporarily even though it appears in search results.
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Indexing vs. Search Results: Being indexed isn’t static. Pages can be de-indexed and then re-indexed later. The data in GSC may lag