Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
What is Google Index?
Google Index, also known as the Google search index, is essentially a list of web pages maintained by the Google search engine in its database.
Every web page that is crawled by Google and considered for search is placed in the Google Index, and when a user performs a search, Google uses this index to display relevant web pages in the search results to the users.
The information available in the Google Index includes the page title, meta descriptions, content, links, and other page elements.
Additionally, Google evaluates each web page based on its content and value to users and uses it in the ranking of web pages in search results.
In general, the Google Index can be considered as a large database of web pages that Google uses to answer user searches. Improving a web page’s ranking in the Google Index leads to increased traffic and online business.
Web search engines usually use algorithms that continuously examine websites and add information related to pages to their database.
This process takes place in three main stages:
1- Crawling: In this stage, a crawler or search bot software goes to websites’ web pages and collects information about them. The crawler automatically follows internal links on sites and moves on to other pages. This process is repeated continuously and regularly for all web pages on websites to collect new information.
2- Fetch: In this stage, the required data for processing is collected from various sources such as main memory, disk, network, and stored in temporary memory to be ready for processing. In this stage, the crawler automatically collects html files, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other page elements.
3- Indexing: In this stage, the collected data is indexed and stored in a database. This data can then be used to answer user queries in search results.
Ranking stage includes several processes including:
1- Indexing: In this stage, the collected data in the Fetch stage is organized in a structured manner in the web search engine database. In other words, the information collected from websites is organized and made available for processing and analysis in the search engine.
2- Ranking: In this stage, complex algorithms are used to determine the importance and ranking of web pages.
Web search engine algorithms use various factors such as keywords, the number and quality of inbound links, website age, page content, loading speed, and many other factors to determine the importance and ranking of pages.
3- Search results: In this stage, pages that have the highest relevance to the searched keywords based on the algorithms of the previous stage are displayed on the search results page.
Usually, the search results are displayed in order of ranking, so that pages with higher rankings are more likely to have the highest relevance to the searched keywords.
In general, web search engines use complex algorithms for crawling, collecting data, analyzing data, and ranking pages to rank the best results on the search engine results page (SERP).
You need to continuously create valuable and engaging content and provide useful features and services to users to attract more traffic.
Neil Patel
Why is being indexed on Google important?
Being indexed on Google is very important for every website and web page, as it makes the web page accessible in Google search results and allows users to easily find it.
If a web page is not indexed by Google, it automatically means that it doesn’t exist on the web, because users cannot find it in search results. In other words, if a web page is not displayed in Google search results, it quickly results in a decrease in its popularity and growth.
In addition, being indexed on Google improves your site’s ranking in Google search results.
By improving the ranking of your web pages, you can reach more audience, and as a result, more visitors and customers can access your website.
Furthermore, increasing traffic to your website is also useful for improving your site’s ranking in Google search results and for earning revenue from online advertising.
Therefore, being indexed on Google is considered one of the most essential and important factors for success in online marketing and internet businesses.
Rand Fishkin focuses more on optimizing and structuring websites and believes that complying with the best optimization and SEO practices for website structure is one of the most important factors that lead to the indexing of web pages on Google.
Rand Fishkin
How can we know if our website is indexed by Google or not?
To check if your website is indexed by Google, you can use the following methods:
1- Using the “site:domain.com” command in the Google search engine: By entering this command instead of domain.com, all the pages of your website that have been indexed by Google will be displayed in the Google search results.
2- Using Google Search Console: By registering your website in Google Search Console, you can see in the “Index Coverage” section how many pages of your website have been indexed by Google and which pages have problems.
3- Using Google Analytics: With Google Analytics, you can see the number of visits from Google to your website. If the number of visits from Google to your website is low, it may not be indexed by Google.
By using these methods, you can find out if your website is indexed by Google or not. You can also check how many pages of your website are indexed by Google and how you can increase the rank and traffic of your website using Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
Regarding technical issues and SEO optimizations such as page loading speed, image optimization, page structure, internal and external links, etc., Brian Dean emphasizes that continuous attention to these points can lead to the growth of your website.
Brian Dean
Methods to speed up Google indexing
To speed up the indexing of your website on Google, you can try the following methods:
Register your website on Google Search Console: By registering your website on Google Search Console, you can inform Google that your website exists, and through this tool, some of your website’s pages can be indexed by Google.
Sitemap: A sitemap is an XML file that introduces all pages of your website to Google. By creating and submitting a sitemap to Google, allow Google to identify all pages of your website more accurately and increase the speed of indexing your pages.
Content update: By updating the content of your website regularly, Google is forced to check your website’s pages regularly. Also, by increasing the number of pages on your website, Google pays more attention to your website, and the speed of indexing improves.
Link building: By building links to your website from other websites, you indirectly help to increase your website’s credibility on Google and increase the speed of indexing your pages.
Optimizing website loading speed: The loading speed of your website can also have an impact on the speed of indexing your website.
By optimizing images, using lightweight codes and optimizing your website’s pages, increase the loading speed of your website’s pages, and as a result, the speed of indexing your pages will improve.
Using meta tags: By using meta tags in headers and descriptions of pages, you can tell Google what content each page has and what related keywords it has.
Using social media networks: By sharing your website’s pages on social media networks, you can attract your most audience to your website and increase the speed of indexing your pages.
Complying with SEO standards: By adhering to search engine optimization (SEO) standards on your website’s pages, you can provide the best conditions for indexing your pages on Google and increase the speed of indexing.
By implementing these methods, you can help speed up the indexing of your website’s pages on Google, and as a result, experience an improvement in your website’s ranking and visibility in search results.
John Mueller is one of Google’s experts and strongly emphasizes that good and valuable content prepares your website for indexing on Google, and recommends using appropriate internal links to improve your website’s structure.
John Mueller
Reasons for a site not being indexed
When your website pages are not indexed on Google, it may be due to various reasons, including the following:
Problem with robots.txt file: If your website’s robots.txt file has a problem, search engines may not be able to access your website pages and may not index them.
No sitemap: A sitemap helps search engines to review the structure of your website and index its pages. If your website has no sitemap or you do not update it, there is less chance of your website pages being indexed.
Slow loading speed: If your website pages require a long time to fully load or to load video or image files, search engines may not wait long enough to index them and move on to other pages.
Irregular and incomplete code: If your website’s code is irregular and incomplete, search engines may have difficulty identifying the content and keywords, and may not index your pages.
By addressing these issues and following the recommended methods for social media and SEO, you can improve your website indexing and increase your online visibility.
Your backlinks may also be identified by Google algorithms as spammy or irrelevant links due to the use of illegal link building methods such as creating low-quality links or buying artificial links.
In these cases, Google may consider your site as inappropriate and unreliable, and as a result, remove your site from search results due to inappropriate and illegal links.
To prevent these problems, you should pay attention to the backlinks of your site, disavow spammy and irrelevant links, and focus on creating high-quality and valid links.
Are orphan pages not indexed?
No, it is not true that “orphan pages are not automatically indexed“! However, if appropriate internal links are used for them, search engines can have access to them and index them.
To index a page, it must be linked so that search engines can access it.
Orphan pages are pages whose links to them have been removed from other site pages or manually deleted.
Therefore, if internal links are placed for them from other site pages, search engines can easily access them and index them.
Therefore, the lack of indexing of orphan pages is not due to the lack of a link to them, but due to the lack of appropriate and attractive links for search engines.
Therefore, creating appropriate and attractive internal links to orphan pages can help them to be indexed by search engines.
Aristotle Walters emphasizes the importance of content and developing relationships with users and audiences, believing that instead of focusing on keywords and technical optimization, one should focus on content.
Aristotle Walters
Can page cannibalization prevent indexing?
Cannibalization is one of the factors that can prevent pages from being indexed on a website. Cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on a site have almost identical content for a specific keyword or topic, and are incompletely linked to each other.
This problem can create ambiguity in search engines about which page should be displayed in search results pages.
However, cannibalization is only one factor, and search engines ultimately determine which page is selected for display in search results based on various criteria, including the quality and value of the page content.
Therefore, if the pages have unique content and are well-linked to each other, this problem can be resolved, and search engines may be able to access and index these pages.
Can internal no-follow links prevent indexing?
Internal no-follow links instruct search engines that these links are in a “no-follow” state and should not be considered as regular links.
This means that search engines refrain from following these links and collecting information related to the pages that exist in these links.
However, these links alone cannot prevent page indexing, and they only contribute to a decrease in page ranking in search results.
Final words
The importance of Google indexing for every website is significant because without being indexed, users cannot find the pages in the search results and access the site.
Therefore, to have your site’s pages indexed by Google, you need to use optimization techniques in accordance with Google’s guidelines and make sure that your pages contain valuable and unique content.
Also, make sure that your site has a suitable and optimized structure for search engines, and the pages are independently connected to each other with appropriate linking.
In general, to have your pages appear in Google search results, you need to consider improving the quality and value of your page content and using optimization techniques in accordance with Google’s guidelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Google indexing refers to the process of listing web pages in the Google database. In this process, Google accesses web pages relevant to the keywords searched by users and lists them in its database.
To check whether your website’s pages are indexed by Google or not, you can use the command “site:domain.com” in Google. With this command, all the pages of your website that are listed in the Google database will be displayed.
To have your website’s pages indexed by Google, you need to use optimization techniques in accordance with Google’s guidelines. This includes optimizing the content, website structure, using appropriate keywords, and proper linking. Also, make sure that your pages contain valuable and unique content and have a suitable and optimized structure for search engines.
