The most reliable way to tell if Google is indexing your website correctly is to use Google Search Console. Its page indexing report shows which pages are indexed, which are not and the reasons why, while the URL Inspection tool lets you check individual pages.
A quick search can give you a rough idea too, but Search Console gives the clearest picture.
Quick Checks You Can Do Yourself
Typing “site:” followed by your domain name into Google, for example “site:yourbusiness.co.uk”, shows a sample of the pages Google has indexed from your website. If very few pages appear, or important ones are missing, that is a sign worth investigating.
This method is only a rough guide, though. The number shown is an estimate and may not match the true figure, so it should not be relied on for detailed checks.
You can also search for a specific phrase from one of your pages, in quotation marks, to see whether that page appears.
Using Google Search Console
Search Console is free and gives information straight from Google. Once you have verified your website, the page indexing report lists how many pages are indexed and groups the others by reason, such as “Excluded by noindex tag”, “Blocked by robots.txt” or “Duplicate without user-selected canonical”.
The URL Inspection tool shows whether a particular page is indexed, when it was last crawled and which version Google has chosen as the main one. If you have updated a page, you can also request that Google crawls it again.
Submitting an XML sitemap through Search Console helps Google discover your important pages, especially on newer websites or sites with many pages.
Not Every Page Should Be Indexed
It is normal for some pages to be left out. Login pages, basket pages, thank-you pages and filtered versions of product lists often add nothing to search results, and keeping them out of the index is perfectly sensible.
The problem comes when important pages, such as your services, products or contact page, are missing. That is when you need to look at the reason Google gives and fix the cause.
Common Reasons for Indexing Problems
Typical causes include a forgotten noindex tag, a robots.txt rule that blocks important pages, duplicate versions of the same content and pages with very little useful information. Brand new pages may also take time to be discovered, particularly if nothing links to them. Adding links from relevant pages on your own site, such as your homepage or a related service page, usually helps Google find them sooner.
If you find indexing problems you are unsure how to fix, our technical SEO services can trace the cause and put it right. A wider SEO audit is also a good option if you want to check indexing alongside other issues. Feel free to get in touch for some friendly advice.
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